Dear ECS: No whale sharks, no problem

Dear ECS,

Hey honey, how are you doing?  We are wrapping up a busy weekend here in Addis, and have the pleasure of hosting Elsa and Tim.   It is nice to be getting into the holidays, and I for one am really looking forward to spending more time with you, your mom, and our family over the next week. 

You have continued to thrive and are such a delight on a daily and hourly basis.  Your vocab is exploding, which makes it so fun as a dad to spend time together and tell jokes back and forth and crack each other up. 

Your mom, you and I had a great short getaway last weekend to Djibouti.  Yep, we snuck away to Djibouti, which had more than a few of our friends befuddled here in Addis.  I have to admit, I was a little skeptical going on the trip as a result.  Then, we had a great time, swimming in the ocean, eating good French-influenced seafood and having great “whole family” time.

Beyond the general desire to head to the beach, we picked this time of year to explore Djibouti for a few days because it is the start of the whale shark season.  These massive, massive fish, which are the largest fish on earth and in the winter, come to warm waters off the Djiboutian coast. 

Our last day, we headed out for an all-day tour with the affable American Ken (who is highly recommended) that started with an hour on the main road that heads to the Ethiopia/Djibouti border.  It was interested to see that aspect of the transport and logistics work that brings in so much of our goods we depended on here in Addis and Ethiopia generally.  The size of the ports was pretty impressive and seeing the fuel trucks waiting to be filled and driven to us here reinforced the symbiotic relationship between these two neighbors. 

After an hour on the asphalt, we took a right turn on to dirt for some grand 4x4ing through a really pretty canyon.  The entire drive reminded me of the great basin and range topography in Nevada.  We wound through the canyon and eventually got back to the coast, where it was time to get in a skiff.  

Once we were safely onboard the boat, we headed downwind along the super rugged coast, which was dotted with numerous beaches.  To the north was the massive 6,000-foot ridge, a mountain that seemingly descends right down to the water’s edge.  It was hard to believe that we would be sleeping in our house in Addis later that night, as we felt in such a different climate and biome. 

Scanning the water for the dorsal fins, we kept heading west until Ken proposed some snorkeling for your mom and dad.  The setting was incredible, with a couple of these beaches within swimming distance, and some Djiboutian fisherman chilling on the beach.  We snorkeled, alternating being in the boat with you.  Having lived in the Bahamas for 2 years, we are pretty familiar with high quality snorkeling and diving.  The reef was good and hundreds of colorful fish flinting here and there.  The visibility was a bit worse than the Bahamas, but all in all it was wonderful to be back to doing an activity I grew to love deeply in Nassau. 

Then it was on a nearby beach for a picnic lunch and some playful running, and some more swimming/snorkeling.   The beach had great sand and my highlight was running on the beach with you as we both doubled over in delight and laughter with the joy of the day. 

After a couple of hours it was time to get back on the water and keep looking for those huge whale sharks.  We were now beating back upwind and the waves were pretty large, which had your mom concerned (me too, a little bit).  The choppiness made it tough to have a baseline to pick out those big dorsal fins and we got to the point that your mom didn’t; even care about the whale sharks.  Which is good, because we never saw any.  I like that the sharks are wild and seeing them is not guaranteed - the difference between a wild safari and visiting a refuge.  Of course, it would have been great to see these massive organisms.  Maybe next time.

We tucked back into the little harbor we had left many hours ago, with your mom visibly relieved that we were through the rough waters and back on land.  No whale sharks, no problem.  We had a great day and our memories are going to be part of our Korol family collective memories and our journey for years to come.  

On to more adventures sweetie. 

love,

dad