6
ETHIOPIA
716 Kilometres – 15 Days
Cape Town, South Africa - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (2400 asl)
My return to South Africa from Amman, Jordan was due to a dire
need for a new passport. To my surprise, Ernest was there as well,
but he had an entirely different reason. He left nearly all his
belongings in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia whereas I'd all mine. So,
following a month of eating, drinking and catching up with friends and
family, I collected my shiny new passport. This time, it was a maxi
passport containing more pages.
After much deliberation, Ernest and I joined forces and flew to Addis
Ababa. I was happy to return to Ethiopia. Not only is Ethiopia home
to some of the world’s fastest marathon runners, but it's also a
country with a captivating history and religion. Ethiopians mainly
belong to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, which claims to
possess the Ark of the Covenant, kept under guard in a treasury in
Axum. Additionally, Ethiopia is home to the renowned rock-cut
churches of Lalibela dating to between the 7th to 13th centuries.
Legend has it that angels helped carve out the churches within
twenty-four hours.
Furthermore, Ethiopia was the home of Haile Selassie, seen as a
messiah among followers of the Rastafari movement, and Bob Marley
thus considered Ethiopia his spiritual home. Most of all, Ethiopia is
home to coffee from the Ethiopian highlands and injera, a traditional,
sourdough-type flatbread or pancake. Traditionally, injera is made
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAA