A World Away

Ethiopia is not close to Ghana, in any way. It took almost as long to get there as it did to go from DC to London. They speak Amharic, not English, and it’s cold (at least where we were). Addis is the world’s 3rd highest capital city, situated at 2,300 meters.

Jeff Kerby, a good friend from University, met me at the airport and served as a wonderful tour guide for the next 12 days (he speaks enough Amharic to get around). We saw the sights of Addis for the first few days, then took the 12 hour bus ride east to Harar, an extremely old and religious walled city. These walls contain one of the highest concentrations of mosques in the world, making it the 4th holiest city in the Muslim world. Outside the walls, however, is majority Christian, with a high number of Orthodox churches in view. And everyone gets along! – a model religious city, in my opinion. Our highlights included wandering through the labyrinth of streets and ally ways,

meeting the hyena man,

and touring the Harar beer factory.

Next we headed to Kerby’s camp (after 13 1/2 hours on the bus, a day to recuperate in Addis, and another 9 hour bus ride). Kerby studies Gelada monkeys with a fellow American, Vivek, under the guidance of two American scientists currently back in America. The camp is located in the Ethiopian highlands, north of Addis, at an altitude of about 3500 meters. It’s high, and cold, and absolutely beautiful.


There are many endemic animals in the highlands that people travel from all over the world to see. I think I saw most of them. The Geladas, of course,


the Ethiopian wolf,

and the Ethiopian hare (sorry, they are too quick for pictures!)

I spent three days at camp with the boys, watching the monkeys, helping them with busy work, trying desperately to keep up as they ran up hills after the monkeys, and just having a good time.

A 10-hour bus ride (and only three breakdowns!) brought us back to Addis for my last night, in time to eat lots of pizza (Addis has wonderful and cheap Italian food left over from their occupation in the 19th century) and drink a few beers.

I had a really great trip and really enjoyed catching up with someone from University- those four years already seem so distant to us! But it is always comforting to return to the known and I was excited to get back to Ghana and the culture I have gotten to know so well.