"A country with a warm heart..." Top 5 Page for this destination Ethiopia by elsadran

Ethiopia Travel Guide: 1,875 reviews and 4,639 photos

A country with a warm heart... - Ethiopia

My plan was to go to Ethiopia and stay for a couple of months and then, I had in mind, to go on visiting other countries of Africa. However, Ethiopia took my heart and kept me for almost five months...
The principal reason was the warm loving people who offered me their friendship and left a sweet memory in my mind and a warm feeling in my heart.
Ethiopians are open and hospitable, they share everything with you and are very happy to be your friends. Always smiling and helpful, they make you feel at home!
The trip to the South where the Ethiopian tribes live was an unforgettable experience!!!
The scenery is beautiful and in some parts it's quite impressive. The blonde and green fields spreading on the undulating hills feed the eye with their calm serenity. The straw huts stand proudly in their natural simplicity, perfectly matching with the environment.

An exploration of the country may bring you back in time. There are pictures that the Western people have only seen in films of old times, when the houses were made of earth and people cultivated the fields using animals and handmade tools. You can see the men working in the fields around the house and the women cooking their flat round bread called “injera” in the open fire, or participating in every kind of job carrying their babies on their back. You can see farmers separating the hay from the wheat seed throwing it up in the air and the strong oxen dragging heavily the plough in the hard soil. The women's colorful shawls flap in the wind and give them a wonderful feminine grace, and the men wrap their bodies with the white piece of cloth, the shamma, with an air of royal dignity and carry the “dula”, a thick stick of wood used for various purposes, as if it is a scepter... Very picturesque, indeed!

The farmers with the tough hands and the warm heart work hard to survive, and the children grow up trying to help their parents but breathing freely the fresh air and running happily in the hug of nature.
Huts and villages, seen from the top of the mountains, look like toys made of plasticine!
Schools reminded me of ant holes. When the classes were over and the gates opened, millions of uniformed children came out in endless lines like ants going for food searching. They never ran or got out of the lines. They followed each other peacefully until each one arrived at their house!

The only thing that made me sad was the repeated children's voices asking for money, which most of the times was not out of need but worked as a game between them. It worried both me and their parents who don't want their offspring to become beggars and get used to easy money. So please don't give them anything.

*I will give you the prices in birrs, the Ethiopian currency. When I was there one euro was about 19 birrs and one dollar could buy 13,5-14 birrs. But things change.....

Last visit to Ethiopia: Feb 2010
Intro Updated Jul 18, 2010
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Comments (6)

Nemorino Yesterday Report Abuse

This is a brilliant page with fine photos and informative texts! It certainly is worthwhile to click on all the photos. I have only read the first forty tips so far, but will be back some other time for more.
It was so nice of that priest to come and put a pillow under your head while you were lying on the floor to take a picture.
giannisfilippou Nov 30, 2010 at 1:09 PM Report Abuse

HI ELSA I AM JOHN BEAUTIFUL FOTOS OF ETHIOPIA I WAS THERE LAST SUMMER
addisadvisor Oct 6, 2010 at 9:21 AM Report Abuse

I have lived inEthiopia since 2002....still eating, but Els does have a point that once you leave Addis choice is a lot less except in the tourist hotspots !!
CatherineReichardt Sep 13, 2010 at 4:35 AM Report Abuse

A lovely, informative page, and a great resource as we start to research our own trip! Greetings from a springtime Johannesburg! Cathy
SLLiew Jul 6, 2010 at 8:00 PM Report Abuse

Now I know what is a chat. Excellent tips and amazingly beautiful photos of people and places. Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful journey in Ethiopia. Cheers from Penang, SL :)
mircaskirca Jul 5, 2010 at 12:48 PM Report Abuse

:))) Oh, I'm the first one. Wow!! Amazing pictures, Elsa!! Zion Train Lodge indeed sounds like a paradise! Would like to stay there. Do Rastafarian people here also listen to the reggae? I guess so. Will be back! :)