Ethiopia: History, Mystery & Macchiatos

Over a month ago, I returned from my last "escape" from Sudan and enjoyed exploring a little more of Africa as I rested.

Here's Part 1 of my travels (Ethiopia) in photos:

Gonder: little town with fantastic fruit smoothies and a castle known as the "Camelot of Africa". I was thinking "Lord of the Rings" myself (Gonder, and a place called Shire too - didn't see any hobbits, but here's a painting of a saint that looks an awful lot like Gandalf)

Here's another old building, some history...looks like your standard "historic site", tourist point of interest....

...Until...you realize that this is a church built in the 1200's, not by brick and mortar, or stone blocks, or some other conventional form of construction. But rather, chipped and chiselled - by hand, by some impressively persistent villagers - out of a giant cliff of rock.

And wait, there's not 1 of them, but 11.

Because, who doesn't look at a large cliff of rock like the one below, and think: "alright, neighbours, let's get our chisels out and chip out a large church - Oh yes, and when we're finished, let's do 10 more." (Evidently, King Lalibela did.)


Lalibella: beautiful little village in the highlands, known for its 11 mysterious rock-hewn churches.

In this one you can see the still-attached "mother rock" that it was chipped from.


Here you see an entire cross-shaped church cut out of the rock around it.



I kept asking myself: "why? how?" and responding with, "amazing!"


So, how did they do it? The villages chipped away during the day, and at night, angels continued the work. I'm inclined to believe it. I'm pretty sure after carpel tunnel syndrome set in, and the chisel-weary villagers neared the end of each day, they started saying, "don't worry - let's call it a day - the angels will take care of the rest."


Pondering the mystery. Seeking the transcendent light.


Excellent travel companion, Gabrielle - joined me from Canada as my fellow explorer.


Pilgrims, priests and villagers continue to utilize these ancient churches, keeping them alive and active places of worship to this day.


Slightly anachronistic sunglasses, but they not only help with the flash photography, but also look way cool.



Where pilgrims and visiting nuns & priests sleep when they come to visit the churches. (We opted for a more "all-inclusive" option.)

The villagers of Lalibella were very friendly and hospitable. We made many small friends while in Ethiopia, and often had an entourage. Once we got passed the "hello, give me money" part of the conversation, the relationships were much more fulfilling.



Outside of the village: a day hike up to a monastary in the mountains.

Highlands view.

Children driving the plow in the mountains.


Ethiopia is famous for its coffee. And justifiably so. I'm not a coffee drinker. But I became one for the duration of my Ethiopia visit - otherwise I would have missed out on so much. Fresh roasted beans, smoking and wafted before you at your table, then ground with a mortar and pestle, and boiled in a clay pot for sipping at great strength and very sweet from a tiny cup, is the essential "coffee ceremony experience".


Clay coffee pots in Africa's biggest market in Addis Ababa.


In addition to the traditional coffee ceremony, every single cafe or restarant, no matter how dingy and homely, no matter how deep its hole in the wall, is bound to have a sleek, hissing cappacino machine in the back, and within moments of sitting down, you can be sipping a frothy macchiato with a cocoa dusting shaped into the image of a palm tree, or heart, or the word "enjoy", served in a stylin ceramic mug. The Italians occupied Ethiopia briefly (though, importantly, they never managed to colonize). They left behind a lovely cafe tradition, nice leather shoes and a spaggetti section on nearly every menu.


Tej, Ethiopian Honey Wine, with travel companions after a day magical adventures: fantastical history, lovely people, delicious platters of food on fermented bread that doubles as a napkin, good coffee and beautiful sites.