Posted by David Gledhill
More Adventures from our Intrepid Rotarian
In March 2022 Mike was planning to spend three weeks in Ethiopia and then move on to Uganda but then Covid hit.  As a result we were shown around parts of a country none of the rest of us are ever likely to visit.  Coffee is believed to have originated in Ethiopia, where they drink it thick and sweet and after such a coffee Mike's adventures began.  
The country itself, although it has a venerable ancient history from the time of the Queen of Sheba, has recently been through troubled times.  When the last Emperor, Haile Selassie was overthrown the country was ruled by the aptly named Dirge, who established a dictatorial reign of terror with 100000 to 500000 being killed.  Now that period is over but Ethiopia is in the middle of a civil war against one of its provinces, Tigre, with massacres and suffering on both sides.  However Mike was able to take  pictures of the fast growing capital, Addis Ababa before moving on to Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile.  He visited several monasteries, and was impressed by the lurid primitive style of illustrated stories on the walls.  He also visited a 16th century castle and the escarpment, 4000 feet above sea level.  Often he was the only European and there were few foreign tourists.  On one occasion his bus was stopped by a militia group, probably the Tiguan and all the non European passengers were forced off. He was able to visit the monastery holding the famed Ark of the Covenant, but was not allowed inside.  Shortly after he left that area several hundred people were slaughtered and thousands died from wounds or malnutrition.  When Covid appeared it became a matter of extreme urgency to get back to New Zealand.  All the world famous airlines were unable to help but eventually he was able to take an Ethiopian Airline plane to Singapore and thence back to NZ  just before international travel stopped the borders were closed.  As John Cole said in thanking Mike, it was good to be shown an area where we  are most unlikely to go ourselves.