Sunday, December 18, 2011

Ethiopia trip (part 5: Debre Libanos)

Since our flight back to the U.S. wasn't until Tuesday we decided to take one more day trip. We went to Debre Libanos, about two hours north of Addis. Debre Libanos is the site of a famous monastery and a beautiful gorge.
Church at Debre Libanos

North of Addis is much drier than the south.
Looking down on fields of teff
Terraced farmland
We had lunch at the turn off of the main road to the monastery. Outside the restaurant was a troop (flange, congress) of about forty gelada baboons.
Geladas are known as "bleeding heart"baboons.
Zinjero cuteness
Say, "Cheese!"

Near the turn to Debre Libanos is a small, old bridge called the "Portuguese Bridge," which may or may not have been built by the Portuguese.
We reunited with H for the trip.

9 comments:

  1. Love the monkeys. I was kind of disappointed to hear about all the wildlife those going to the Sidama region experience. You seemed to see a lot in the northern area as well.

    It does look a heck of a lot drier than the southern region.

    ReplyDelete
  2. These pictures are absolutely amazing! So, are talking only 2 hours drive away? We are taking our two oldest kids with us next trip (6 and 8 y/o). I would love to show them this part of Ethiopia. Do you know, is the altitude of this area such that we would require anti-malaria meds?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jennifer, aside from camels and a dead hyena in the road we didn't see any interesting animals in the south.
    Captain M, yes, 2 hours drive north of Addis. I wouldn't think you would need anti-malarials.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Holy baboons! What a sight! And that gorge is, well, gorgeous! Thanks for sharing pics from your trip.

    ReplyDelete
  5. And my word verification for that comment was "Im a cake" (well, "Imacake")--funny.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have loved your photos! The difference in the areas is quite remarkable. I will have to check back to your blog whenever we get to the point of planning trips.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Kyra, sorry to hear about the challenges of the adoption. I'm glad you went to Ethiopia, though, and your pictures are beautiful. Sounds like you had all sorts of adventures.

    Kala Xristougenna kai oti kalutero gia to neo etos!

    Eirini

    ReplyDelete
  8. Eirini, it was hard but we made the best of it. Kales yiortes kai eutixismeno to 2012!

    ReplyDelete