Travels With Maria

monkeys

Simien Mountains

This morning, a new driver picked us up for the next leg of our tour. This guy, appropriately enough, is named Malas ("bad" in Spanish). He smokes cigarettes, which has evidently damaged his olfactory system because he could use a shower. He's a scary driver, though I got more comfortable as I observed him for a while. Unlike Maria. We had a few close calls, but the only time he slammed on the brakes was when a kid threw a rock at the car. Other than that, our only complaint is that he looks at you to talk. Not a big issue because he doesn't speak English. And he got…
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Lake Tana and the Drive to Gondar

Another early morning, this one after a pretty bad night. Our cute little bungalow's bathroom smelled of sewer gas and we were plagued by mosquitos. No mosquito net. Mas and Tardi picked us up at the hotel at 7:30 for a boat trip on Lake Tana. Early on the morning, the lake was like glass. We first went to the Nile outlet where we saw a family of 4 hippos, fishing eagles, pelicans and other birds. Then we headed across the open water to visit an Orthodox monastery. The trip over took an hour. A mist hung over the trees on the shore, while we were in sunshine. It was…
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Simien Mountains

This morning, a new driver picked us up for the next leg of our tour. This guy, appropriately enough, is named Malas ("bad" in Spanish). He smokes cigarettes, which has evidently damaged his olfactory system because he could use a shower. He's a scary driver, though I got more comfortable as I observed him for a while. Unlike Maria. We had a few close calls, but the only time he slammed on the brakes was when a kid threw a rock at the car. Other than that, our only complaint is that he looks at you to talk. Not a big issue because he doesn't speak English. And he got…
More

Lake Tana and the Drive to Gondar

Another early morning, this one after a pretty bad night. Our cute little bungalow's bathroom smelled of sewer gas and we were plagued by mosquitos. No mosquito net. Mas and Tardi picked us up at the hotel at 7:30 for a boat trip on Lake Tana. Early on the morning, the lake was like glass. We first went to the Nile outlet where we saw a family of 4 hippos, fishing eagles, pelicans and other birds. Then we headed across the open water to visit an Orthodox monastery. The trip over took an hour. A mist hung over the trees on the shore, while we were in sunshine. It was…
More