Welcome Home

Addis Ababa, or the "new flower", is the capital of Ethiopia. Guide books tell you 3 million people live here but in reality the city is made up of around 5 million inhabitants. Addis is not what I expected. Well to be honest I really did not know what to expect from Ethiopia. It's the heart of the Horn of Africa, the cradle of humanity, and the home of the African Union, and yet it is very clear that this place has gone through some tough times, especially under communist rule. 

Regardless I do know one thing: I am "home". Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet my great great great great...great grandmother Lucy. If you didn't know, she is 3.18 million years old and still going strong . Lucy, named after the Beatles song "Lucy in the sky with diamonds", stands a mere 3 feet tall and is the great link between modern humans and the great ape. I must say that it was pretty cool to see her and some distant cousins of us homo sapiens sapiens.  

Things to do in Addis besides seeing Grandma Lucy (that is if she is in town because she does like to travel)

1. Eat injera with a plethora of amazing sauce options

2. Go check out the local museums 

3. Drink a mango or avocado juice

4. Climb to the top of the hills that over look Addis (3200 meters high), and stop for a quick prayer at Addis first church, St Mary's.

5. Enjoy some honey wine before hitting the local markets. 

6. Eat injera 

Looking good at 3.2 million years old!

Under African Skies

I have arrived. And will enjoy my first night under African skies in the Cold War era Jomo Kenyatta international airport. This airport is the 4th busiest airport on the continent of Africa serving 5 million travelers annually. From the looks of this place you would have no idea so many eager and weary travelers pass through the terminals here. There are no more then 10 electrical outlets in this place and the women sitting next to me just blew one of them so now we are down to 9. I feel rude occupying one but in the heart of Africa it is a fight for electronic survival. 

Before arriving I was trying to figure out if going to a hotel was worth the price considering my flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was early the next morning. There was a significant lack of information about the facilities in Jomo and transport alone to hotels in Nairobi (20 kilometers away from NBO) was going to be between $40-80 round trip. For 4 hours of sleep I considered that not worth the price. Not knowing what to expect I have been plesently surprised by the offerings here--even with the musty 1970s smell. 

For those who might be finding themselves overnighting in the Nairobi airport here is some useful information for you (especially since sleepinginairports.com is not accurate):

1. The sleeping rooms have been ripped out. 

2. Ethiopian airlines and its partners have a lounge that you can pay $30 for 3 hours. Booze is included in that price.

3. NBO has FREE wifi. That is more than Ohare and most US airports offer.  

4. If changing airlines they will transfer your bags and so there is no need to go through immigration and purchase a transit visa. ($20 saved)

5. Take the airplane blanket and use it to sleep on. You will be amongst many sprawled across the floors here. 

6. If in dire straights, Johnnie Walker is in abundance at the duty free shops.

To pack or not to pack: that is the question.

I have been asked a lot recently about how one packs for such a large and encompassing trip. My answers have ranged from, "Easy, you throw crap in a bag and hope it's the right stuff" to "I have no f$#%ing clue."

The other night this packing dilemma took on a whole new monster as I woke slightly* panicked due to this dream:

I was in Africa already and was waiting for my trusted hiking companion, Sarah, to arrive. I was in a town that according to my knowledge was to be the location of our Kilimanjaro departure. I sat and waited. No Sarah. I waited some more. No Sarah. I continued to wait and as I sat there I started to realize certain things.

1. I did not have my hiking boots.
2. I did not have trekking pants, a warm jacket or even my winter gloves.
3. I had some random granola bars
4. I had one sock. Not a pair. Just one, trusted smart wool sock.

At this point you can imagine the frenzy that took place and the cursing that ensued towards my brother, who clearly was responsible for packing my bags. After a few minutes of internally flipping out--no need to put on a scene in Africa, right?--I decided to descend from the meeting point which was a random rock out cropping nested slightly above the town to search for Sarah and scramble to find items that would ensure that I actually made it to the top of Kilimanjaro.

After reaching the town I wandered from busy street to busy street searching for the offices of our trekking company. I am not sure what I was looking for: would it have a neon blinking arrow? or be in the shape of a banana? Either way I wandered aimlessly with a backpack strapped to me that seemed impossibly heavy considering what it loaded up with: Damn, those Kashi granola bars. Should have gone with Quaker.

As my brain started to wake up, knowing to well that my alarm was about to blast off, I realized something. Standing on the street in that random African town it dawned on me that I had arrived a couple of weeks early. Feeling both relieved and like a total idiot I was enlightened to a few things:

1. I am wearing my hiking boots on the plane.
2. Don't let your brother pack your bags for you.
3. Bring socks, and lots of them.
4. Kashi granola bars are heavy--must be the damn flax seeds.

Clearly what to pack is a source of anxiety for me. I have read over hundreds of recommended lists, searched travel forums and poured over other peoples travel blogs in search of the best packing list. Considering that I will be taking only one 70L pack and a carry on this is my recommended packing strategy:

1. When in doubt, pack black.
2. Wear your most necessary clothes on the plane
3. Bring lots of good socks.
4. Bug spray is necessary.
5. So is imodiom.
6. Bring a camera, extra batteries and lots of memory cards
7. Everything else you can buy there.
8. Oh, and don't forget this thing called a passport...with proof of your yellow fever vaccine. 

I bless the rains down in Africa.

I am not on Facebook. I don't understand Twitter. This thing called Tumbler--it's a mystery to me. And don't ask me about Pin...rest?Pin-huh? So when I was asked about blogging my trip to East Africa by more than one person I decided, "What the hell, I guess I can give this inter-web communication thing a try." So Here it goes peeps. I cannot promise any enlightened thoughts that you might want to share globally on the aforementioned sites, but I can promise you this:

Toto was a great band from the 80s and for some reason they created a song about Africa. What makes this band ever more fantastic is that they were able to cram this line into their song marvelously:

As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti
I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become 

This trip to the lands of Eastern Africa is my spiritual quest (why here and not the woods of Northern Wisconsin is unbeknownst to me--would have been a hell of a lot cheaper that is for sure!) and so it only feels right to depart listening to the rhythms of my childhood. Without further ado I bring you Toto. http://youtu.be/Exg_VRYfEz8