Day 202- Mount Entoto - Coffee at Masrisha's House
Monday, January 21st. 2019.
Today we left the house early to buy bus tickets to Arba Minch. We chose Zemen Bus, a new bus line that our new friend Carlos recommended. I almost had a heart attack when the lady at the ticket office told me that the bus leaves at 4:30am! [Gregory's note: they always say it leaves at 4:30, but they don't mean it. But of course Lili forgot that this is Africa!]
Afterwards, Gregory and Daniel had a coffee at the outdoor table next door. Our taxi driver was waiting to take us to Mount Entoto, but he didn't end up taking us because Gregory showed him his Ethiopian Uber app which said that it should only cost 120 birr. The driver wanted to charge us 600.
We found the tourist information office nearby in Meskel Square which was tastefully decorated, clean, and had good internet. Daniel asked why we hadn’t come before. Gregory walked to the stadium in search of his Habesha beer shirt while I called our driver friend Masrisha to ask if he could take us to Mount Entoto. He had agreed to take us for 600 birr both ways, and that was a fair price according to the guy who worked at the tourist information office.
It took him a while to arrive because he went to pick us up at our apartment instead. He finally came and we headed to the mountain at 11:30am. A little too late for me, but that always happens when we start planning last minute.
The ride was pleasant and slow because Masrisha had an old car and it was having a hard time going up the mountain. We made it to a viewpoint where he let us out to take pictures. I don’t know if the sky was foggy or if it was full of smog [the latter], but we couldn’t see the city very well from up there.
We walked up the rest of the hill (the last few hundred meters from about 2800 to 3000 meters) and we made it to King Menelik II's original "palace" and circular church. We told the driver that we were not interested in going inside. Most of the churches here look the same, they are circular with a cross on top. [Gregory's note: Lili actually wrote that without prompting. Wow.]
Instead of heading down the mountain, Masrisha took us to a great resort called Yaya Village. It was beautiful, green and peaceful. By then it was lunch time so we decided to have drinks and shiro [with injera]. Danielito ordered ice cream of course! We ran into Kai and Carlos who we had met the day before. Honestly, what a tiny world. They had come to play basketball and Kai recognized us and came to say hello.
After that, I think we were all ready to go home [Gregory's note: meaning she was ready to go home. Daniel is always ready to go home so that doesn't count], but Masrisha invited us to his house for coffee. He said that his home was small but that he liked our family and wanted to invite us.
He parked at the start of a narrow dirt road and we walked up that road, past many shanties and then we made it to his house which was in a small courtyard with a few other humble concrete, well-tended houses. His wife came out to welcome us. We sat in the main room. The carpet was covered with plastic so we didn’t have to take off our shoes. The walls were decorated with pictures of all the members of their family. Masrisha showed us a photo of his sons and very proudly said one was away at college, and the other one was in high school. Lastly, he called out his little princess who was seven. She was very shy and adorable.
I think we spent about an hour chatting, laughing and taking pictures. We drank a couple rounds of coffee and ate fresh rosemary bread. Masrisha was so proud of his wife, he kept telling me to take pictures when she was preparing and serving the coffee. He gave us all bottles of water. They were so sweet and welcoming.
In the main room, they had a TV, a refrigerator and a washing machine, so I wonder if they are the wealthy ones in the neighborhood. Our kids played with a stray kitten they had found in the street and brought into the house. They fed the kitty and gave him water. Finally, around 4:00 Masrisha drove us back home. We thanked him and gave him Sunshine's winter jacket and a little Mexican doll magnet for his daughter.
We rested a little bit and then we packed our backpacks for our short trip to Arba Minch. We arranged with Henock to put away our big suitcases while we are away and hoped the apartment would be available when we come back! We went to bed early because we have to be at the bus station at 4:30am! Good Night!
Please click here for pictures
Today we left the house early to buy bus tickets to Arba Minch. We chose Zemen Bus, a new bus line that our new friend Carlos recommended. I almost had a heart attack when the lady at the ticket office told me that the bus leaves at 4:30am! [Gregory's note: they always say it leaves at 4:30, but they don't mean it. But of course Lili forgot that this is Africa!]
Afterwards, Gregory and Daniel had a coffee at the outdoor table next door. Our taxi driver was waiting to take us to Mount Entoto, but he didn't end up taking us because Gregory showed him his Ethiopian Uber app which said that it should only cost 120 birr. The driver wanted to charge us 600.
We found the tourist information office nearby in Meskel Square which was tastefully decorated, clean, and had good internet. Daniel asked why we hadn’t come before. Gregory walked to the stadium in search of his Habesha beer shirt while I called our driver friend Masrisha to ask if he could take us to Mount Entoto. He had agreed to take us for 600 birr both ways, and that was a fair price according to the guy who worked at the tourist information office.
It took him a while to arrive because he went to pick us up at our apartment instead. He finally came and we headed to the mountain at 11:30am. A little too late for me, but that always happens when we start planning last minute.
The ride was pleasant and slow because Masrisha had an old car and it was having a hard time going up the mountain. We made it to a viewpoint where he let us out to take pictures. I don’t know if the sky was foggy or if it was full of smog [the latter], but we couldn’t see the city very well from up there.
We walked up the rest of the hill (the last few hundred meters from about 2800 to 3000 meters) and we made it to King Menelik II's original "palace" and circular church. We told the driver that we were not interested in going inside. Most of the churches here look the same, they are circular with a cross on top. [Gregory's note: Lili actually wrote that without prompting. Wow.]
Instead of heading down the mountain, Masrisha took us to a great resort called Yaya Village. It was beautiful, green and peaceful. By then it was lunch time so we decided to have drinks and shiro [with injera]. Danielito ordered ice cream of course! We ran into Kai and Carlos who we had met the day before. Honestly, what a tiny world. They had come to play basketball and Kai recognized us and came to say hello.
After that, I think we were all ready to go home [Gregory's note: meaning she was ready to go home. Daniel is always ready to go home so that doesn't count], but Masrisha invited us to his house for coffee. He said that his home was small but that he liked our family and wanted to invite us.
He parked at the start of a narrow dirt road and we walked up that road, past many shanties and then we made it to his house which was in a small courtyard with a few other humble concrete, well-tended houses. His wife came out to welcome us. We sat in the main room. The carpet was covered with plastic so we didn’t have to take off our shoes. The walls were decorated with pictures of all the members of their family. Masrisha showed us a photo of his sons and very proudly said one was away at college, and the other one was in high school. Lastly, he called out his little princess who was seven. She was very shy and adorable.
I think we spent about an hour chatting, laughing and taking pictures. We drank a couple rounds of coffee and ate fresh rosemary bread. Masrisha was so proud of his wife, he kept telling me to take pictures when she was preparing and serving the coffee. He gave us all bottles of water. They were so sweet and welcoming.
In the main room, they had a TV, a refrigerator and a washing machine, so I wonder if they are the wealthy ones in the neighborhood. Our kids played with a stray kitten they had found in the street and brought into the house. They fed the kitty and gave him water. Finally, around 4:00 Masrisha drove us back home. We thanked him and gave him Sunshine's winter jacket and a little Mexican doll magnet for his daughter.
We rested a little bit and then we packed our backpacks for our short trip to Arba Minch. We arranged with Henock to put away our big suitcases while we are away and hoped the apartment would be available when we come back! We went to bed early because we have to be at the bus station at 4:30am! Good Night!
Please click here for pictures
https://photos.app.goo.gl/sVkvg1x7btr8TLYz6
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