Argentinian Adventure–La Finca

May 28, 2018May 28, 2018 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

After sitting in the airport in Iguazu for four hours because the plane was delayed over and over, we finally arrived in Cordoba around midnight and rushed to La Finca, the family place out in the country, for dinner. Yes, dinner. Gaston’s family, including his 92 year old grandfather, uncles, cousins, aunts, everyone had actually stayed up and waited to meet us. I could hardly believe it.

I know Argentinians are the biggest consumers of beef in the world. We did not have beef; we had leg of lamb grilled over the special grill his father and uncles had built–a separate house just for grilling and eating. It was a warm night and we ate outside. It is a family ritual for everyone to congregate on weekends, but especially Sunday afternoons at La Finca to eat and socialize. Gaston and I went there both Saturday and Sunday.

It was the end of summer (Southern Hemisphere in March). The crop in the distance beyond the trees is potatoes. Gaston’s grandfather, who is 92 now, bought this land, planted the trees, created this peaceful get away in the country. Gaston’s uncle and aunt now live there with their college age children.

The building in the background houses the grill–chimney on the left–and the dining area I mentioned earlier. We ate inside once around the table that must sit at least twenty. The rest of the time they hauled the tables outside and we ate under the trees.

Gaston’s grandfather and I standing before the trees he planted decades ago.

The same trees upclose. Yes, those are very sharp protuberances sticking out all over the tree. You see these trees in cities too, but there they have cut off all the sharp pieces so people cannot get hurt on them. I could just imagine what would happen if a person pushed another person against one of these.

The drive from the main road to La Finca. Sunday afternoon Gaston’s mom and I strolled up and down this drive while Gaston with his dad and uncle and a cousin installed a drip line to water the bushes on each side. Like here, they are suffering a drought. They did not want years of work to die.

The original house where Gaston’s uncle and his family live is on the left. I loved it here and felt very privileged to spend a weekend with the family doing whatever they do on weekends. On Saturday, the men all went to help someone move while I sat with Gaston’s aunt, her friend, some cousins. We chit chatted, drank mate, took naps, ate pear tart and other desserts, and whiled away an afternoon.

Occasionally the peace was disturbed by the raucous chatter of parakeets. The huge nest in this tree is shared by many parakeets. They do not build individual nests. When they get going, they are really loud.

Just as in New Mexico in the US, water comes through acequias. The drive goes over this little bridge in the foreground.

Near this acequia the family grows lemon trees, vegetables, flowers, and other delectables for family use.

It was so lovely and peaceful here, I did not want to leave.

Gaston’s aunt and mother love succulents and flowers. This is only a tiny portion of the plant collection growing everywhere around Gaston’s aunt and uncle’s house. His aunt is very proud of her plant collection. Many of her plants were familiar. Some even have the same names in English and Spanish probably due to their Latin origins.

My Ethiopian Journey–Simien Mt. Natl. Park

July 28, 2016 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

No way was I prepared for these mountains. Do you think of numerous peaks over 13,000 feet when you think of Ethiopia? Probably not. There are even a few over 14,000 feet. The whole area is often referred to as the Roof of Africa.

There is only one road into the park. To get in, a tourist must stop at the park office, sign in, passport number, address, etc. Plus, you will be assigned a guard and a guide. Our guard in the photo above carried an assault rifle. No, it is not to protect people, it is to protect their rare animals from people, from poachers. Wonder why he is wearing all these clothes? It is cold at 12,000 feet even if you are near the Equator.

The drop offs are terrifying, thousands of feet, the vistas endless. Even though I have lived and been all over the Rocky Mountains and been to the Himalayas in both Kashmir and Nepal, I have never seen anything like these mountains for beauty, green, and endless vistas.

My friends near the cliff are much braver than I. In the foreground stands our guide, Michael, who spoke excellent English and was super funny. He had us laughing all the time. People live and farm in these mountains–if you look closely in the middle of the photo, you can see fields. However, the government is slowly relocating people in order to make the park a refuge for rare wildlife.

The above photos were all taken on a hike early one morning. Everything was wet because it was either raining or misty or we were in the clouds.

Because I kept slipping and sliding, I decided not to walk along the cliff with my friends and the guard, who spoke the same Ethiopian language as my friend. Michael and I took off across a meadow and suddenly here we were in the middle of all these gelada baboons, who paid no attention to us at all. They were very afraid, however, of a predatory bird that decided to fly over. How do I know? They suddenly started “talking” to each other in frightened voices. Experts now think these primates actually have a language and do talk to each other. Gelada are the last primates that are herbivores. They eat grass. All other herbivorous primates are extinct. Gelada live only in the high mountains of Ethiopia and no where else on earth, a reason for a guard. At night they climb down the cliffs into caves to protect themselves from hyenas and leopards.

If you look very carefully in the middle of this photo, you can see several duiker which are considered so common it seems no one thought to stop to really take a look so I took the photo as we drove along.

Here we are above the timberline where some very unusual plants thrive.

And some exceedingly rare animals whose camouflage makes them almost invisible until they move. At this point we are about 14,000 feet just under one of the highest peaks in Africa. Look carefully in the middle and you will see walia ibex. People come from all over the world to see these endangered animals that live only in this park. Sometimes the fog rolls in and no one sees anything. We were lucky; we saw more than twenty of them. And then the fog rolled in.

These giant lobelia thrive above timber line. Some were considerably taller than I am.

If you grow red hot pokers in your flower beds and think they are semi-arid flowers, think again. Here they are growing wild.

You can see red hot pokers in the middle of this photo by the stream. These mountain streams run down to and often across the road, making the road a muddy mess. Without 4-wheel drive and an expert driver we would have gone nowhere. In fact, at one point we did have to stop because two stuck trucks blocked the road, one of which had a flat tire.

The highest waterfall in Ethiopia is hard to hike to unless you are not at all afraid of heights. My friends did hike there. Look a bit to the right of the groove through which the water actually falls. You will see a sort of flat area. It is only a few feet wide with a drop-off on each side. Yes, that is where you hike. When I saw this view, I was rather glad I decided to wait, look for birds, and chat with the driver.

The fire pit at the highest bar in Africa is a very popular place on a cold night. Even though we had beautiful rooms, with no heat at 12,000 feet it is not exactly warm. Even the guides and guards were bundled up. The only people who seemed toasty were Scandinavian tourists with their heavy wool sweaters. The hotel staff gave us hot water bottles to put in bed with us at night. Actually, it works. Nevertheless, when you get up in the morning, it is really cold.

The guards and guides live near the park. We dropped off the guard here and watched him walk toward his house down where the trees are. We dropped off the guide near his house in the town when we left the park.

Costa Rica Adventure, Day Five–Hidden Treasures in the Rainforest

February 21, 2016February 21, 2016 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

After we left the little village of Colonia Liberatad, we headed down another unpaved road to a tiny little building in a large garden for coffee and dessert. Costa Rica is heaven for flower and plant lovers, a true botanists’ paradise.

A pebbled path led from the road to the “restaurant”. No one rushed; we were too enthralled with the flowers, the humidity, the total intenseness of the surroundings and atmosphere.

Although I have been to Costa Rica twice now, ten days each time, and love flowers, still I can only recall the names of a few.

Hundreds, sometimes, thousands, of species reside within only a few square yards.

Everyone stopped along the way to look. Some of the children wanted to hunt for reptiles. They were warned because the deadly fear-de-lance lives here. A few assured everyone they knew exactly what they look like. Knowing them, it was probably true.

A wood building is a rare sight anywhere I have been there–too much rain. All roofs are either metal or tile for the same reason. Other types of roofing rot. Some have totally given up trying to add color because it disappears quickly apparently. This area of Costa Rica on the Caribbean side of the mountains receives rain daily. It rained off and on all day.

I have no idea the name of the dessert they served us with coffee. It resembled Indian Fry Bread (from New Mexico and Arizona–I love the stuff), super crispy, soaked in honey.

The road just outside this hidden gem.

The Highest Bar in Africa

April 22, 2015April 22, 2015 / Juliana Lightle / 1 Comment

We sat around the fire

ALL of us

on The Roof of Africa,

the sign stating

“The Highest Bar in Africa”

at 3,260 meters.

We sat around the fire

All of us,

the British owner gone,

forbids natives to sit

with tourists.

We sat around the fire

ALL of us.

Shades of brown, black, cream,

peach, humanity.

I, for one, grateful for

the owner’s absence.

Whose country is it anyway?

My Ethiopian Adventure–on the Road from Lalibela to Gonder

August 14, 2014August 23, 2014 / Juliana Lightle / 2 Comments

Since there is only one road in and out of Lalibela, we headed back to the main road after an 8:00 breakfast. By this time, after three times on this road, the heights hardly bothered me.

We drove through mountains a large part of the day, through the large towns of Nesfas Mawcha, Debre Tabor, and turned north at Wereta. By this time, I had become accustomed to seeing endless beautiful scenery, hardly knowing when to take photos.

The invasive eucalyptus trees and pastoral mountain villages show up everywhere.

Most villages have their own church. The building with the round roof in the distant middle is one such little church.

Excellent roads, mostly built by the Italians years ago, crisscross this part of the country. Some newer roads have been built by the Chinese. Many Ethiopians made jokes about this, implying they do not expect them to last long. After reaching a high plateau, we drove through endless pastures and fields of green.

Up in this high country, farmers grow wheat, barley, and oats. Horses and cattle graze in large pastures.

The mountains appear to continue forever.

Buildings, like the one in this photo above, usually house animals at night to protect them from predators such as hyenas.

Whenever we stopped, children ran up sometimes asking for pens, occasionally for money. Dino and Alemu, the driver, usually scolded them in Amharic for begging.

Houses here seemed bigger, usually two story, with rocks used as a main building material.

We drove by two men galloping along on horseback, their horses adorned in fancy tack.

As we began a long descent into a huge valley, common baboons appeared along the road.

These huge rocks left my millions of years of erosion, provide a dramatic contrast to the intense green.

It took more than an hour to cross this valley. As usual cattle, goats., burros, people mingled with vehicles. What a surprise: Rice fields as far as I could see on either side of the road.

The villages in this area are built higher–above the rice paddies. And then as we climbed out of the valley…

The name of this rock really surprised me, the Finger of God.

A big later, suddenly Alemu turned off on a dirt road and this appeared.

The sign says: Guzara Palace, G.C. 1563-1597.

When a person goes on such a trip, sometimes places hold your heart, places unexpected. I loved this place. It seemed magical. With no other people around, it felt private and special. It becomes obvious quite quickly why a king would build a castle here. You can see forever, for miles and miles, all the way to Lake Tana in the background.

We climbed up to the second story and could see Lake Tana even more clearly in the distance. I felt a sudden rush of emotion, looking at Lake Tana, my first glimpse of where the Nile River begins.

On the other side of the castle, looking toward the mountains, the remains of the old wall around the castle show up clearly. The part of the wall on the path to the castle has been restored. This part still awaits restoration. We drove on to Gonder. We stayed there two nights at Hotel Goha, but not in sequence. I found the window coverings so unique I had to take a photo.

Fabric, stretched over a frame slides back and forth so you can slide it to cover the window. This hotel possesses fantastic, modern showers.

My Ethiopian Adventure–Lalibela, the Churches, Part Three

August 11, 2014August 11, 2014 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

After we left the first group of churches, we had to walk to reach the one that is probably the most photographed.

Like all these churches, this one, Bet Emanuel, was carved and dug out of solid rock and is built so that the top is level with the slope of the land. Thus, it is purposefully nearly invisible unless you are quite close to it. To get to the bottom and go inside you have to climb down rather steep steps. Built in the Auxumite style (Auxum was the original “capital” of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church), some art historians consider it to be the most impressive church in Lalibela. It is 18 meters by 18 by 12 (58.5 feet by 58.5 by 39).

The guide explained that because this church is of harder stone, it has no protective cover like some of the first churches we entered.

Like the first group of churches, this one also has a drainage trench around it.

A pool of holy water–I saw a boy go up to one of the pools and fill a bottle with water.

A holy space where only priests can enter. Every church has a copy of the Ark of the Covenant and a symbolic Bethlehem.

Saint George and the Dragon appear everywhere. Saint George is the national saint of Ethiopia. There is even St. George beer.

In this second group of buildings, two were definitely designed as churches. However, even though others are currently used as churches, there is some question as to whether that was their original purpose. The guide told us that one building is believed to have been the residence of King Lalibela and his family. Unlike most of the other buildings, its layout does not appear to have been designed as a church. It also does not contain the usual paintings and artwork.

Another sacred space. Before we could go on to see the other churches in this group, we had to climb out and walk by the River Jordan.

All the trenches that drain water from the churches during the rainy season flow into this River Jordan. The design of the churches, the symbolism, this River Jordan, everything was designed to duplicate to the extent possible he Holy Land, to create another Holy Land in the highlands of Ethiopia, a new Jerusalem.

The road by the River Jordan. Until recently people lived in the traditional houses you see on the right. In front of one we saw a group of young men being trained as priests.

The land near the churches looks just like anywhere. You cannot see the churches until you are really close to them. We were told they were built this way intentionally to protect them from invaders who had destroyed earlier visible churches.

On both sides of the River Jordan are cemeteries. The dead from the tombs in the walls opposite the churches (see Part I and II) were moved here.

Unlike the first group of churches shown in Part I, not all the churches in the second group are connected by trenches or so close together.To see some of them you have to climb in and out from one to another.

The guide took this photo. Why am I wearing my socks over my jeans? Fleas. It is common knowledge that the carpets and bamboo mats on the floors of the churches contain lots of fleas. We were told to tuck our jeans inside our socks and spray everything below our knees with insect spray.

Between this latter group of churches, there are some passageways so you do not always have to climb in and out. There is a third type of church in this area, churches built in caves, one of which is 40 kilometers from Lalibela. Churches such as these exist nowhere else in the world. The only way in and out of Lalibela is that steep road below my hotel room.

It was drier around Lalibela because the rains were late. We headed to the cave church of Yemrehanna Krestos for the afternoon.

One disadvantage of traveling to Ethiopia this time of year, especially in the north, is the weather, cold and rainy. On the positive side, often we were the only tourists.

The climb up to the church was long and a bit steep but with good steps and handrails. Rain had made the stones a bit slippery. The churches have served an unintentional good in that around most churches in the country the original forest is left to hide the church. This was one of a few places where we could see what the land looked like before deforestation and before invasive species were brought in from elsewhere.

The guide who took us through the churches in Lalibela came with us here. I walked with him and Dino and Zuriash walked with the priest who did not speak English.

This is what you see when you first arrive at the top. Like in all the churches, you have to take your shoes off.

An entire church resides inside the cave. We were told that the white marble and wood were brought from Egypt by elephants. The church dates to the 11th century.

The cave is big with lots of space around the church.

The decor and carvings inside the church are very detailed and elaborate. Services are held here weekly and at certain times of the year many pilgrims journey here some walking for many miles.

The priest who resides in the village. This is “his” church.

Behind this fence at the back of the cave lay the bones of pilgrims who died here.

The Ethiopians believe that one of the Three Wise Men came from Ethiopia.

The tomb of Yemrehanna Krestos resides behind the church inside the cave.

The road to this church is relatively new. Before pilgrims had to either walk or ride a horse or donkey to get here. The road continues above the village, but we turned around and headed back to Lalibela.

There were two shops in the village that sold sacred objects and souvenirs. I bought this cross which has St. George and the Dragon on one side and the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus on the other. Mary is exceedingly important in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

I like to bargain and generally did quite well with it when purchasing various items. However, the man in this shop for this particular item refused to come down. I really wanted it because it seemed quite unique so bought it at his price. Nowhere else did I have to do that.

On the road back to Lalibela we decided to stop and admire a couple of huge fig trees.

My Ethiopian Adventure–On the Road to Lalibela, Part Two

August 1, 2014August 1, 2014 / Juliana Lightle / 1 Comment

Mountains pervade everywhere it seems. We continually drove up and down mountainsides. Eucalyptus is not native. They were brought in by the Australians many years ago and became invasive. They are a mixed blessing–grow rapidly and have many uses, but they take a lot of water and drive out native species. When simply cut down, they grow right back. In some places, we saw preserves where the original species of trees still exist and are protected. Otherwise, eucalyptus reign.

And there are several species of eucalyptus as you can see here. Not only do the leaves differ, but also the color of the trunks.

Almost all the mountainsides are covered with fields. Ones, like this one, may have been just plowed or just planted. In the mountains barley, wheat, and oats are grown and sometimes teff. Barley seems to ripen first.

At first, I suffered minor terror because of the steep roads and huge drop-offs, sometimes thousands of feet. However, eventually I became rather used to it.

These roads, mostly built a long time ago by the Italians, remain excellent and do have guardrails. The Chinese have built some of the newer roads. The Ethiopians make jokes regarding how long they think these Chinese roads will last.

Eventually, we rose to a high plateau area across which we drove for hours.

The endless shades of green, indicating different crops, or in some cases, the gold of ripening grain.

Winnowing grain the old fashioned way.

Houses on this high plateau seemed mostly built of rocks which lay everywhere.

Amelu asked us if we wanted to see inside one of the houses and visit with some people. Of course, we said yes.

This couple had a somewhat older child who was out herding their animals–cattle as I recall. At night they bring the animals inside their house to protect them from predators, e.g. hyenas. They also provide body heat which helps them keep warm. He explained in Amharic that he did not own land, but was saving up and when he could, would build a separate house so that their animals would be able to stay in one and his family in another. I thought Amelu knew these people, but he did not. His own children had outgrown some of their clothes. He had brought them to give away so he gave them to this family.

After we crossed the plateau, we dropped down and crossed a river. Because it was the rainy season, rivers raged everywhere, running dark with mud.

The little shed is for the river guard. We did not see anyone here when we crossed, but major rivers have guards often armed with an assault rifle.

Almost to Lalibela–we discovered later that the rains were late and people were very concerned. Crops had been planted and they were waiting.

The first photo in Lalibela–the view from my room at the edge of a cliff–the Maribela Hotel.

My Ethiopian Adventure–from Addis to Kombolcha

July 27, 2014July 28, 2014 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

Saying goodbye to Addis at 8 in the morning, we headed northeast and later north toward Kombolcha–spelling differs, depending on whose map you view. The official Ethiopian map spells the town as Kombolch. Addis is high, the second highest capital in the world. We drove northeast all morning across rivers and through green fields.

Not far outside Addis we saw this scene, a river with many people near it. Our driver, Alemu explained this river contains holy, healing water and all those people you see through the window are pilgrims coming to be blessed by the resident priest and hopefully healed by the river waters.

Who would know this is Ethiopia if no one told you? Not what I expected at all honestly.

Most of the farmland is very rocky. Farmers gather rocks, in some places make fences out of them or just pile them up. Even with these efforts fields remain full of rocks.

We drove for hours through this type of farmland.

This is a typical country village which appeared off and on continuously along the highway. Traditional buildings are usually round with thatched roofs. More and more people have begun to use metal roofs which forces the building shape to rectangular rather than round. We heard a story about a thatched roof house that caught on fire. Nothing but the thatch burned because underneath the thatch was a meter of mud.

Most Ethiopian farming is done the old way: either horses or cattle pull the plow with a man guiding it usually through a lot of rocks. I commented about seeing no tractors so then every time we saw one everyone shouted, “Juliana, there’s a tractor.” I think I saw only five of them in ten days and only one was actually working in a field. It became obvious rather quickly how totally impractical a tractor and its equipment would be in much of the farmland: too many rocks and as you will soon see, too steep. The tractor would fall over.

Eventually we started climbing higher and higher. To the left was one of Ethiopia’s high peaks near or over 4000 meters–13 to 14 thousand feet.

And then, there it was, Menelik’s Window. This was the first area we saw with numerous gelada baboons. However, these ran away unlike the ones later in Simien National Park.

That’s Dino down on the edge. At this point in the trip, I was still quite horrified by all the steep cliffs and stayed way back. He was trying to get a good photo of the baboons. Menelik II, the last Ethiopia leader to be able to claim himself as a direct male descendant of King Solomon, found this place special, a view into the real Ethiopia across miles of mountains. He is known for defeating the Italian invaders, expanding the kingdom, and especially for modernizing Ethiopia.

My grandson now owns this hat. This boy and his friends spend their days chasing the baboons away from the tufts of grass, which their families use to make the thatched roofs, and making hats for sale.

You can see the selection of different styles of hats on display on the grass. On the mountainside in the back lots of herbs grew, including thyme. The boys also sold packets of herbs they had gathered and dried.

We dropped down on a winding mountain road through eucalyptus forests. Eucalyptus is not native to Ethiopia, but grows everywhere there. It is used as a basic material for building their houses, for scaffolding to build tall city buildings, for just about everything. Several different species grew along the road.

Ethiopia’s main highways are excellent. Many were built years ago by the Italians, more recent ones by the Chinese. Ethiopians make jokes about how long the Chinese roads might last.

Eventually, we dropped down out of the mountains into an area that was much drier.

A typical town with all sorts of shops right along the road. When driving in Ethiopia, dodging people, cattle, camels, horses, burros, and goats is the norm. Everything it seems likes these good roads.

A boy driving camels down the highway. Loose animals, like the burro on the right, roam seemingly unattended. I saw few fences.

In the small towns in this semi arid area, we saw several totally veiled women, faces covered totally except for their eyes. Alemu informed us that this was a new thing, not seen until the last few years. He seemed to think it had become fashionable to copy Saudi women.

We stopped to look at certain plants beside the road.

Dino recalled playing with these pretty green balls as a child with this forewarning, “Do not eat them, do not touch your eyes or you will go blind.” They are called the Apples of Sodom.

At this juncture near the beginning of this adventure, I had not yet realized how everything in Ethiopia possesses symbolic meaning.

We drove along this immense, lush valley for miles. Alemu said this huge herd of cattle belonged to a semi nomadic group who brought their cattle here during the rainy season to graze and fatten. A bit farther down the road the land belonged to one of the richest men in Ethiopia, indeed the world, Al Amoudi. It was the only place where I saw a tractor actually used in a field.

Arriving in Kombolcha, we saw this new college in the process of creation. This became a common sight–new buildings, new schools, construction everywhere.

My first hotel room in Ethiopia at the Sunny Side Hotel in Kombolcha complete with mosquito netting–the blue blob above the bed. At least it had a shower and toilet. Many places use the style of accommodations one finds in a lot of Asia. Forget toilets as you know them–just a tiled area with a hole in the ground and the ever present water with which to wash. We carried our own toilet paper just in case. However, many places had both so customers could choose.

writingontherim

wondering the world with fun, food, travel, poetry, contemplation

adventure travel

Argentinian Adventure–La Finca

My Ethiopian Journey–Simien Mt. Natl. Park

Costa Rica Adventure, Day Five–Hidden Treasures in the Rainforest

The Highest Bar in Africa

My Ethiopian Adventure–on the Road from Lalibela to Gonder

My Ethiopian Adventure–Lalibela, the Churches, Part Three

My Ethiopian Adventure–On the Road to Lalibela, Part Two

My Ethiopian Adventure–from Addis to Kombolcha

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