So you can understand why I will miss the markets of Africa!

A morning wandering through the Bahir Dar (Ethiopia) markets

Meeting some wonderful people on the way

While we were travelling these past ten months, we came across some very interesting people. Quite a few times we met up with fellow-travellers in campsites, and it was always fascinating to hear their stories; what brings people to Africa? Why are they there? Why do they brave the hardships, the obstacles, the danger? There is of course many individuals or couples who travel in these hardy 4x4's that have been adapted and adjusted over time to get most adventurers where they had - originally - intended to get to, and then there is-- probably not surprisingly -- the odd man on a motorbike, travelling on his lonesome self -- man and machine and Africa -- kind of a phenomenon one doesn't even question. Then there is the slightly weird individual who decides to challenge Africa on a bicycle -- and they very much remind me of a certain Don Quichote tilting at windmills. Each to his own... But the group of travellers that always put a smile on my face were the intrepid Samaritans -- those that come to Africa to help make the world a slightly better place than the one they found.

One such person was "The Toshiba Girl". The first time we came across Tamin-Lee Connolly was in Addis where she had managed to pull her big 4x4 in amongst our tents on the handkerchief of a lawn at Holland House, the local backpackers tucked in behind the railway station. When I saw this big clumsy vehicle that looked like it must have been gently lowered in there with a crane as it would have been impossible for anyone to drive in and park in the space where the vehicle was, I wondered who could possibly be such a good driver. Then I noticed this young woman doing a month's load of dusty washing and naturally wondered where her partner was. It was only later that I met Tamin and, somehow, when I heard her South African accent, was not surprised in the least that it all fit together. I immediately became a Number One admirer of this Young Woman with Gumption!

Later we met Tamin again on the shores of Lake Tana and this time I was green, green, ugly green with envy when I heard where she had just been: she had travelled all the way up the length of Lake Turkana -- all by herself -- and had found it to be the most beautiful place she had ever been. Well -- when the brighter shade of green started to subside, I started feeling grey -- grey with the regret that I had not known about Tamin before, for I would surely have managed to fulfill a lifelong dream had I been able to accompany her on that wonderful journey.

Tamin explains what she is about:

I was born in Nelspruit, South Africa (of course she was! - RS) in 1981. I first grew up on my farm near Sabie before my dad was recruited to Indonesia. I was at the young age of 12. I moved to Malaysia and attended The International School of Penang (UPLANDS) but also travelled South East Asia. I was known back then as ‘the jungle girl’ for my wild and wacky ways! I completed my high schooling in Malaysia before going back to South Africa to study my degree in Physical Education and Sports Science. I taught all over South Africa and travelled extensively over Southern Africa, beginning my journey in life as a volunteer and charity worker.

This inspiration sparked in me my desire and dream of making a bigger difference in the world through education. I moved to the United Arab Emirates in 2008 to help kick start that dream!

It was in the UAE that I worked my ass off to plan and prepare for my Big Mama Africa Expedition! I’ve managed to volunteer with ‘One Laptop Per Child’ foundation, and from hundreds of interviews after interviews to gain sponsorship, to acquire my goal of 5000 laptops. I am now ready, if that’s possible, to begin making my dream come true…

Treat yourself and go read more about this remarkable woman: Everything except the horn

Another group of people we came across -- once in Livingstone, Zambia and then another time in Lusaka, was the Book Bus. The reason the immediately caught my eye when I saw it for the first time was because it looked so beautiful: a white bus painted with wispy pictures straight out of Roald Dahl story books -- which is, of course, exactly what they were. The Book Buses are painted white and then decorated with illustrations of Quentin Blake (who is also involved in this amazing project) . What a wonderful way to be noticed on the red dust roads and under the blue dome of the African skies! In Livingstone, coming out of a deliciously hot steamy shower -- always a magical treat! -- I bumped into one of the young women on the Book Bus. Unfortunately I did not get her name -- I asked so many questions about the bus and about what they are doing in Africa, that I never got round to exchanging names! But I did find out about the amazing work these volunteers do: The Book Bus Foundation aims to improve literacy rates in Africa and South America by providing children with books and the inspiration to read them. The Book Bus currently provides a mobile library service for children from disadvantaged communities and families in Zambia, Malawi and Ecuador. Our Book Buses tour schools, hospitals and orphanages to promote reading and storytelling to children who would otherwise have little or no access to books. There's no doubt that stories can make a difference to children's lives and with story tellers onboard, the Book Bus can help maintain the link between local society and its own stories as well as providing inspiration with new stories from afar.

The idea of using a bus to bring books to children is not a new one but our Book Buses are more than simple mobile libraries. Our onboard volunteer crews engage with children and their teachers, promoting reading in a way that is creative, inspiring and above all, fun. By mixing books with enjoyment, our volunteers can encourage an early interest in reading.

Again, well worth your while to go read more about this admirable organisation:

The Book Bus Organisation

Kubb -- the Swedish Viking game that found a place in Africa

Our guest contributor, David Kamras, delighted everyone on the truck when, in Yaounde, Cameroun, he slipped away one afternoon and came back a few hours later with a very heavy bag. Inside the bag was a collection of perfectly sawed and sanded rectangular wooden cuboids. One of them was slightly larger than the others and according to David, called the 'King'. (Orm immediately took the initiative and painted Johnny Walker on the sides - to resemble the walking man as seen on the box... See the side bar)

Kubb (pronounced [kʉb] in Swedish or [kub] in Gutnish) is a lawn game where the object is to knock over wooden blocks by throwing wooden sticks at them. Kubb can be simply described as a combination of bowling and horseshoes. Today's version originated on the island of Gotland, Sweden.

Rules vary from country to country and from region to region, but the ultimate object of the game is to knock the "king" over, before the opponent does. (see what the Tokoloshe says about the way the game is played). This, combined with the fact that there is a certain level of strategy that can be used by players, has led some players and kubb fans to nickname the game "Viking chess." Looking at our boys play Kubb, I can confirm that it is an extremely competitive sport. When Sweden and Britain, team up against Canada and Australia, the tempers can flare up, the vocabulary can become colourful, the emotions can run high -- and a lot of fun will always be had!

Some games have been known to last for hours. The game can be played on a variety of surfaces such as sand, concrete, grass, or even ice. On our trip the surfaces ranged from dried out mud to a very lively top of a termite mound to the sands of the Sahara. Wherever, and whenever, when the truck came to a stop and the Kubb players were not responsible for cooking the meal of the night, the game was enjoyed by all -- participants and spectators alike!

Thank you David -- for an excellent gift to the trip!

The catch of the day on the Zambezi River!

In Africa, you never know what you are going to get! (Guest contribution from David Kamras!)

When Wilna asked me to write something for her blog, I thought long and hard, as I wanted to come up with something interesting about travelling in Africa, from a Swedish perspective. However, that seemed a bit boring and too obvious, so instead I listened to an ancient saying from this continent…

“In Africa, you never know what you are going to get, it might be good, it might be bad, but it will always be a surprise.”…and decided to go for a surprise, a 1X2 quiz about our trip.

So, what do you remember from this trip? Did you study the blog carefully or did you just scan through the texts? Post your answers to the 13 regular 1X2 questions in the comments area, and don’t forget to answer the bonus question maximise your chances. Wilna will decide the winner, and the lucky one wins an elegant souvenir from her African collection.

1. In which two countries did we end up staying about a month due to visa problems?

1) Mali & Nigeria

2) Mali & DRC

3) Nigeria & DRC

2. Which original passenger was the first one to leave the trip?

1) Jesco

2) Kyle

3) John

3. Some of the boys had a contest to see who could get the longest beard by the time we reached Cape Town, who won in the end?

1) Graham

2) Orm

3) Ben

4. In which country did we get a fetish (evil spell) put on us by a disappointed guide?

1) Mali

2) Congo

3) Benin

5. Elisa taught us many more or less useful facts about her native country, which one is it?

1) Finland

2) Italy

3) Germany

6. What is the name of our beloved truck, which has got its name after Mark’s favourite band?

1) Roxy

2) Queeny

3) Spicy

7. Wilna was the first one to buy a wood carved mask, but which animal did her Dogon purchase look like?

1) Antelope

2) Bull

3) Eagle

8. For the ABC Party in Yaoundé, Tash made her costume out of what material?

1) Newspapers

2) Playing Cards

3) Cigarette boxes

9. We have cooked many delicious meals on the trip, but which dish was the very first dinner to be served?
1) Chilli Con Carne

2) Chicken Stir Fry

3) Beef Stew

10. After a tough competition, the winner of the Hat Party was eventually?

1) Suzanne

2) David

3) Wilna

11. Orm successfully proposed to Emy in the Okavango Delta, but what did they toast in?
1) Champagne

2) Beer

3) Red Wine

12. Due to wrong citizenship, one group member was not allowed into Mauretania, who?

1) Tony

2) Randy

3) Andrew

13. Wilna has been leaving buttons in places she deemed special enough to deserve one, but how many holes are there in each button?

1) 4

2) 2

3) None

If two or more readers get the same number of correct answers, the winner will be decided by the best answer to the following bonus question;

14) What is Africa?

God jul och lycka till!

David

Who? David Kamras also known as 'Dahveet'; origin: Stockholm,Sweden, also seen sipping coffee (with a smile) at a sidewalk cafe, watching people, in Stoke-on-Trent, Britain. An utterly nice guy who speaks funny, shaves his head, talks in his sleep (no -- no secrets -- unless you know Swedish?), fabulous cooking partner, initiator of the brilliant "Kub" game on the journey, the man who likes to win at Spades.

Where? Find him on his blog where, he says:

Quote from David: "ENGLISH READERS of my blog - This blog is written in Swedish. If you don't know any, start learning, use google translate or get a friendly Swede to help you. However, all pictures will be shown in both Swedish and English.

Why? Ask him: he is the one often says "What's the point?"

Tattoos? None that he will admit to

CLOSING DATE OF COMPETITION: JANUARY 30 2012. SEND ENTRIES TO

Wilna's email.

The biggest day of my life during my once-in-a-lifetime adventure : Guest contribution from Orm

An Introduction – A big hello to all of Wilna’s fans and followers, my name is Joel but everyone calls me Orm, a middle name chosen by my parents out of a book they were reading around the time I was born. The title of the book is “The Longships” and I’m almost embarrassed to say that I can’t remember the authors name but I think he may have been Swedish, definitely Scandinavian. It’s a story about a young Viking named Orm and his best mate “Toke” and the adventures they go on. I think it was written in the 1950’s, I’ve read it a couple of times and I can honestly say it would be one of my all time favourites even if I wasn’t named after the main character... GREAT BOOK!! I want to take this opportunity to tell you about the biggest and best day of my life while on the trip of a life time...

A Bit Of Background – I grew up reading Willard Price books in my younger years before progressing to Wilbur Smith books in high school and i guess that’s where my interest in Africa may have started, that and my general love of animals and fascination with wild life documentaries. At first i was looking to take 5 or 6 weeks off work and spend the majority of that time in Botswana, Tanzania and Malawi but the more i read up the more i wanted to see and then a friend put me on to this 43 week “expedition” and i was sold. I was single at the time..

Enter Emy – I first met Emy at a music festival in Victoria. If i remember correctly she poked her head around a few people that were standing around me in the crowd and said “Orm”.. I turned around to see this tall, good looking brunette smiling at me. “How’s it going?” i asked, confused as to how this girl new my name. “You don’t know me do you? My name is Emy, i live in Roxby...” I didn’t know Emy and couldn’t even recall seeing her at the pub or running into her in the supermarket which is kind of surprising in a town of 4500 people most of which are men. I had heard her name mentioned by a couple of my mates tho, i can’t remember how exactly but the name Emy and the word “teacher” had come up once or twice.. No doubt the boys were discussing the good looking girls about town. And that was pretty much all i saw of Emy for a while apart from a couple of g’days and a drunken dancefloor conversation down at the local tavern we didn’t really run in to each other a lot but i knew that i liked her. She was tall, funny, had great taste in music and looked a treat... what wasn’t to like??

I guess the big moment came when i was invited to my mate Ricky’s birthday dinner at the one restaurant we have in Roxby. I had a feeling Emy was going to be there as Ricky had been seeing a girl (named Rikki funnily enough) for a few years who was also a teacher and i knew that her and Emy were friends. So i had a shave, put on my favourite shirt and my best pair of jeans and slapped on a generous amount of cologne and strolled down to dinner. I was feeling nervous but actually pretty stoked when i walked in and saw the only vacant seat at the table was the one next to Emy.. (I had no idea at the time but it turns out that Em and a couple of her teacher friends had arranged for it to be that way and there were a few sneaky smiles and chortles when i sat down). I tried to say something funny like “Oh great, i get to sit next the worse person here” but i don’t think it came off, no doubt she saw through my feigned sense of coolness. We had a nice meal and then went out for a few drinks and a dance and had a chance to talk for a bit more. A few weeks later we were officially dating.

The Ring– We’d been together for just over a year and living together for most of that before we left Australian shores to have a look at Africa and i already knew that Emy was the girl i was going to marry and that i was going to ask her to do that at some stage during the trip. We were a few weeks into the expedition when i told Wilna of my plans. Emy and I sit directly behind Wilna on the truck and feel extremely fortunate to do so. We’d become friends very quickly, often exchanging biscuits, peanuts or local treats while watching the country side go by, so i felt completely comfortable asking for her help to find me a ring. So separately we scoured the Moroccan stalls, keeping an eye out for something nice and something “Emy” without much luck. It wasn’t until we were in the Dogon country in Mali that i finally spied what i’d been looking for.. “Spied” is probably not the right word. .. in Mali that I finally had what i’d been looking for thrust in to my face and told i could have at a good price repeatedly by a persistent local man would be more apt. I was half way through saying “no thanks mate, I don’t want it” for the fourth or fifth time when i suddenly realised that i actually wanted it very much. What he had was a brass ring with what almost, but not quite, looked like a little berber teapot kind of welded on to the top of it.

“What is it?” i asked.

“A teapot, a berber teapot for making berber tea” was the mans reply.

I raised a suspicious eyebrow and looked at it again, squinted a bit and saw the berber teapot. The ring was big and chunky, old and dirty, kind of strange and it was perfect. Emy really enjoyed the whole berber tea experience while in that part of Africa and had bought a few different types of tea and her own teapot in Morocco and we’d talked about making it for friends and guests when we got home, so i was feeling pretty pleased with myself when i’d agreed on a price and had the ring in my pocket. Twenty minutes later i was strolling up the hill towards the groups meeting point when i had another man approach me. I was already saying “no thanks” before he’d shown me what he had to offer but was pleasantly surprised when he pulled out a little hand carved, wooden box/pot thing – perfect for putting something like a ring in. Once again i walked away feeling absolutely chuffed with myself and raced up the hill to show my purchases to Wilna who seemed just excited as i was and happily agreed to keep them hidden under her seat on the truck until the big moment arrived.

The Big Moment – At some point whilst travelling down the west coast of Africa i’d decided that i was going to ask Emy to marry me in the Etosha game park in Namibia. I’d heard that you could sit on a viewing platform overlooking a waterhole all night and watch the animals roll in. In my mind i pictured popping the question in the moonlight while lions and rhinos drank below us and all sorts of African animal noises went on around us. The closer we got to Namibia the more i excited i got but my plans were shot down in the Democratic Republic of Congo when several Angolan embassies, for several different reasons, denied us access to their country and we were forced to fly over Angola and join a different truck in Namibia.. the day they came out of Etosha! We were both pretty devastated about missing out on Etosha, as was the whole group, mainly because it was going to be our first real chance to see some of the animals Africa is famous for, but i also had other business there. With no plan B in mind i thought i’d just wait and see what came up..

After having a great time in Namibia and South Africa we were on our way to Botswana and a two night trip into the Okavango Delta. I didn’t really know what to expect there but while packing our bags for the trip i decided to throw my little package in just in case an opportunity presented itself.. It was on the second morning in the delta that we learnt there was to be a sunset mokoro ride that night and my heart skipped a beat, this was it.

We were lucky enough to have a fantastic day, seeing elephant and a few zebra during a walking safari (after seeing nothing but tracks the day before), taking a refreshing swim in the heat of the day and then relaxing around the campsite waiting for the sun to head downwards. I’d been playing cards with a few of the boys and thinking about how i was going to get the ring out of my tent and onto the mokoro without raising suspicion when Emy came out of the tent to see how i was going. I kind of lured her into sitting down to play and then immediately excused myself from the game somehow, i think i said i was going to read. The card game was going on well away from our tent and out of sight of the mokoros so my mission was a lot easier than it could have been.

I was just on my way to see our mokoro poler ‘Beauty’ a large sometimes friendly, often surly woman to ask her if it would be ok if i stashed the ring on the boat when i ran into Wilna and told her of my plans. She beamed a smile at me and then, as thoughtful as she always is, asked me if i had a bottle of wine to take out with me. Unfortunately i did not but Wilna went to fetch hers and then came with me to see Beauty. We put my case forward to Beauty asking her if she could find a nice spot away from the other boats as the sun was about to disappear over the horizon where i could ask my girlfriend to marry me. She seemed to understand what we were asking but didn’t show too much emotion about it, simply giving us an “ok... no problem”.

So i grabbed the box from out of the tent, filled it with some pretty and nice smelling white flowers from a nearby tree, dropped the ring on top of the flowers, closed the lid and then placed the box at the back of the mokoro along with the bottle of wine and a couple of plastic mugs.

When it was time for everybody to board the boats i made sure that Emy and I went and stood by ours to ensure we would be in the right one. Emy had sat on the front seat a couple of times but hadn’t liked being the first one through the many spider webs constructed in the reeds so that morning had asked me to sit up front. I assumed she would be happy to sit in the middle again that night but no, she’d decided she wanted to be back in the lead seat. I couldn’t really ask her hand in marriage with her back to me so before i sat down i spun her seat around to face mine. It turned out she wasn’t too happy with that and when she asked me why i’d done it i told her it was so that we could look at each other and talk while on the cruise.. I think she was a little bit mystified by my sudden romantic notions and more than a little annoyed that i had ruined her viewing as she complained for the next twenty minutes about having to twist her neck around to see anything and that the whole point of sitting in the front was to get an unspoilt view as we glided along.

I apologised profusely and tried to make her feel bad for being annoyed with me by calmly saying “i was just trying to do something nice” but i don’t think it totally worked.

She was on the verge of risking falling overboard to stand up and turn her seat around when out of despair i blurted “well before you do that, would you like some wine?”

“Where are you going to get wine from?”

“I brought some out with us..”

“Why?”

“I dunno, thought it would be nice”

“Where did you get wine from?”

“I bought it before we left to come into the Delta” I lied.

“No you didn’t... Wilna gave it to you didn’t she?”

“.......no” I lied again.

“Oh she did so, it’s already been opened”,

“....maybe, just shoosh and enjoy your wine”.

She smiled then, more out of catching me out than general happiness i think, but it was encouraging just the same. We sat and watched some hippos for a while, sipping Wilna's wine from our red plastic mugs and then got news that there was an elephant on the bank not far away.

I was a bit worried because i judged i had about 20 minutes or so before showtime and i really wanted to be in the boat. But we got out and had a nice close viewing of the elephant eating grass and just generally being an elephant before returning to our mokoros and the hippos.

The sun was just about on the horizon and the sky was a beautiful dark pink when the other boats started poling back to camp before it got to dark. Beauty, playing her role to perfection, asked if we wanted to get a photo of the sunset.

I said “yea, that’d be great, can we just stop here a minute?”

She pulled up the boat and as Emy took photos of the sky, heart racing i reached behind my seat for the little box. As Emy put the camera away i said to her “I brought out another little surprise for you”..

“What is it?” she asked me, smiling and laughing a little. Exact details of what transpired next are a little hazy, even laying in our tent that night recapping on the moment, neither of us could remember exactly what was said but it was something pretty close to this.. I showed Emy the box then removed the lid and handed it to her.

Peering inside and reaching for the ring she laughed and again asked what it was. I remember feeling surprisingly calm but also stupidly excited at the same time and replied “It’s a ring, and that’s a little berber teapot”... Emy had a massive smile on her face and couldn’t stop laughing while she was turning it over and over (probably trying to find the angle at which the teapot actually looked like a teapot).

I took the ring from her, did the mental calculations to make sure i was taking her left hand (not as easy as it sounds under extreme pressure) and slipping the ring on to her slender finger with a slight shake to my voice said “I know this ring hasn’t got any diamonds, but with it I’d like to ask you Emelia Mitchell to marry me”..

With tears starting to roll down her cheek she let out a nervous laugh, asked me if this was really happening then leaned forward to hug me and said yes! We stayed like that for what seemed like minutes, with Beauty screaming her African celebratory screams and tears now streaming down both of our cheeks. We eventually pulled back from each other and half crying, half laughing tried to think of things to say.. There was a lot of “I can’t believe this is happening” and “Are you okays” but not much more than that.

I remember us poling close to Wilnas boat and saying “she said yes!” and Wilna pointing her camera at us. Word spread fast and once we got back to the campsite there was a lot of hugging and handshaking and Dave poured a few celebratory whiskies.. It was very emotional.

That night we were treated to some African singing and dancing with Emy and I being plucked from the crowd to perform a newly wed dance/march around the fire. It was a perfect way to end a perfect day amongst all of our new found friends.

I was so pleased that Wilna got to be a part of the day after it seemed for a short time that she may not have been. She was the only person on the truck that i’d told and she did a great job keeping the secret and the ring safe, it really meant a lot to Emy and I that she was there. I can’t thank Wilna enough for the bottle of wine either.. without it i would have had no excuse to keep Emy seated where she was and things might not have panned out so perfectly, so CHEERS Wilna and thanks again for your thoughtfulness, it just wouldn’t have been the same without you! x x

Lake Awassa, Lake Tana, the Gondar castles -- Ethiopia's treasures abound

There were many many highlights in Ethiopia, but Lake Awassa and Lake Tana were definitely among the highest. On Lake Awassa I savoured every moment, until long after sunset and from long before sunrise, watching the plethora of beautiful birds that came right up to my tent, allowing me to watch them without worrying that anything or anyone would chase them from their relaxed environment. The changing light caused all lines to evaporate into the ether -- no horizon, no difference between water and sky. Even the reeds and grasses in the water had no end -- their reflections erasing any dividing lines between the reality and the dream.


On Lake Tana I had the very sad misfortune of having my laptop case stolen -- including all the USB sticks with the photographs of the first five months of my journey through Africa - now forever gone - as well as my mobile phone -- the only place in the world where I had the contact/telephone numbers of every friend and contact in my close network. Again -- forever gone. But, despite this huge loss, Lake Tana crawled into my heart, nestled in and made itself part of my very fabric.

In Ethiopia, Lake Tana is quite important, as it is here that remains of ancient Ethiopian emperors and treasures of the Ethiopian Coptic Church are kept in the isolated island monasteries (including Kebran Gabriel, Ura Kidane Mehret, Narga Selassie, Daga Estifanos, Medhane Alem of Rema, Kota Maryam and Mertola Maryam). On the island of Tana Qirqos, so the legend goes, the Virgin Mary rested her head when on her way from Egypt (to where, you may well ask). It was also here, they say, where the Ark of the Covenant was kept before it was removed and taken to Axum. As in every country - or place wherethe Church got

involved, the myths and legends in this region abound. The monasteries are believed to rest on earlier religious sites and include the fourteenth century Debre Maryam with its exquisite murals, the eighteenth century Narga Selassie and Ura Kidane Mehret, known for its emperors' regalia -- sadly now dusty and tarnished and crumbling, but still guarded by an old man with a gun that must date to a few centuries ago.

Another fascinating discovery was the complex of beautiful castles in Gondar, the last big town in the North of Ethiopia that we travelled through.

Famous though Gondar may be, however, no one knows exactly why Fasilidas chose to establish his headquarters there. Some legends say an archangel prophesied that an Ethiopian capital would be built at a place with a name that began with the letter G. The legend led to a whole series of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century towns - Guzara, Gorgora and finally Gondar. Another legend claims that the city was built in a place chosen by God. Apparently, He pointed it out to Fasilidas who was on a hunting expedition and followed a buffalo to the spot.

Flanked by twin mountain streams at an altitude of more than 2,300 meters Gondar commands spectacular views over farmlands to the gleaming waters of Lake Tana thirty-five kilometers to the south. The city retains an atmosphere of antique charm mingled with an aura of mystery and violence. An extensive compound, near its center contains the hulking ruins of a group of

imposing castles like some African Camelot. The battlements and towers evoke images of chivalrous knights on horseback and of ceremonies laden with pageantry and honor. Other, darker, reverberations recall chilling echoes of Machiavellian plots and intrigues, tortures and poisonings.

The main castle was built in the late 1630s and early 1640s on the orders of Fasilidas. The Emperor, who was greatly interested in architecture - St Marys in Axum was another of his works - was also responsible for seven churches, a number of bridges, and a three-story stone pavilion next to a large, sunken bathing place, rectangular in shape, which is still filled during the Timkat season with water from the nearby Qaha river.

Gondar's rise to prominence under Fasilidas occurred little less than a century after Ethiopian

Christendom had come close to total destruction at the hands of the Islamic warlord, Ahmed Gragn, whose forces swept in from the east in 1528. The fighting only ended in 1543 when the Muslim commander was shot dead by a Portuguese musketeer - one of 400 who had been sent to reinforce the flagging armies of Emperor Galawdewos.

While it remained the capital of Ethiopia until 1855, the city was a vigorous and vital center of religious learning and art. Painting and music, dance and poetry, together with skilled instruction in these and many other disciplines, thrived for more than two hundred years.

Bakaffas successor, Iyasu II, is regarded by most historians as the last of the Gondar Emperors to rule with full authority. During his reign, work began on a whole range of new buildings outside the main palace compound. The monarch also developed the hills north-west of the city center known as Kweskwam - after the home of the Virgin Mary. Most buildings there are in ruins today, including the largest - a square, three-storey castle with a flat roof and crenellated walls embellished with a series of bas-reliefs of various Ethiopian animals.

After Iyasu II in the mid-1700s, the realm sank into increasing chaos with regular coups d'etat and the rise of a rebellious nobility who became dominant in Ethiopian national life.

Narrating Gragn's fate, the British traveler Sir Richard Burton wrote: Thus perished the African hero who dashed to pieces the structure of 2,500 years. It was no exaggeration. Gragn's Jihad was a national catastrophe for Ethiopia. The Christian highlands, from Axum in the north to the shores of Lake Tana in the west, were almost completely overrun for more than a decade and much of the cultural legacy of previous centuries disappeared. In a sustained orgy of vandalism, hundreds of churches - great artistic treasure- houses - were looted and burnt and an immense booty carried away.

Gondar, beautiful from its beginnings, rose from the ashes of this smoldering backdrop of so recent and so traumatic a history. There can be little doubt that Fasilidas and his successors saw their elegant capital as a phoenix and so patronized the arts. They were doing nothing less than rebuilding their national heritage. In the process they built faithfully on the few solid foundations left from the past, rediscovered much that had been thought lost, and established a sense of purpose and a new direction for the future.

Lalibela : a dream carved in stone

A visit to Ethiopia would not be complete without a lengthy visit to Lalibela. One of the most amazing places I have ever seen. And were it not for the photographs I now ponder over, I would wonder that I was ever there -- such is the dreamlike quality of this stunning place...

The rock-hewn churches of Lalibela are exceptionally fine examples of a long-established Ethiopian building tradition. Monolithic churches are to be found all over the north and the centre of the country. Some of the oldest of such churches are to be found in Tigray, where some are believed to date from around the 6th or 7th centuries. King Lalibela is believed to have commissioned these structures with the purpose of creating a holy and symbolic place which considerably influenced Ethiopian religious beliefs.

The 11 medieval monolithic cave churches of this 13th-century 'New Jerusalem' are situated in a mountainous region in the heart of Ethiopia near a traditional village with circular-shaped dwellings. Lalibela is a high place of Ethiopian Christianity, still today a place of pilgrimage and devotion.

Lalibela is a small town at an altitude of almost 2,800 m in the Ethiopian highlands. It is surrounded by a rocky, dry area. Here in the 13th century devout Christians began hewing out the red volcanic rock to create 13 churches. Four of them were finished as completely free-standing structures, attached to their mother rock only at their bases. The remaining nine range from semi-detached to ones whose facades are the only features that have been 'liberated' from the rock.

The Jerusalem theme is important. The rock churches, although connected to one another by maze-like tunnels, are physically separated by a small river which the Ethiopians named the Jordan. Churches on one side of the Jordan represent the earthly Jerusalem; whereas those on the other side represent the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of jewels and golden sidewalks alluded to in the Bible.

It was King Lalibela who commissioned the structures, but scholars disagree as to his motivation. According to a legendary account, King Lalibela was born in Roha. His name means 'the bee recognizes its sovereignty'. God ordered him to build 10 monolithic churches, and gave him detailed instructions as to their construction and even their colours. When his brother Harbay abdicated, the time had come for Lalibela to fulfil this command. Construction work began and is said to have been carried out with remarkable speed, which is scarcely surprising, for, according to legend, angels joined the labourers by day and at night did double the amount of work which the men had done during the hours of daylight.

Like more episodes in the long history of this country, there are many legends about this king. One is that Lalibela was poisoned by his brother and fell into a three-day coma in which he was taken to Heaven and given a vision of rock-hewn cities. Another legend says that he went into exile to Jerusalem and vowed that when he returned he would create a New Jerusalem. Others attribute the building of the churches to Templars from Europe.

The names of the churches evoke hints of Hebrew, a language related to the Hamo-Semitic dialect still used in Ethiopian church liturgies: Beta Medhane Alem (House of the Saviour of the World), Beta Qedus Mikael (House of St Michael) and Beta Amanuel (House of Emmanuel) are all reminiscent of the Hebrew beth(house). In one of the churches there is a pillar covered with cotton. A monk had a dream in which he saw Christ kissing it; according to the monks, the past, the present and the future are carved into it. The churches are connected to each other by small passages and tunnels.

Below just a few (!) of the many many wonderful moments I experienced at Lalibela, ending with the coffee ceremony being performed for me by Agarito, the little eleven year-old sister of my guide for the two days, Deacon Sasay. Some of the pics are similar or almost the same -- forgive me for not being able to decide which one you might enjoy! And, no doubt if you looked at the pics of everyone else who was there at the same time, you will wonder why I don't have those photos included! If it were possible and time and space allowed, be assured you would have had at least 346 photographs to plough through.

(Is that what I posted anyway? Oops!...)