This post features our travels in various modes of transportation. Our general itinerary for our 30-day adventure was the following:
Weeks 1 & 2: Emily and the boys explore Addis Ababa
Week 3: Dave joins us and we head down the Rift Valley to Common River in the Southern region (SNNPR)
Week 4: Visit the lovely lakeside, regional capital of Hawassa, with an epic journey to the district of Aroresa to visit family
Addis is a huge, huge city -- especially in contrast to sweet little Bloomington, Indiana -- with lots of construction all over the place. I'm not sure if we ever totally got used to the crowded streets, and there is no way to get comfortable with the homeless kids on the sidewalks. We had quite a few conversations about why we gave the funds the boys raised to organizations, since of course the sweet kiddos just wanted to hand cash to everybody.
I didn't take any photos of us walking the hilly, gritty strees of Addis, often squished under one little umbrella during the many downpours, so you'll have to imagine those scenes. Nor did I commemorate any of the ridiculously expensive taxi rides. We'd rather forget about those. And then were countless undocumented hours we spent in the rental 4x4's, when the boys grieved the fact that their Nintendo DS charger did not work with our international plug adapters.
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| Dreamliner!!! We weren't so lucky on the way home. Humidity on an airplane is a beautiful thing. |
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Day 1: you can see the jetlag on Zenebe's face!
Those of you that know me, it takes some kind of serious sleepiness for me to buy my kids Cokes. |
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| The horrible traffic in Addis meant lots of time sitting in mini-bus/van seats and breathing horrible exhaust. Blech. |
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| Too bad the traffic was so crazy that I did not allow the boys to take the bikes out of the parking lot, but they were happy to cruise around and show off their cycling prowess. A few Birr to rent the bike for a couple laps, and despite the pressure from the rental dude, I did not let them try the motorcycles, too. |
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| Dave's first day with us! Everyone is exhausted from the excitement of anticipation. |
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| One of the vehicles that carried us on many kilometers of bumpy, bu-uh-uh-uh-mm-mm-mm-mp-p-p-py roads. |
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Is a caption really necessary here?
"Oh-my-god don't crash into that donkey/dog/cow/goat/sack of potatoes/toddler in the middle of the road!" |
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| The roadside in Aroresa; the most beautiful place in Ethiopia (en route to Amare and Zenebe's birthplace). |
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Camels on a truck!
Not exactly the camel caravan we might have expected to see. |
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| Yup, that's a goat up there with the baggage. |
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| Stretching out before the 18-hours in a Boeing 777. |
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| July 2013 |
Lastly, for a bit of nostalgia, here are pics to compare the boys at the Bole Airport (ADD) waiting to board a plane to America. See how much they have grown compared to the white handrail in 3+ years!
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| Zenebe Dec '09 |
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| Amare Dec '09 |
wow, how much they have grown! What a beautiful family. I soo remember the bumpy ride into Arbegona. The pic. of their faces is exactly what we looked like on that journey! By the way, did you know we DID hit a donkey 3 yrs. ago. The poor little boy walking the donkey was only about 4 - 5 yrs. old. Luckily no one/animal was hurt. just a bump. Hit the gas pedal and beep while those around you dive out of the way is all I remember. And we did see a massive caravan of camels walking down the road. In a truck though - not expected. And the goat on the roof. Very interesting. I remember so vividly the gorgeous countryside and beautiful people; inside and out; sweet, sweet memories. Thanks so much for sharing these.
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