cheeky little people

You know you've got it good when the most overwhelming thing you're currently facing is how to sort through photos from three different holidays. You know you've got it reaallly good when those three holidays took place in the past month!

Riding horses in Ethiopia, lion-spotting in Amboseli and beach house fun in Watamu - it's all there and coming soon. In the meantime, here are some sweet little faces from Ethiopia. These cheeky little monkeys called 'photo, photo, photo!' whenever they saw us, how could we resist?

The Rock Churches of Lalibela

To tell the truth, we knew very little about Ethiopia, and even less about Lalibela, until a few different friends returned from their own Ethiopian adventures. Everyone raved about the country and especially recommended visiting the rock-hewn churches.

Lalibela is home to eleven churches that were all carved out of rock between 800 and 900 years ago. The churches were commissioned by King Lalibela and chiseled from stone by thousands of men and, according to legend, angels that assisted them day and night. The area is now a UNESCO World Heritage site, and rightly so. The churches are truly remarkable on a historical, cultural and religious level, and breathtaking in real life.

Armed with this small amount of knowledge and a much more knowledgeable guide, and together with our friend Justin and another Aussie couple, we set out from Lalibela Lodge on Sunday morning, ready to explore these historical buildings.

 We marveled at the design and execution of each church. Without any help from modern technology, the ancient community of Lalibela carved out straight walls, symmetrical detailing and perfect archways. 

Our guide pointed out different crosses and symbols, sharing the historical significance and meaning behind each and providing us a simple history of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. What we found most remarkable was that even today, hundreds and hundreds of years later, the churches are home to living breathing congregations who worship there each Sunday.

We slipped off our shoes and joined the crowds entering the church. The rock stairs were polished smooth by the footsteps of millions who have entered over the years and we took a moment as our senses adjusted to the darkness, the soft scent of incense and the sound of the priests slowing shaking sistrums.

Once inside, we were mesmorised by the crowds wrapped in white and the melodical rise and fall of men's voices. Young and old, they sang slowly together, picking up speed to a cresendo, then softly slowing down again.

In one corner, a priest was blessing individuals, rubbing a solid gold cross across their head and body. In another corner, we watched the old men bend in prayer or pour over their precious Bibles. Though we were clearly foreigners, very few took notice of us. It was incredible to get such an authentic insight into the religion and culture of the people of Lalibela.

As the morning church crowd slowly meandered out of the area, we continued exploring the rest of the churches. Pilgrims from out of town were reading scriptures or kissing the cold stone walls and our guide pointed out ancient murals of various Bible scenes and paintings of St George slaying the dragon. We heard stories of secret tunnels joining the eleven churches and rumours of dishonest priests using the tunnels to steal precious church relics.

Honestly, our words and photos do not do the place justice, so if you ever get the chance, be sure to visit Lalibela. It's a big call, but we're pretty sure it's the most incredible place we've ever explored.

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Funnily enough, it was in Lalibela when things began to unravel for us. Our mate Justin sprained his ankle in one particularly dark church, and a couple of hours later I was knocked out with a gastro bug and missed the rest of the church tour. Like dominoes we fell - Will got food poisioning on Christmas eve, and then Justin got hit with a cold. Ethiopia kinda beat us up, but we couldn't help falling for this beautiful country anyway! More photos and stories to follow...

Market Day in Lalibela, Ethiopia

Our first adventure in Ethiopia was exploring Lalibela in the north, home to the famous rock hewn churches. We had the weekend in town and quite by chance we'd planned it perfectly. 

Saturday is Market Day and brings in people from throughout the region and on Sunday morning the rock churches are full of people attending the weekly service.

On Saturday morning, we drove from the airport down in the plains, weaving up through the hills to Lalibela, a little town perched high up on the side of a mountain. Along the way we spotted hundreds of people with produce packed tightly in bags, on their backs, or strapped to donkeys. Everyone was on the move to make it to the market.

After dropping our bags at our lodge and taking a brief mid-morning siesta, we climbed the hill and followed the road back to the ridge where the market was held. We were escorted by some cheeky little people who were keen to practice their English and show us the market fare.

Wow. Amongst the sea of umbrellas and make-shift awnings were piles of grain and dried chillies, pots of honey and the local wine tej, plastic shoes and the whitest white shawls to be worn at church. We loved how un-touristy the market was - no cheap Chinese imports or over priced trinkets - this was the outdoor version of the community supermarket.

Very few people spoke English, so we made do with comical hand signals and a little help from our tiny escorts. We sniffed fresh spices and dried tea leaves, dodged donkeys and marveled at the vast number of people meandering through the market. It really was incredible.

And speaking of incredible, look what we found perched on the top of a nearby ridge! We enjoyed a sunset drink at Ben Abeba, an out-of-this-world restaurant with the most spectacular view of the highlands. After the sun snuck behind the hills, we stayed on for a delicious traditional Ethiopian dinner, snuggled up in thick blankets and warming ourselves by a small bonfire.

It was a wonderful first day of our Abyssinian adventure!

Christmas in Nairobi

 

It's Christmas time! We've been a little quiet on the blog because life has been busy with Christmas celebrations. We had a big Christmas dinner with the Aussie volunteers, complete with Secret Santa - I was given the gorgeous Christmas Angel from Amani Ya Juu. 

With our church, we had an outdoor evening Christmas Carols event at Karen Blixen House, a nyama choma lunch with the young adults and on Wednesday night we watched Elf on a big screen, under the Kenyan stars and snuggled up in Maasai blankets - it's cold!! We've been enjoying delicious mulled wine and the general Christmas cheer!

We didn't commit to a Christmas tree this year because we're away over Christmas, but we decorated our apartment with red Christmas candles, paper doily snowflakes, and Christmas carol lyrics. And of course, Green Bunny looks very festive in his green coat.

We're flying out tonight for ten days in Ethiopia, where we'll celebrate Christmas with an Australian friend from Kenya, an Ethiopian family and some Aussie expats living in Addis. We're also heading north to explore the ancient stone churches in Lalibela, and then south to Bale Mountains for a three-day horse trek. 

It's a bit of an understatement to say that we're very excited, and that Christmas this year will be very different from the usual!