Ethiopia trip (part 2: Burji)

We took two trips south of Addis. The first was set up by our agency. When we get more news about our case, maybe I'll write about that trip. The second trip was to Burji, where the boys are from. For this trip it was important that we were not going as adoptive parents or connected to our agency in any way, we were just going to see the area.

Our driver H was a nice guy who didn't speak much English. With his few words of English and our few words of Amharic, we communicated OK. We had a beat-up old 4x4 Land Cruiser and a ton of waypoints loaded into our GPS. The first part of our trip was a big success.

We headed south from Addis on Highway 6 through gently rolling farmland (corn and teff), gradually descending into the Rift Valley.

Camels near Lake Ziway

Trucks and donkey pulling cart full of teff near Lake Ziway

We had lunch in Awassa, then continued through Dilla to Yirga Chefe. A group of very excited children followed us around Yirga Chefe.

Main market street in Yirga Chefe

Looking up the market street

The next morning we went about 10 more kilometers past Yirga Chefe and turned off the highway. Everything was very green and tropical-looking.

Outside Yirga Chefe

We left Highway 6 and took the gravel road toward Derba, in Amaro, at the foot of the Nechisar Mountains.

Road to Derba

Road to Derba

We were excited to arrive in Derba and have our morning coffee at the base of the mountains.
Helpful hint: If you are traveling through towns with no signposts, look for the local branch of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia. Even small towns have one. The bank's sign will tell you what town you are in.

Derba

At Derba the road makes a U-turn, going away from the mountains before turning south toward Burji.

Road to Burji

Mountains in Amaro

Car wash

By mid-morning we estimated that we had arrived in Burji.

Looking into Burji. Isn't it beautiful?

Our driver, H.

Burji road

Filming Burji panorama

Burji was beautiful and green and full of farmland.

Qai teff (red teff)

Nech teff (white teff)

Any time we stopped, it didn't take long for kids to turn up.

Kids with their animals in Burji

We passed through the largest town in Burji. The Commercial Bank sign confirmed that it was Soyema. We made a quick stop at the local clinic.

Soyema Clinic

 Around Soyema we saw quite a lot of soil erosion. I wonder if there are any reforestation projects in Burji.

Looking back over Soyema

Area around Soyema

 Soyema was the last town we saw in Burji. After that the road got rougher and we barely saw any people. We climbed for a long time. Finally we crested and looked down toward Konso.

Looking toward Konso

 Burji was behind us and we congratulated ourselves on a well-planned trip. Then there was an unexpected turn of events.