Rwanda is a really small country. In fact, most sites can been seen as a daytrip from the capital. Still, I felt bad coming all the wat to Rwanda only for a few days. I wanted to go chimp tracking but the National Parks aren’t very accomidating to individual tourists. Another attraction is Lake Kivu,…
I must admit, I find it really difficult to update from public computers. I was spoiled with my laptop and now I can’t revise my posts for days until I manage to sound funny or interesting. And now that I’ve crossed into Rwanda I have encountered the dreaded French keyboards that plagued me in Madagascar.…
A lot has happened since my last post. My seven days in Nairobi were all about getting money, eating food and booking a flight home. I spent the entire time scouring websites and travel agencies to find a cheap flight home. From Africa, I was considering anything under $1,000 cheap. Trouble is it’s high season…
We’re just hearing that there was a suicide bomb at The Hilton downtown in Nairobi. It was at 8am and you know I was sitting here, 3 kilometers away, eating a mango pancake. No worries. I’m heading out to talk to an Apple repairman on the ther side of the city. By taxi. Please don’t…
Since I’ve returned back from Madagascar last Wednesday I’ve had a lot going on. Although I haven’t been out on safari or sightseeing at all I’ve been really preoccupied. First of all, the customs officer at the airport gave me only two days on my transit visa. I’ve been buying seven day transit visas in…
After waking up at 3:30 this morning to make my flight from Tana I’ve arrived in Nairobi. Unfortunately, the visa I was given is only for two days. I asked for a 7-day transit visa so this may be some sort of ploy to get more money. Tomorrow I’ll have to go down to the…
I’ve arrived back in Tana and am feeling pretty good to be leaving. I liked Madagascar enough, it is very beautiful but not quite as “exotic” as I thought it would be. I’d be lying if I said all the French (language and tourists) didn’t sour my experience a bit. I do realize it’s totally…
Somehow I found a Tex-Mex place here in Tana. Last night I had something resembling a burrito. It was a little off but I appreciate the fact that they’re trying. In the end more disturbing than the watery guacamole was hearing myself say “l’addition, s’il vous plait” after eating Mexican. For lunch I refused to…
I’ve been in Antananarivo (hereby called “Tana”), Madagascar for a few days now. Coming in from the airport I was struck with the overwhelming character the town has compared to Addis Ababa or Nairobi. I can’t remember the last time I saw peaked roofs! The road into town reminded me of a mix between Africa,…
Well, folks it’s time. Tomorrow morning I fly to Madagascar. After some frantic emailing with Air Madagascar’s office in Nairobi I finally got a confirmed reservation when I checked my email in Moyale before crossing the border to Kenya. I spent the night on the Kenyan side and was ready to get to Nairobi the…
To tide you over until I finish my post about The South Omo Valley here are a few fun facts about Ethiopia that I’ve noticed: Ethiopians have a different calendar and the current year is 1999. The year 2000 hits this September and I’ve seen a handful of places named “millennium cafe.” Some stores are…
All of my photos from Ethiopia are up in the gallery. I think it’s an eclectic group but the South was still my favorite.
I really appreciate all of the emails I’ve received recently from my readers. It’s taken me a while, but I think I’ve answered all of your questions. My, a lot of you are trying to program websites yourselves. My best advice it to keep it simple. Remember that you don’t need as extensive site as…
My bank told me yesterday that they would re-activate my ATM card for 24 hours. They lied. I tried my card late in the afternoon and again after dinner with no response. I gave them the benefit of the doubt, and assumed that there was a delay on the Ethiopian end but in the morning…
Silly me, in my haste to show you a taste of Ethiopia I forgot to finish uploading the rest of my photos from Egypt. They’re all up in the gallery now. I ate a lot of McDonalds in Cairo so it only seemed appropriate to include a burger in the food category.
It’s been one of those days. I’ve been in touch with Air Madagascar’s Nairobi agent for weeks now, planning my flight to Madagascar. I’m trying to time things right so that I can travel between Addis Ababa and Nairobi by bus (a five-day journey), pick up my ticket and leave within the confines of a…
Just a quick post to let you all know that after two days on the bus from Lalibela (and two days on the bus from Gonder to Lalibela) I’m back in Addis Ababa. I had Nachos Ole for dinner, yum. I’ve lost a bit of weight in Ethiopia, for lack of anything I want to…
Tonight is my thrid night in Bahir Dar. The minibus came to my hotel in Addis at 3am (one hour early) and after a quick rush to get things together I ended up sitting on the bus until 4:30, when we finally left town. Although the sunrise was really beautiful over a patchwork of green…
It’s been raining and gloomy for the past four days here in Addis Ababa. On the afternoon we arrived back from Southern Ethiopia I started to feel unwell and by dinnertime I had a fever and runny nose. I braved it out for a while, resisting the urge to panic and assume it’s malaria—according to…
We arrived back in Addis yesterday afternoon among a steam of soot-spewing trucks in a traffic jam. When I first arrived I didn’t realize how poluted the air is here, but I guess it was fresh compared to Cairo. I wasn’t feeling well last night but woke up refreshed and after a nice (hot!) shower…