Thursday/Friday/Saturday

Thursday – Day 8

We were off early in the morning. Emnet had a busy agenda for us. We had breakfast on the go – fetera – so good. An arabic breakfast – fried flatbread with egg and honey drizzled on top! It was very good.

Our first stop was in Awassa at a bird sanctuary. We saw some crazy huge birds and lots of monkeys. I even feed on out of my hand – reluctantly. The boys were feeding the big birds fish and wanted me to feed them.... not my kind of thing. You can see in the pictures that i wasn't exactly a willing participant. We also visited Halle Resort in Awassa for a machiatto. Its a beautiful place and i could sure spend some time there – on Lake Awassa – amazing place. We were on the road again and then stopped at Lake Lanagno – another amazing resort i could spend some serious time at. It was so beautiful. The restaurant was a big hut with bamboo roof and a hole in the middle. There were gardens then in the middle – cactus and other plants – so pretty. Also a very nice breeze coming in off the lake. It was very hot while we were there!!!! We walked down to the beach and enjoyed some time by the water. Too bad we didn't have our swim suits with us!!!

Back to the van and then on to Deibra Zeit. We stopped there at the “Officers Club” - there is an airforce base close by. Another really nice place on a lake. It was an enjoyable but long day. We got back to the guesthouse by about 7 that night and there was a coffee ceremony waiting for us – i guess they missed us!!! The idea of having 3 cups of coffee so close to be scared me a bit... but the coffee is so amazing :) Eyob wanted a report of our trip and we were pretty happy to fill him in on all of our adventures! Eyob is from the town near where Bedi was born. I sure slept good that night!!!

Friday – Day 9

We were off to Adama. KVI has an orphanage there and the other 2 couples were having thier post court visit so we tagged along for the ride. The main purpose for us to go was to take the donations to the kids and for the other couples to have a visit with their kids. When Germachew picked us up – he told us we would be bringing the kids back to Addis – surprise – you have to be flexible and go with the flow. When we got there the kids had been napping and so were not so happy. They were actually pretty upset and not so willing to visit. In the end they went back to bed and we went off to have lunch.

Germachew dropped us off at The Safari Lodge. Again it would have been nice to have our swim suits!! We ate lunch by the pool and hung out for a few hours. Germachew had some other business to attend to. He then took us back to the Orphange. The kids were home from school by then and doing homework. We came in and spent some time with them. Its so hard when they don't know much english! The Sister then brought in the new shoes and bags and distributed tehm. It was like Christmas!! The little guy next to me could hardly sit still until she called his name!!! They were very polite and waited thier turn. We spent some time tying up laces and back pack straps. They were pretty happy kids! All too soon we were off in the van again with the 2 nannies and babies as well. It didnt take long for them to settle in and the moms got to hold them for quite a while. It was such a great thing to see 2 moms holding thier sons for the first time. Another long day for sure but a really great one.

Saturday – Day 10

Today we were on our own. We called up Marcos – a well known driver/tour guide. Today was shopping day!!!!! Finally :) We first went to the Former Wood Carrier Workshop. They do weaving and make scarves. Its a good mission and they make nice things. We got to see them weaving and then shopping... so hard to decide!!!

Then we found some traditional clothing and some embroidered pillows and things. Such beautiful work done on these pieces! We were creating a bit of stir on the street. I didn't notice because i was busy shopping... Mike was getting more of it as he was the one holding the wallet.. Marcos did all the bargaining for us... We left one shop without getting what i wanted...but we trusted him and moved on. The next shop owner told us 'he is dangerous'!!! I am sure the shop owners weren't too happy with him!!! We then headed off to the silver market. I got some amazing jewellery – a special piece to commerate this amazing trip -and a piece for Bedi for when he is older. I could have shopped there all day!!! Silver is charged by the weight - 34birr per milligram. This was a fixed price but you get a discount with Marco :) We also went to a coffee place and got some coffee to bring home – also a coffee pot and shiro (stew) pot. By then we were getting pretty hot and ready for lunch. Marcos took us to Ghion Hotel. We looked around the park which was very nice – amazing calla lilies there!! Then we had some lunch there. It was a pretty fancy place! It was a set 3 course menu which was very nice. By then we were pretty hot and ready to be done. We got back to the guesthouse by 2 and showed everyone our treasures – then off to a short nap. We have a nice balcony and so we read out there for a bit – good day!