Dear ECS: I go hiking

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 6^th 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

Dear ECS: Stockholm is islands, so many islands

Dear ECS,

Well honey, it is so good to be home.  It is so good to be traveling too, and this was a solo trip so that is a whole different animal.  When I got home yesterday and you and your mom opened up our gate and you said so happily (but sleepily, since I just took a redeye) – “Daddy!” my heart melted.

Where did I get to gallivant off to this time?  A place I had wanted to visit since I was in middle school in Maine and teams of hockey players better than me went over to Sweden to have a great time and get their butts kicked.  Muriel had been gone the last couple of weeks to the Sudans, so I thought I would keep the S theme going and head to Stockholm. 

You would fit right in Sweden, there were a ton of blond babies and kids all over the place and the parents take very, very good care of their kids.  I saw so many $500 dollar plus baby strollers (safety is very important in Sweden) and parents seemed to follow your parents' philosophy of taking kids pretty much everywhere.  I also enjoyed fitting in, being anonymous.  Here in Addis, I stand out.  We stand out.  Which is wonderful for the attention, but in Stockholm I revelled in getting to go on a run and not get shouted at on a minute-by-minute basis. 

There were also some nice benefits of traveling solo; I think my favorite is being hypermobile.  I like to be on the move--walking, running, buses, boats, bikes, whatever.  I don’t go for the smartwatch like your mom to track my steps, but if I did I am sure these days would have been record setters.  Being on the move is what makes me feel like I am exploring.  Exploring -- stumbling into new, cool things. Don’t get me wrong sweetie, I had my fair share of coffees and beers and fall apples that made me recall Maine so fondly, but my mind always wants to be moving.

Because solo traveling is great for reflection, one thing I was thinking about a lot over the days was about travel generally.  Your mom and I do, and did, a lot of it; we have directed a small fortune and a large portion of our limited and ever diminishing time on earth on travel – money and time I would spend again on that pursuit again joyfully.  And more.  I hope against hope that you will have the same preferences, and know that you will have seen more of this world at a tender age than I could have conceived of when I was in my early 20’s. 

I have always thought to myself that I travel to see new things. But I want to revise that. I think I travel to feel – this trip I ended up traveling to mourn (Dave, my friend that died earlier this year), to celebrate (I got selected for promotion last week), to appreciate (how damn lucky I am), to be anonymous, and to remember.  

Travel is also great for memories (I wrote about my memory index here: http://livingthekoroldream.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-memory-index.html).  An example of remembering from my Stockholm trip was a great day I had years ago, I guess in 2004, and one that I had not thought about for at least a decade.  Since I got out on the water on ferries in Stockholm to see more than the city in the massive archipelago, I ended up recalling strongly a solo travel day I had in central/southern Chile, heading out from a city called Valdivia.  That day I ended up exploring ancient forts all to myself, just I did a few days ago in Vaxholm.  Both days were overcast, on the shoulder seasons in places that get a lot more visitors during their summer high season.  These places are thousands and thousands of miles apart, but in my mind that distance, and the 13 years, melted to nothing.

Traveling was great and it was made better knowing you were having such a great time back home.  Here is a transcript of a video I watched many more times than I would have anticipated 3 years ago was possible.

Elle: “hi, bye, I’ll see you later.  Bye.”

Mu: “say hi daddy.”

Elle: “hi daddy, I miss you so much. Bye.!”

Mu: “do you love him so much?”

Elle:  “i love you so much!”

- said with a huge grin

I love you so much!

Love,

dad

Dear E.C.S.: “Let’s go hiking”

Dear E.C.S.,

The past month has been full of adventures on the move – seeing the South of Ethiopia, camping with friends a 4 hour drive from Addis Ababa, and Mombasa, Kenya.

The South of Ethiopia

In Arba Minch (a town in the Southern Nations and Nationalities Peoples Region of Ethiopia) from the amazing restaurant view, you, Elle, looked at us and said  “let’s go hiking.”   Excellent idea.   Nature has abounded around us when we have ventured outside of Addis Ababa.

We’ve seen two species of Baboon. Numerous interesting birds – Egyptian Ducks, Fish Eagles, Maribou Stork, Wide beaked ravens, etc. And HUGE crocodiles.

And even though we have gotten pretty close to ververt monkeys, a lot of our nature experiences have been from machines (boat/car) or on small hikes not that far from our hotel or restaurant.

That’s ok.   Maybe one day, Ethiopia will have the long gorgeous trails of the rockies where recreationists can encounter the wildlife a couple miles out.  For now and since you are only 2, it is probably better that it is so easy for nature to come to us.  And the family of warthogs grazing around the hotel has been a very fun bonus.

Camping with friends

The desire to hike came in handy again when we camped with friends over Labor Day weekend at a place called “Lake Langano.”   It’s a calm restorative place where calm waves of the Lake lap 20 feet from your tent and the diversity of birds stands out even to us non-birders.

We played, hike and ran outside of the polluted air of Addis and felt more refreshed than many a vacation.

Mombasa, Kenya

We took the direct flight to Mombasa, Kenya to celebrate the Ethiopian New Year.   Mombasa’s beaches provided a stark contrast to landlocked Ethiopia.  Also, its clear blue waters reminded me how we only see silt-infused waters (read very brown and murky).

Elle, you loved more beach time, but, still missed “home.”   Home for you  now is Addis Ababa…you can even now say in your toddlerese “Addis Ababa”.  Sometimes you go further a say "i live addis ababa with momma and dadda."  My heart melts every time. 

Love,

Mom

Dear ECS – Harar trip

Dear ECS,         

Welcome back home dearest one.

I know you are happy to get home from our first weekend getaway by the squeal upon waking up in your crib in our house after falling asleep in the taxi home from the airport.  It is heartwarming to  hear your visceral excitement about being back in our home.  Being parents that have disrupted your life and have a non-traditional path for the foreseeable future can be guilt inducing.  Is guilt inducing.   So, your happiness upon being back in our house was very gratifying to your parents.

So what was the weekend?  We went to Harar, to the west of the country.  It is an old city -- began in the 7^th century as a trading municipality.  Harar had 72 emirs before it was conquered by the larger Ethiopian kingdom in the 19^th century.  

Harar’s colorful history includes periods of occupation by both the Egyptians and Italiasn.   Similar to Fez in Morocco, the medina is a maze of tight little cobblestone streets with 40k residents, all packed into about a square kilometer.

Despite being a UNESCO heritage city, there is not an airport that serves the city directly, so we flew into Dire Dawa about an hour and half to the East.  This felt like a pain, but turned into a feature of the trip as the drive proved to be so pretty.    We started out in a desert climate, and quite hot and then climbed up through an escarpment to the higher elevations.  You had a great time pointing out all the animals along the way, including some massive camels.  Camels along the side of the road, we are not in Kansas anymore Elle!

Then we got to the Harar around dusk and settled into a guesthouse in the old city.  It was bare bones compared to our travels since we became a team of three.  Before then, your mom and I have stayed in some truly terrible and memorable places.  Places where we got sick, places where we got robbed, places where we just waited for it to get the first light of dawn so we could leave, places that were actually buses so we saved money by combining travel and accommodation for a night bus.  You get the picture.  

So it was a bit of an adjustment and one you rolled with happily, jumping around on the rugs and pillows that permeate a traditional Harar residence.

For dinner we went to this cool local spot overlooking the main bustling square, with people dashing to and fro in little mechanical tuk tuks zipping around.   

We ate these versions of rotis, made basically the same way but with egg cooked inside.  We had the normal version with spice and some vegetables.  You had a version with just egg, and it was a huge hit.  It felt so relaxing in a weird way to have gotten out of town and be sitting on the patio looking out on a new city to explore over the weekend.

A familiar feeling of anticipation came back, and that feeling is one of the primary reasons I like to get out and explore.

Thanks for being up for the adventure. 

love,

dad