It’s always a good sign when the driver spends the first 5 minutes bailing out the bottom of the boat before you can leave the island. Just when I thought he was done he switched to the other, smaller bailer…
Smuggling Gin and Knives on the Train from Nairobi to Mombasa
After a lot of camping at Lake Navaisha and in the Maasai Mara, we were pretty excited about the prospect of staying in an apartment for a few days in Nairobi, which ended up costing less than three beds in…
Hiking Mt. Kenya
After another night in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, and walking to the airport from the hostel, I arrived in Nairobi at night and grabbed a taxi to my hotel in a very sketchy (but convenient) neighbourhood near all…
Harar- Eastern Ethiopia
After Marieke and Jon left for Lalibela on their very early bus, Cheryl and I had a lazy morning, enjoying the superb buffet breakfast at our hotel and got a free ride to the airport with their airport shuttle at…
How to Hike the Simien Mountains Independently- and Save (Some) Money
I was determined to do the Simien Mountains without joining a tour. Partly because I knew it would be cheaper, particularly for a group, and partly because most people joined a tour, so I wanted to buck the trend. The…
Nearing a boiling point- Navigating the Simien Mountains
Simiens Post 1 of 2- Guest post by Cheryl Williams Of all the planning, researching and discussion we’d had about Ethiopia for the past number of months, the thing we probably focused the most on was hiking in the Simien…
Avoiding the stellae dogs of Aksum
After our good bus karma in getting to Hawzen, we knew the trip to Aksum would not be as smooth. After 30 minutes on our second minibus (and our second argument about not paying for bags), we heard a faint…
The Hassles of Hawzen
I had been warned that Ethiopia was a bit of a hassle. But I also figured that I had just spent months traveling around Africa, and so would be fairly prepared. This experience helped, but it also meant I was…
Danakil Depression- the most inhospitable place on earth, apparently.
Guest post by Cheryl Williams We started our journey at 8am from Lalibela, being picked up by an empty Land Cruiser. Within a few minutes we’d picked up a couple from Peru and a woman from Singapore. Steph had negotiated…
The rock churches of Lalibela, Ethiopia
Guest post by Cheryl Williams I got to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, the night before Steph. Steph was coming from Kenya. When she arrived at the airport I was there with the hotel transport to pick her up.…