Honey,
What a great long weekend – a good trip makes a long
weekend feel like a week, if not more.
Even though we only left for 3 nights -- we flew up to the Tigray region in the north of
Ethiopia on Friday and flew back on Monday evening -- wow did we pack a lot of
stuff in those days.
We flew up to Mekele, and then spent the night with a buddy
there before heading to my favorite lodge/hotel thus far in Ethiopia, Gheralta
lodge. This lodge has epic views across
the geologic scale valley to cliff faces that are thousands of feet of sheer
rock. The lodge has a lineage to the
ill-fated Italian occupation of Ethiopia in the mid/late 30’s, and there are
even carvings in the rocks on the complex that were done by a forward Italian
force in the 30’s.
On the first day, your mom and our friends headed out for a big hike in the afternoon and you and hung out in our large lodge. I debated whether to be active and productive
and read or do emails during your nap.
My internal drive to make the most of the moments is very strong, often
too strong. But nope, not today. I opted for the ultimate in vacation, taking
a nap with my two-year-old daughter, sleeping when you sleep in the parlance of
new parents. I don’t nap often, so
taking a full on two-hour nap was an unexpected pleasure that really reset your
dad’s biorhythm and vacation clock.
The next day, I put that peacefulness and recovery to work
with a hike up to Maryam and Daniel Korkor, which are perched hundreds and hundreds
of feet above the Hawzien plains far below.
We climbed up through a narrow slot onto an open face of rocks cascading
up several hundred feet, with a few false summits until the first church
(Maryam) comes into view seemingly in a field of cactuses. We eventually arrive
at the church itself, which is carved dozens of feet deep into the white, temperate
rock. The rock inside has the visible
scarring of the process used to make this impressive accomplishment – which expands
from the humble entrance. It has an ephemeral
quality, with the harsh sunlight outside filtered through the smallish openings
and creating relaxing patterns and shadows – with a bit of the tranquility broken
by the human remains in graves within the sanctuary. Quite the contrast.
On the second hike, we (you, our friends, mom and me)
traversed up switchbacks to the cliff faces guarding Abuna Yemata Geh. You and I brought up the rear together, first
in your hiking backpack and then once that got old--you hiked yourself. Watching you at two years old,
telling me –“I go hiking” with a huge smile on your face, I felt good about all
the future adventures to come as a Korol team of three.
Back to the church, which is well over a milieu old, and is
very difficult to access – with some barefoot rock climbing up to a church
etched into a sheer rock face. You feel
the whole time that humans aren’t meant to be here, yet people have been
worshiping at this church since the 6th century. I was the last tourist of the day, and the
light at the end of the day in this setting was really special. Walking from the sun and sheer cliff into the
dark church, barefoot on a 600 foot cliff, was quite a dramatic switch – from
light to dark with these pastel murals in the church depicting the apostles,
and even the artist himself. That priest
told me an interesting anecdote, as I was bubbling to him excitedly about how
pretty the location and the church itself was.
He said, “all the tourist, when they get here are VERY happy.” The mix of adrenaline beauty overwhelms. I was, that is for sure.
One thing was really vivid for us in Tigray generally and in
the Gheralta mountains especially, was how similar it felt and looked to
believed parts of our own country. Specifically
we were often talking about how much kinship we felt towards southern Utah, AZ
and the four corners area of New Mexico.
This is something I really love about travel, that places thousands of
miles apart will be somehow be so familiar.
We will be coming back to this part of Ethiopia, hopefully to put our
climbing skill to the test on these steep cliffs. I can’t wait.
We keep exploring Ethiopia, and the region, and there
doesn’t portend to be any shift in that approach to this time in the Horn. You
are thriving in those trips thus far, which is wonderful to see as your dad. If
you weren’t, then we would switch it up and spend more time in our lovely Addis
home. But until that happens, you can look forward to safaris, Ethiopian wolves
and other things that reinforce we are not in Kansas anymore.
love,
w
