Day 207 - Paradise Lodge - Swimming with Baboons
Saturday, January 26, 2019.
Today I did make it to 6:20am mass. It was hard to get up early but I’m glad I did because there were only 4 people at the mass. It was beautiful to hear the girls singing and more beautiful to understand what was going on in the mass. I think it's great that no matter what language you speak, or part of the world you are in, you can understand the language of God. I understood some words in Amharic which I have learned like: God - Geti, Amesegnalehy - thank you, selam- peace, Gegu - Jesus, and others that I don’t remember. After the gospel, Father Kilimpe gave a small explanation in English. That was so nice of him and I thanked him later at breakfast.
We had some screen time after breakfast and around 11ish we called our bajaj driver, Nasser, to take us to one of the other 2 nice hotels here. Paradise Lodge is beautiful and it has more of an African feel to it. T buildings are wooden pole and thatch construction and the rooms are [nice] huts. We paid more today because it's Saturday but still, $6 for the use of the pool and shower is not bad! Daniel and Gregory didn’t want to swim. They found a table with a palm umbrella to sit and read.
Sunshine jumped in the pool and I was reading when all of a sudden we saw a baboon coming to the pool to drink water, and then another one. I took my phone out to take some pictures. Gregory and Daniel ran with their cameras as well. There was a whole family, some of them waiting their turn in the rocks and trees.
We were so excited and amazed to see how close the baboons came to the pool and to humans. There were some locals swimming and they were not surprised at all! It's just funny to see how natural it was for them and a big deal for us! Sunshine and Daniel were thrilled. The baboons hung around the swimming pool for a while. We noticed one baboon observing us, it seemed like he was the boss, while the others were just hanging in the shade or grooming one another.
Around 2:00pm, we went to the dining room hut. The view was even better than the Haile, mostly because you could see more of the forest. You could also see the hawks and storks flying underneath you. It was just breathtaking. Gregory and I ordered the traditional dish called shiro bozena, which is shiro with meat (which was chewy), Sunshine was dying for a grilled cheese sandwich and Daniel for a tomato soup. While we were eating, we saw more baboons outside someone's room.
After dinner, we chatted with father Kilimpe for an hour. I could tell that he really enjoyed chatting with Gregory. We finally thanked him for letting us stay and for his hospitality. The Catholic mission is not open to everybody, only by recommendation, and we were lucky we met Carlos a week ago, since he knew them. The rooms were bare bones and the bathroom didn’t have hot water and had ants and bugs. Honestly, I didn’t mind at all because we really only used the rooms to sleep. We mostly hung around the common area which was very pleasant. Even Daniel wanted to spend the day there instead of a nice hotel resort. I’m so happy we came here to Arba Minch and the mission. I feel renew and rested and so much in peace.
Today I did make it to 6:20am mass. It was hard to get up early but I’m glad I did because there were only 4 people at the mass. It was beautiful to hear the girls singing and more beautiful to understand what was going on in the mass. I think it's great that no matter what language you speak, or part of the world you are in, you can understand the language of God. I understood some words in Amharic which I have learned like: God - Geti, Amesegnalehy - thank you, selam- peace, Gegu - Jesus, and others that I don’t remember. After the gospel, Father Kilimpe gave a small explanation in English. That was so nice of him and I thanked him later at breakfast.
We had some screen time after breakfast and around 11ish we called our bajaj driver, Nasser, to take us to one of the other 2 nice hotels here. Paradise Lodge is beautiful and it has more of an African feel to it. T buildings are wooden pole and thatch construction and the rooms are [nice] huts. We paid more today because it's Saturday but still, $6 for the use of the pool and shower is not bad! Daniel and Gregory didn’t want to swim. They found a table with a palm umbrella to sit and read.
Sunshine jumped in the pool and I was reading when all of a sudden we saw a baboon coming to the pool to drink water, and then another one. I took my phone out to take some pictures. Gregory and Daniel ran with their cameras as well. There was a whole family, some of them waiting their turn in the rocks and trees.
We were so excited and amazed to see how close the baboons came to the pool and to humans. There were some locals swimming and they were not surprised at all! It's just funny to see how natural it was for them and a big deal for us! Sunshine and Daniel were thrilled. The baboons hung around the swimming pool for a while. We noticed one baboon observing us, it seemed like he was the boss, while the others were just hanging in the shade or grooming one another.
Around 2:00pm, we went to the dining room hut. The view was even better than the Haile, mostly because you could see more of the forest. You could also see the hawks and storks flying underneath you. It was just breathtaking. Gregory and I ordered the traditional dish called shiro bozena, which is shiro with meat (which was chewy), Sunshine was dying for a grilled cheese sandwich and Daniel for a tomato soup. While we were eating, we saw more baboons outside someone's room.
After lunch, Gregory and I wanted to go for a short walk to check out the rest of the lodge. On our way, we saw warthogs sleeping outside the guest bedrooms. We couldn’t believe it! Gregory ran to get the kids so they could see them. It was just amazing to see them so close, lying there. We saw another family of warthogs near the pool when we got back after our walk.
We swam, read and wrote. We had another relaxing and fun day! We also took advantage that the showers had good water pressure and hot water, something we don’t have at the mission.
We made it back on time for dinner at the mission. I noticed that Mimi, our cook, made more dishes, I don’t know if that was because I told her that it was our last meal or because I had tipped her the day before. In any case, she made more food than usual, including meat. Her cooking is delicious, even her vegetables, which are a very simple dish of cabbage, carrots, and spinach but I think her secret is a lot of garlic and onion. I will miss her meals. It felt like a real vacation to me, not having to worry at all about any meals! Gregory also enjoyed himself and expressed how relaxing these few days had been. We don’t want to go back to Addis Ababa but we already have the tickets and we already stayed two extra days!
We swam, read and wrote. We had another relaxing and fun day! We also took advantage that the showers had good water pressure and hot water, something we don’t have at the mission.
We made it back on time for dinner at the mission. I noticed that Mimi, our cook, made more dishes, I don’t know if that was because I told her that it was our last meal or because I had tipped her the day before. In any case, she made more food than usual, including meat. Her cooking is delicious, even her vegetables, which are a very simple dish of cabbage, carrots, and spinach but I think her secret is a lot of garlic and onion. I will miss her meals. It felt like a real vacation to me, not having to worry at all about any meals! Gregory also enjoyed himself and expressed how relaxing these few days had been. We don’t want to go back to Addis Ababa but we already have the tickets and we already stayed two extra days!
After dinner, we chatted with father Kilimpe for an hour. I could tell that he really enjoyed chatting with Gregory. We finally thanked him for letting us stay and for his hospitality. The Catholic mission is not open to everybody, only by recommendation, and we were lucky we met Carlos a week ago, since he knew them. The rooms were bare bones and the bathroom didn’t have hot water and had ants and bugs. Honestly, I didn’t mind at all because we really only used the rooms to sleep. We mostly hung around the common area which was very pleasant. Even Daniel wanted to spend the day there instead of a nice hotel resort. I’m so happy we came here to Arba Minch and the mission. I feel renew and rested and so much in peace.
For more pictures, please click here
https://photos.app.goo.gl/q6RFDXQMC2HrBY7r8
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