Allison met me at the airport. We caused a little bit of a scene, and couldn’t breathe for a bit from hugging each other so hard. I would also like to give a shout out to my current skincare routine for making my skin look so awesome after 30+ hours travelling (and not having on makeup except for the two day old eyeliner – whoops).
This billboard was outside of the airport in Addis. It’s funny because the Chinese are building a bunch of stuff in the city right now. As well as you definitely don’t think of Africa as a gateway to Asia in general. We only spent a day in Addis before making our way to Robe, where Allison has been living. It’s way up in the mountains, and we had to switch buses in Adama (which is way cooler than Addis by the way).
After roughly 5 hours on buses we finally made it to Robe. Funnily enough, the countryside reminded me a lot of Eastern Oregon/Washington but with palm trees instead of fir trees. Regardless it’s a good thing I don’t get motion sickness, because about 3/4 of the ride was on bumpy unpaved dirt roads.
After spending a couple days in Robe, we went to Debre Zeyit for the remainder of my stay. It is most well known for the 7 lakes around the city, and it is absolutely gorgeous. Probably my favorite spot so far in Ethiopia. The mosquitoes are ruthless though. I’m still itching at spots.
The hotel we stayed in here was absolutely gorgeous, and will be featured in part 2 of my Traveling in Ethiopia posts. Overall though, I am so incredibly happy that I was able to see so many different parts of Ethiopia, and to make so many new friends! My family had been a bit worried about my going to Africa, but I felt really safe the entire time I was there. Plus Allison had been there for a year already so it couldn’t have been that bad, haha. My main advice for people who plan to travel to Ethiopia (and this applies to pretty much anywhere), is just be aware of your surroundings and pay attention to what’s going on around you. Above all, don’t let being afraid of doing something keep you from experiencing something life changing. [=
♡Em
