Ethiopia, destination of warm people, new beginnings

I will not allude to the beauty of Ethiopian women being short of angels because I have not been to heaven, not even in my dreams. But the truth I was so besieged by so much beauty that I feared my eyes would pop out of their sockets. My thoughts were running wild with every vision of beauty that my eyes chanced upon.
I started feeling sorry for the judges forced to choose just one person at local beauty pageants.

Even in its evening years, beauty carries on its traits. I was attracted by these two gorgeous elderly women as they whose faces were beaming with excitement unable to hide their joy. As soon as the plane landed at Gondar Airport, they stood on the tarmac scanning the disembarking passengers searching for their granddaughter whom I had coincidentally chatted with during the journey. I got to know she was their granddaughter from USA who had come down on holiday and was taking the duo around on a sightseeing expedition.

While they waited for her, I asked for a ‘selfie’ moment. As we all smiled into the phone camera I couldn’t help but pray that such a positive spirit to travel catches on more back at home.
Gondar Airport handles connecting flights but is busier than Entebbe International Airport. It does not have as much traffic as Axum Airport or Lalibela, all domestic airports. There are some 20 airports like these.

The traffic is for both local and foreign tourists. At the waiting end are many Ethiopians ready and eager to receive visitors and transport them to the illustrious historical, cultural sites that make Ethiopia the cradle of rich heritage and origins.

There are numerous jobs that tourism creates in the horn of Africa. The tour guides, drivers, interpreters, hotel owners and staff that work therein and more people all feed off tourism which enjoys government support one of the key catalysts that helps it flourish.

Then there are women who are all set and fanning their stoves on which they roast coffee. There is a cup available for about a dollar. That is one of the tastes that will stay with you while you explore the arid countryside that is perched with churches and monasteries.

With the tourists crisscrossing at airports, I chanced on one African American journalist who was a host of the state and on a fact-finding mission to go back lure more Americans to the African nation.

Ethiopian airlines hosted your writer and photographer for the same reason. And among many, the authentic culinary offerings will get back. And it is not that it was an affair that started off on a high. No.

My tongue was hissing from the strong spices in the food. Enjera was a food I was careful not to try out when they told me it was made of some small cereals and bread but when I took the first bites, I kept asking for more and more.

At the tail end of six days, I could enjoy the spice offerings without having to gallop glasses of fresh water. The warmth of people is close and felt, their beauty notwithstanding.

Our guides were very informative and even when the English language got in the way, they devised other means of communication..

What Lonely Planet says
Beautiful people, rich history
Ethiopia is a beautiful country, one of Africa’s most blessed countries, with a peerless history, fabulous wildlife and some of Africa’s most soulful peoples, with epic landscapes both in scale and beauty.

Catch on the festive fever
If you will not be celebrating the Rastafarian big days like the birth of reggae legend Bob Marley, it will be his death anniversary. But there is more. Many festivals are organized to bring love an integral part of the traditional culture, from age-old ceremonies marking rites of passage to Christian celebrations of singular passion, the impact upon those who witness such events can provide travel memories to last a lifetime.

Option on getting there
Ethiopia is rightly sold as the new hot place in Africa given its scenery and unique culture. It has a couple of UNESCO world heritage sites. You can fly Ethiopian airlines thrice. There are a number of hospitality facilities and more that are being worked on to take in more tourists.