Well, I'm back in Madison now. I've pretty much experienced the whole safari thing in just ten days, so I've learned a lot about the history/culture of Uganda, Ethiopia, and Kenya. One thing that I was fascinated about was the idea of snow in Africa! Now I know that there are many places in Africa with high elevation and cold weather.
The hotels were just fabulous. I liked the Sheraton in Ethiopia the most, but they were all great in similar or completely diverse ways.
The flamingos? That was a once in a lifetime sight that I will not forget seeing. And I thought that I knew flamingos!
I would be so happy to be on a free safari experience such as this again in the future.
Phew. That was tiring. I'm back in Madison. It's not actually that much colder here in Madison, now that I think about it!
This is obviously going to be my last entry for this safari, but I might type up another one for a different experience.
Hope you guys enjoyed my "experience."
Bye bye again!
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Kenya!
Wow. My Africa trip is already over. I'm sorry I didn't post yesterday, I didn't feel like I had the appropriate energy to do so. I kind of just slid into bed and laid there. I had a short day today because I still have to pack all my things since I am leaving early tomorrow morning. Also I had to drive all the way from Amboseli to Nairobi, which is about 160 miles away. So, I unfortunately did not have very much time in Kenya. Next time I'll be sure to plan my time better.
In Kenya, I didn't do very much city roaming as I did in Uganda and especially Ethiopia. Here, I just mainly looked around some of the National Parks here in Nairobi and Kenya.
Yesterday, I woke up and I slept very soundly. I woke up pretty early, because I knew that my schedule was going to be tight if I desired to see a lot of animals and other wildlife in these national parks.
I checked out of the hotel, and I drove around until I got near some of the tribes. In Kenya, there are about forty-two tribes, and all tribes have their strict but separate rules/regulations. Examples of these are the Kikuyu, Masai, Swahili, Kamba, and Luo tribes. I briefly visited the Luo tribe, but there is a diverse culture among all of the tribes.
When I got to one of their villages, they were in the middle of a song. A young boy who could speak comprehendable English patiently explained to me that they were singing a style of music called Benga music. I cannot really describe it, but it's like sub singing with and electric bass guitar, originally an eight-stringed lyrce called the nyatiti. I can't tell if I like it or not, its just not appealing to me. Here are some of the children that I saw there!
I applauded when they finished, and I left. Onto my next stop, Lake Nakuru National Park!
I had to drive about one hundred miles to get there. When I got there, the scene was fabulous. I saw hundreds and hundreds of pink flamingos all literally standing on the water.
Pretty amazing, huh? Lake Nakuru National Park (declared a National Park in 1961) is about 180 square kilometers. Besides flamingos, I also saw warthogs, waterbuck, and impala. This place has also been one of the world's "most spectacular sites."
I spent a really long time at the places just staring around at the wildlife. It was just incredible.
Finally, I left and drove toward Amboseli, until I got to the Amboseli Serena Lodge, when it was getting really late so I just hopped into bed and slept, which is why I didn't update yesterday. The hotel was average, I'd say it was my least favorite hotel out of the four. However, it gave me a pretty strong wildlife feel of the Amboseli area.
The next morning I woke up at around nine, and got at the Amboseli National Park at around 10:30. We went on a tour, looking at the animals surrounding us. The Amboseli National park is in the Loitoktok district, Rift Valley. Mainly dried-up savannah grasslands, it is 151 sq miles just the park alone. The whole ecosystem is over three thousand square miles. It has also been "voted" the best place in Africa to view elephants close-up, and is the third most visited game area in Kenya.
After I left the Amboseli National Park, I drove about 160 miles to Nairobi. During this time, I looked up some of the history for this country.
It is believed that people first lived in Kenya two million years ago. In the 700s, Arab seafarers established settlements near Kenya. In the 1500s, the land was re-controlled by the Portuguese, and in 1890, Britain took over Kenya.
As you can see, Kenya, like Uganda, was a country that was picked on more than the other countries because of how weak it was. Finally, in 1963, they regained their independence. A man named Jomo Kenyatta became the first president of Kenya.
A man named Daniel arap Moi took over. He was a poor country leader and Kenya did not flourish with him as president. Riots and demonstrations were given to allow more than one party elections to occur.
In 1995, Moi began arresting anyone who insulted him in any way. This shows how much he wanted to be ruler of the country, instead of what was best for the country itself. Several years later, severe flooding destroyed much, so diseases such as malaria and cholera were extremely powerful. In 2002, a new president was elected named Mwai Kibaki.
That's about all the information that I got, but I'm sure many more things happened. This just kind of shows the nation's political struggle with their leaders.
Anyway, after I got to Nairobi, I rechecked into the Hilton, and now, here I am, typing this up and packing for my early flight tomorrow.
I think I'll have one more post like tomorrow or something and that'll be it for this safari experience.
In Kenya, I didn't do very much city roaming as I did in Uganda and especially Ethiopia. Here, I just mainly looked around some of the National Parks here in Nairobi and Kenya.
Yesterday, I woke up and I slept very soundly. I woke up pretty early, because I knew that my schedule was going to be tight if I desired to see a lot of animals and other wildlife in these national parks.
I checked out of the hotel, and I drove around until I got near some of the tribes. In Kenya, there are about forty-two tribes, and all tribes have their strict but separate rules/regulations. Examples of these are the Kikuyu, Masai, Swahili, Kamba, and Luo tribes. I briefly visited the Luo tribe, but there is a diverse culture among all of the tribes.
When I got to one of their villages, they were in the middle of a song. A young boy who could speak comprehendable English patiently explained to me that they were singing a style of music called Benga music. I cannot really describe it, but it's like sub singing with and electric bass guitar, originally an eight-stringed lyrce called the nyatiti. I can't tell if I like it or not, its just not appealing to me. Here are some of the children that I saw there!
I applauded when they finished, and I left. Onto my next stop, Lake Nakuru National Park!
I had to drive about one hundred miles to get there. When I got there, the scene was fabulous. I saw hundreds and hundreds of pink flamingos all literally standing on the water.
Pretty amazing, huh? Lake Nakuru National Park (declared a National Park in 1961) is about 180 square kilometers. Besides flamingos, I also saw warthogs, waterbuck, and impala. This place has also been one of the world's "most spectacular sites."
I spent a really long time at the places just staring around at the wildlife. It was just incredible.
Finally, I left and drove toward Amboseli, until I got to the Amboseli Serena Lodge, when it was getting really late so I just hopped into bed and slept, which is why I didn't update yesterday. The hotel was average, I'd say it was my least favorite hotel out of the four. However, it gave me a pretty strong wildlife feel of the Amboseli area.
The next morning I woke up at around nine, and got at the Amboseli National Park at around 10:30. We went on a tour, looking at the animals surrounding us. The Amboseli National park is in the Loitoktok district, Rift Valley. Mainly dried-up savannah grasslands, it is 151 sq miles just the park alone. The whole ecosystem is over three thousand square miles. It has also been "voted" the best place in Africa to view elephants close-up, and is the third most visited game area in Kenya.
After I left the Amboseli National Park, I drove about 160 miles to Nairobi. During this time, I looked up some of the history for this country.
It is believed that people first lived in Kenya two million years ago. In the 700s, Arab seafarers established settlements near Kenya. In the 1500s, the land was re-controlled by the Portuguese, and in 1890, Britain took over Kenya.
As you can see, Kenya, like Uganda, was a country that was picked on more than the other countries because of how weak it was. Finally, in 1963, they regained their independence. A man named Jomo Kenyatta became the first president of Kenya.
A man named Daniel arap Moi took over. He was a poor country leader and Kenya did not flourish with him as president. Riots and demonstrations were given to allow more than one party elections to occur.
In 1995, Moi began arresting anyone who insulted him in any way. This shows how much he wanted to be ruler of the country, instead of what was best for the country itself. Several years later, severe flooding destroyed much, so diseases such as malaria and cholera were extremely powerful. In 2002, a new president was elected named Mwai Kibaki.
That's about all the information that I got, but I'm sure many more things happened. This just kind of shows the nation's political struggle with their leaders.
Anyway, after I got to Nairobi, I rechecked into the Hilton, and now, here I am, typing this up and packing for my early flight tomorrow.
I think I'll have one more post like tomorrow or something and that'll be it for this safari experience.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Landed in Kenya!
I would just like to announce my arrival at Kenya for this trip! I'm currently staying at the Hilton Nairobi. Due to scheduling issues and the fact that I got here a little bit late, I had to just stay in a regular room instead of a villa or some other suite.
The Hilton Nairobi hotel resembles a very tall and narrow cylinder. It kind of sticks out in the middle of nowhere, but it's still a pretty cool building.
After the Hilton Nairobi, I'm probably going to one more hotel and that will be the Serena Hotel. I touched bases with the hotel via telephone and they said that I could keep my Junior suite room reservation despite my late arrival. I'm only going to spend one night in each of these hotels.
In general, so far I like the Sheraton Addis Abeba the best out of all of the hotels. Golf Course Hotel would be second, and the Hilton Nairobi is third.
Well, I'm really tired so I'll probably post tomorrow or the day after tomorrow about my experiences in Kenya.
Kwaheri!! (goodbye in Swahili, the main language here)
The Hilton Nairobi hotel resembles a very tall and narrow cylinder. It kind of sticks out in the middle of nowhere, but it's still a pretty cool building.
After the Hilton Nairobi, I'm probably going to one more hotel and that will be the Serena Hotel. I touched bases with the hotel via telephone and they said that I could keep my Junior suite room reservation despite my late arrival. I'm only going to spend one night in each of these hotels.In general, so far I like the Sheraton Addis Abeba the best out of all of the hotels. Golf Course Hotel would be second, and the Hilton Nairobi is third.
Well, I'm really tired so I'll probably post tomorrow or the day after tomorrow about my experiences in Kenya.
Kwaheri!! (goodbye in Swahili, the main language here)
Ethiopia
Guess what? I'm done touring Ethiopia. I saw many things, I'm on to Kenya tomorrow!
I'll just wrap up with a summary of what I did. Yesterday, I learned some more about Ethiopian culture and I got to go to a Church, too!
So apparently in Ethiopia, there are both hot and cold regions throughout Ethiopia because of the elevation, kind of similar to Uganda but more extreme. The coldest part is called the Dega (highlands), which can get down to around 0-16 degrees Celsius. The Woyina Dega is the milder climate, and the Qola is the hot region, ranging from 25-40 degrees Celsius.
The most noticeable thing in Addis Abeba, is how varied the climate is. Addis Abeba stands at an elevation of over seven thousand feet. The daytimes are usually around seventy degrees Fahrenheit, whereas the nights can drop below forty. Luckily, I brought my sweater just in case!
Today, I went to the St. George's Church, also known as the Church of St. George, Lalibela. It is a monolithic Church, and the most well-known built of the eleven churches in the Lalibela surrounding. It is also the last built of these churches, around the thirteenth century.
The St. George's Church was built after King Gebre Mesquel Lalibela. A unique thing about the church is that it is built in the shape of a cross! Besides the building itself, the windows, door and even stuff inside are shaped like cross. This place must've been like God's house or something!
Actually, no. This Church was constructed was constructed after King Gebre Mesquel Lalibela, in the thirteenth century. He had a vision in which he was to construct this church, and he claimed that the instructions were sent by St. George or God himself. Still today, it is known as one of the eighth wonders of the ancient world.
Isn't it quite a sight?
Also, I got to go into some of the cooler regions of Ethiopia, and boy, they remind me of cozy cold winter Madison weather! There were mountains in many places... and snow! Snow in Africa? That's almost unbelievable to me! Well, maybe not unbelievable, but snow isn't the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions Africa. I watched as some of the locals irrigated their water. It's pretty hard for farming up in the highlands.
There were some interesting things I learned about the Ethiopian culture. Amharic is the country most spoken language, however English and Arabic are also popular. Ethiopian Silver work and Literature excel beyond many other countries. A woman I was speaking to was wearing a pretty exotic dress through my eyes. She said that her clothing was made from a cloth called shemma, and that her dress was called habesha qemis. She also said that women were allowed to cover their faces with a shash.
Food in Ethiopia is quite different from food in Uganda. Food usually consists of spicy veggies and meats in the form of wat (thick stew) or on injera, a large sourdough flatbread with a twenty inch diameter. Ethiopians usually eat with their right hands and do not use utensils.
Injera is also used as a typo of act of friendship, which is a goorsha. In a goorsha, someone may strip off a piece of their injera and roll it into a sauce. After that, he/she may put it in another person's mouth. The bigger the piece, the bigger the friendship bond between the two. I'm assuming this is an act of friendship because it tests how willing one is to give up for another.
One last interesting this is when the lady I was talking to mentioned the Ethiopian New Year. I asked her when it was, and she told me that it was September 11th. Woah.
Another woman told me how she and her ancestors observed some of the history that had gone on a while ago. She said she could briefly tell me a little bit of the timeline.
As far back as five thousand BC, hunters and gathers had built small communities in Ethiopia. In 1000 BC, Menelik I became the first king.
In around 1500 AD, Muslims invaded Ethiopia, but the Ethiopians fought them off. About four hundred years later, Menelik II led his country once again to victory against the Italians. Out of my countries, only Ethiopia has never been controlled by another country. The woman I was talking to said that she was proud how her country has always been independent.
In 1974 a cruel dictator known as Mengistu ruled Ethiopia. He ruled a harsh rule. Luckily, seventeen years later, he was forced to flee.
In 1993, the woman I was talking to experienced the time when Eritrea separated from Ethiopia. Five years later, war broke out between the two countries. After two years of fighting, they signed a peace treaty in the year 2000.
Well, that's about it for now. I'm going to be in Kenya a little bit later than I thought I would be, but I'll manage it.
Bye!
I'll just wrap up with a summary of what I did. Yesterday, I learned some more about Ethiopian culture and I got to go to a Church, too!
So apparently in Ethiopia, there are both hot and cold regions throughout Ethiopia because of the elevation, kind of similar to Uganda but more extreme. The coldest part is called the Dega (highlands), which can get down to around 0-16 degrees Celsius. The Woyina Dega is the milder climate, and the Qola is the hot region, ranging from 25-40 degrees Celsius.
The most noticeable thing in Addis Abeba, is how varied the climate is. Addis Abeba stands at an elevation of over seven thousand feet. The daytimes are usually around seventy degrees Fahrenheit, whereas the nights can drop below forty. Luckily, I brought my sweater just in case!
Today, I went to the St. George's Church, also known as the Church of St. George, Lalibela. It is a monolithic Church, and the most well-known built of the eleven churches in the Lalibela surrounding. It is also the last built of these churches, around the thirteenth century.
The St. George's Church was built after King Gebre Mesquel Lalibela. A unique thing about the church is that it is built in the shape of a cross! Besides the building itself, the windows, door and even stuff inside are shaped like cross. This place must've been like God's house or something!
Actually, no. This Church was constructed was constructed after King Gebre Mesquel Lalibela, in the thirteenth century. He had a vision in which he was to construct this church, and he claimed that the instructions were sent by St. George or God himself. Still today, it is known as one of the eighth wonders of the ancient world.
Isn't it quite a sight?
Also, I got to go into some of the cooler regions of Ethiopia, and boy, they remind me of cozy cold winter Madison weather! There were mountains in many places... and snow! Snow in Africa? That's almost unbelievable to me! Well, maybe not unbelievable, but snow isn't the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions Africa. I watched as some of the locals irrigated their water. It's pretty hard for farming up in the highlands.
There were some interesting things I learned about the Ethiopian culture. Amharic is the country most spoken language, however English and Arabic are also popular. Ethiopian Silver work and Literature excel beyond many other countries. A woman I was speaking to was wearing a pretty exotic dress through my eyes. She said that her clothing was made from a cloth called shemma, and that her dress was called habesha qemis. She also said that women were allowed to cover their faces with a shash.
Food in Ethiopia is quite different from food in Uganda. Food usually consists of spicy veggies and meats in the form of wat (thick stew) or on injera, a large sourdough flatbread with a twenty inch diameter. Ethiopians usually eat with their right hands and do not use utensils.
Injera is also used as a typo of act of friendship, which is a goorsha. In a goorsha, someone may strip off a piece of their injera and roll it into a sauce. After that, he/she may put it in another person's mouth. The bigger the piece, the bigger the friendship bond between the two. I'm assuming this is an act of friendship because it tests how willing one is to give up for another.
One last interesting this is when the lady I was talking to mentioned the Ethiopian New Year. I asked her when it was, and she told me that it was September 11th. Woah.
Another woman told me how she and her ancestors observed some of the history that had gone on a while ago. She said she could briefly tell me a little bit of the timeline.
As far back as five thousand BC, hunters and gathers had built small communities in Ethiopia. In 1000 BC, Menelik I became the first king.
In around 1500 AD, Muslims invaded Ethiopia, but the Ethiopians fought them off. About four hundred years later, Menelik II led his country once again to victory against the Italians. Out of my countries, only Ethiopia has never been controlled by another country. The woman I was talking to said that she was proud how her country has always been independent.
In 1974 a cruel dictator known as Mengistu ruled Ethiopia. He ruled a harsh rule. Luckily, seventeen years later, he was forced to flee.
In 1993, the woman I was talking to experienced the time when Eritrea separated from Ethiopia. Five years later, war broke out between the two countries. After two years of fighting, they signed a peace treaty in the year 2000.
Well, that's about it for now. I'm going to be in Kenya a little bit later than I thought I would be, but I'll manage it.
Bye!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Mercato and the Ethiopian city life
Hey. That was a rough day. I went to the Ethiopian market and mainly looked around today -- didn't do too much. I woke up kind of late so had about two-thirds the amount of time I normally had. However, it was a pretty interesting place, and I saved a lot of money. Let me describe my day briefly.
I got up, and I was horribly tired because I had gotten to bed a little bit late, so I just fell back asleep. When I woke up, it was already lunchtime. I jumped out of bed, and quickly got dressed.
I was treated to a pretty decent brunch at the hotel -- I have to admit it was even better than the Golf Course Hotel in Uganda.
First of all, the mercato is the biggest open air market in Africa. The market there sells just about EVERYTHING, ranging from three meter long steel poles to bizzare spices and stoic donkeys. In Uganda, the exchange rate is about 2213 Uganda shillings = one USD. In Ethiopia, one USD = 13.738 "birrs."
There is literally a big gate in front of the mercato. When you enter, everything about the market is instantly noticeable. The chaotic, smelly, dirty, typical street life is the first thing one will recognize. Yelling and hollering are common here.
After I took a few steps into the mercato, a dirty looking man came up to me and asked me if I had any spare change. I gave him about half a birr (about 3.6 cents), and he thanked me. When he left, I started surveying the area a little bit more. All of a sudden, about ten more men started crowding around me, asking for more spare change. I gave each of them another half a birr. So far, i gave up about 40 cents of my money but I didnt think that was very much, so I let it pass. Apparently, in Ethiopia, begging is an acceptable profession, but in other countries, beggars are frowned upon and chased away.
After ten came, I thought that was basically enough. Then, about twenty more beggars came running over hollering at me to give them some change. I stared into my wallet, and I realized that if I gave too much of my money away, I wouldn't have very much to buy souvenirs and other gifts!
I slowly walked away as I heard some people groan and walk away, but few others continued to walk with me. I walked for about two minutes, and there were only three remaining. I told them I would give them each two birrs if they made sure no one else saw it or followed me again. They agreed, and thanked me. I think I may have discovered the trick to how to get the beggars off of people like me!
I surveyed some of the shops. I went to a shoe shop. I spied a pair of shoes that I really liked, so I asked the owner how much it was worth. He whispered to me, "three hundred birrs." I figured that was about twenty dollars, so I bought them. After all, who wouldn't buy good shoes for just twenty dollars? I just got an amazing deal! After I bought them, the man I bought the shoes from seemed extremely pleased.
As I exited the shop, a man just around the corner told me he had seen the "incident," and just wanted to warn me that the salesman had just ripped me off. He mentioned that those shoes would normally be no more than one hundred birrs, but, since I was a foreigner, he ripped me off, thinking that he would be able to get more money than normal. I asked him how I would know if someone was ripping me off, and he agreed to take me around and show me. He told me to enter a store, ask for the price of the item that I wanted, and immediately report back to him. After that, he told me that he would tell me if he was ripping me off, and how to bargain.
Bargaining, eh? So that's what you do in busy street life such as this! Well, anyway, I went up to a clothing store, and I found this huge robe that I thought would be cool for decorations. The man said that it was going to be five-hundred birrs, so I reported back the nice man who was helping me. He told me that this salesman was also completely ripping me off, so he went in with me to bargain with the man. I watched in awe as they started jabbering in a completely different language, and they even made some threatening comments at each other. Finally, he agreed to sell the robe to me for the original price, one hundred birrs.
I walked with this man all around the market. By the time I was about to leave the mercato, I thanked him for all of his help, and gave him two hundred birrs for his service, even though I had saved much more than that. He was satisfied enough.
I carried my bag out the gates of the mercato, and I walked back to my hotel. That's basically all that happened today.
I got up, and I was horribly tired because I had gotten to bed a little bit late, so I just fell back asleep. When I woke up, it was already lunchtime. I jumped out of bed, and quickly got dressed.
I was treated to a pretty decent brunch at the hotel -- I have to admit it was even better than the Golf Course Hotel in Uganda.
After I had my brunch, I set off to the Mercato, but it was already 2:00. When I got there, it was nearly 2:30. I had already wasted half my day, but that didn't stop me from seeing a lot of things.
There is literally a big gate in front of the mercato. When you enter, everything about the market is instantly noticeable. The chaotic, smelly, dirty, typical street life is the first thing one will recognize. Yelling and hollering are common here.
After I took a few steps into the mercato, a dirty looking man came up to me and asked me if I had any spare change. I gave him about half a birr (about 3.6 cents), and he thanked me. When he left, I started surveying the area a little bit more. All of a sudden, about ten more men started crowding around me, asking for more spare change. I gave each of them another half a birr. So far, i gave up about 40 cents of my money but I didnt think that was very much, so I let it pass. Apparently, in Ethiopia, begging is an acceptable profession, but in other countries, beggars are frowned upon and chased away.
After ten came, I thought that was basically enough. Then, about twenty more beggars came running over hollering at me to give them some change. I stared into my wallet, and I realized that if I gave too much of my money away, I wouldn't have very much to buy souvenirs and other gifts!
I slowly walked away as I heard some people groan and walk away, but few others continued to walk with me. I walked for about two minutes, and there were only three remaining. I told them I would give them each two birrs if they made sure no one else saw it or followed me again. They agreed, and thanked me. I think I may have discovered the trick to how to get the beggars off of people like me!
I surveyed some of the shops. I went to a shoe shop. I spied a pair of shoes that I really liked, so I asked the owner how much it was worth. He whispered to me, "three hundred birrs." I figured that was about twenty dollars, so I bought them. After all, who wouldn't buy good shoes for just twenty dollars? I just got an amazing deal! After I bought them, the man I bought the shoes from seemed extremely pleased.
As I exited the shop, a man just around the corner told me he had seen the "incident," and just wanted to warn me that the salesman had just ripped me off. He mentioned that those shoes would normally be no more than one hundred birrs, but, since I was a foreigner, he ripped me off, thinking that he would be able to get more money than normal. I asked him how I would know if someone was ripping me off, and he agreed to take me around and show me. He told me to enter a store, ask for the price of the item that I wanted, and immediately report back to him. After that, he told me that he would tell me if he was ripping me off, and how to bargain.
Bargaining, eh? So that's what you do in busy street life such as this! Well, anyway, I went up to a clothing store, and I found this huge robe that I thought would be cool for decorations. The man said that it was going to be five-hundred birrs, so I reported back the nice man who was helping me. He told me that this salesman was also completely ripping me off, so he went in with me to bargain with the man. I watched in awe as they started jabbering in a completely different language, and they even made some threatening comments at each other. Finally, he agreed to sell the robe to me for the original price, one hundred birrs.
I walked with this man all around the market. By the time I was about to leave the mercato, I thanked him for all of his help, and gave him two hundred birrs for his service, even though I had saved much more than that. He was satisfied enough.
I carried my bag out the gates of the mercato, and I walked back to my hotel. That's basically all that happened today.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Arrived at the Ethiopian Airport!
Alright. I'm at my hotel now! I was going to update once I got to the airport, but I would have had to pay for the Internet.
Once again, my hotel is just incredible. I'm currently in Addis Abeba (or Addis Ababa same thing), Ethiopia. The hotel I'm at is the Sheraton Addis Abeba. I got another villa :P. I'm not going to go too much into detail with the hotel, but I'll talk a little bit about it.
First of all, the front is just gorgeous. The main entrance at night is a sight to be reckon with, lights all over the place and a reflecting flawless water fountain near the entrance. Well, that was certainetly rather welcoming. The outside by itself definitely looks cooler than the Golf Course Hotel, and so does the inside. It's a lot more expensive, but I don't have to worry about that because this is a free African safari experience.
The picture is a picture of the front of the hotel at night. The inside gives a little bit more of a dim, melancholy feeling than the Golf Course Hotel, but also more welcoming. I'm assuming the the Golf Course Hotel was mainly a great place to play golf and stuff, but it was still an amazing (5-star hotel!).
Some added features are an elevator (really? An elevator all to myself!), and a jacuzzi. Geez.
Alright, that'll be about it for now. I'm going to get some sleep. I'm going to report some more tomorrow.
Once again, my hotel is just incredible. I'm currently in Addis Abeba (or Addis Ababa same thing), Ethiopia. The hotel I'm at is the Sheraton Addis Abeba. I got another villa :P. I'm not going to go too much into detail with the hotel, but I'll talk a little bit about it.
First of all, the front is just gorgeous. The main entrance at night is a sight to be reckon with, lights all over the place and a reflecting flawless water fountain near the entrance. Well, that was certainetly rather welcoming. The outside by itself definitely looks cooler than the Golf Course Hotel, and so does the inside. It's a lot more expensive, but I don't have to worry about that because this is a free African safari experience.
The picture is a picture of the front of the hotel at night. The inside gives a little bit more of a dim, melancholy feeling than the Golf Course Hotel, but also more welcoming. I'm assuming the the Golf Course Hotel was mainly a great place to play golf and stuff, but it was still an amazing (5-star hotel!).
Some added features are an elevator (really? An elevator all to myself!), and a jacuzzi. Geez.
Alright, that'll be about it for now. I'm going to get some sleep. I'm going to report some more tomorrow.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Farewell Uganda, Hello Ethiopia!!
I would just like to wrap up my trip to Uganda. After three days, I think I've learned a lot. The past few days I haven't been going to too many places, but I've been touring around the town. Yesterday, I had the privilege of going to someone's tribe outside of Kampala and experiencing some of the culture there. The storyteller, named Akiki (I think), told me some brief stories about the urban Uganda history that they viewed from their tribes many years ago.
First of all, I've been getting used to the climate here, so I decided to get some more information on the temperatures. In Uganda, it averages about 16-25 degrees Celsius on the West side, and 30 degrees Celsius or more in the northeastern regions for at least 250 days of the year. Uganda is not as hot as one would expect, mainly due to the scattered high altitude that is causing the rather milder climate, despite its location relative to the Equator. Also, the daytime is significantly hotter than the night, usually around 12 degrees Celsius hotter, or 21.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
Yesterday, I got up, and I was excited because I was going to someone's tribe to tour some of the culture! Anyway, so when I got there, everyone was greeting me and welcoming me to their tribe. They had some own native language that I could not understand, but thank god they spoke at least some English. I'll tell you now a little bit of what I learned from this tribe:
Apparently, since 1962, 2/3 of the Ugandan population were Bantu-speakers. Bantu-speakers came from various places to settle in Uganda back in 500 BC. In 1862, John Speke was the first European to Enter Uganda. About 30-40 years later, the British took control of Uganda. However, it was independent again in 1962. Sir Edward Mutesa became the president of Uganda, and Milton Obote become the Prime Minister of Uganda.
Several years later, a young army officer named Amin, "helped" Obote become the new President. However, five years later, Amin himself dethroned Obote from his position. Amin became the new president and Obote went into exile. Amin ruled a rather cruel reign which had devastating effects on the tribe I was at the other day. During this time, over 300,000 Ugandan residents were killed under his rule. Sometime during his reign, he proclaimed himself to be the "President for Life." However, two years later, he was chased into exile by Obote and his supporters. About eight years later, a coup was staged by army soldiers against Obote, and a new president (Museveni) was elected in 1986. Museveni was a good president. In fact, he was so good, that he was re-elected in 2001. Under his rule, the economy of the Ugandan people flourished.
Woah. That's a lot to remember, and I'm pretty sure there was a lot more that they told me about the history.
Their food was quite similar to the food I had the first day coming into Uganda at the Ekitoobero Restaurant in Kampala, except it tasted more fresh and perhaps not quite as clean. There was a subtle scent and aftertaste in some of the food here which they covered up at the restaurant, I'm assuming. Here is a picture of what I had:
One of the dishes I had was Matoke (left). Matoke is mashed plantains, similar to mashed potatoes here in the United States. Matoke is usually served with rice on the side, and groundnut sauce on some occasions. Also, I had some goat stew that was slightly better prepared than at the restaurant.
After the dinner that I had, I merely watched as they did their religious celebrations. I watched as they pulled out some drums, when someone explained to me that the Ugandan drum was made from animal skin such as goats, cows, etc. and that it was sometimes used for religious celebrations or music in general. I watched in awe as even the young children seemed as if they knew exactly what was going on and what was to happen next, as if they showed a strong respect for their tradition.
Okay. Well, I'm currently on the plane ride to Ethiopia. I planned to go by vehicle originally, but not before I found out that the car ride was over 2 days. That's a shameful waste of a free safari experience! When I get to Ethiopia I'll touch bases with updating my blog again.
Peace!
Yesterday, I got up, and I was excited because I was going to someone's tribe to tour some of the culture! Anyway, so when I got there, everyone was greeting me and welcoming me to their tribe. They had some own native language that I could not understand, but thank god they spoke at least some English. I'll tell you now a little bit of what I learned from this tribe:
Apparently, since 1962, 2/3 of the Ugandan population were Bantu-speakers. Bantu-speakers came from various places to settle in Uganda back in 500 BC. In 1862, John Speke was the first European to Enter Uganda. About 30-40 years later, the British took control of Uganda. However, it was independent again in 1962. Sir Edward Mutesa became the president of Uganda, and Milton Obote become the Prime Minister of Uganda.
Several years later, a young army officer named Amin, "helped" Obote become the new President. However, five years later, Amin himself dethroned Obote from his position. Amin became the new president and Obote went into exile. Amin ruled a rather cruel reign which had devastating effects on the tribe I was at the other day. During this time, over 300,000 Ugandan residents were killed under his rule. Sometime during his reign, he proclaimed himself to be the "President for Life." However, two years later, he was chased into exile by Obote and his supporters. About eight years later, a coup was staged by army soldiers against Obote, and a new president (Museveni) was elected in 1986. Museveni was a good president. In fact, he was so good, that he was re-elected in 2001. Under his rule, the economy of the Ugandan people flourished.
Woah. That's a lot to remember, and I'm pretty sure there was a lot more that they told me about the history.
Their food was quite similar to the food I had the first day coming into Uganda at the Ekitoobero Restaurant in Kampala, except it tasted more fresh and perhaps not quite as clean. There was a subtle scent and aftertaste in some of the food here which they covered up at the restaurant, I'm assuming. Here is a picture of what I had:
One of the dishes I had was Matoke (left). Matoke is mashed plantains, similar to mashed potatoes here in the United States. Matoke is usually served with rice on the side, and groundnut sauce on some occasions. Also, I had some goat stew that was slightly better prepared than at the restaurant.
After the dinner that I had, I merely watched as they did their religious celebrations. I watched as they pulled out some drums, when someone explained to me that the Ugandan drum was made from animal skin such as goats, cows, etc. and that it was sometimes used for religious celebrations or music in general. I watched in awe as even the young children seemed as if they knew exactly what was going on and what was to happen next, as if they showed a strong respect for their tradition.
Okay. Well, I'm currently on the plane ride to Ethiopia. I planned to go by vehicle originally, but not before I found out that the car ride was over 2 days. That's a shameful waste of a free safari experience! When I get to Ethiopia I'll touch bases with updating my blog again.
Peace!
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