I was at my grandpa’s funeral and a nice lady came up to me and said how much she enjoyed my blog. We’re used to this happening in adoption circles, but not in that circle! Anyway, she said she especially liked all the posts on Ethiopia and how much she had learned. So since I haven’t posted any for a while and I still have a few to do, here we go! (Lady who sings with my Auntie T in the choir - this one’s for you!)
After three visits to Adama, the girls finally trusted me to ride the brightly-festooned horse. And they LOVED it.
Adama is a couple hours south of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. It’s a confusing place, mostly just because noone is sure what to call it. As far as I can figure, Adama was the city’s original name in Oromo. Haile Selassie renamed it Nazreth, but in the last decade it was changed back to its original name. Probably something to do with the cultural revolution (the relatively new autonomous education and political systems relating to tribal groups.)
Anyway, whatever you call it, it’s a nice little city. Don’t expect anything fancy! since it is nothing like the metropolis of Addis. There are less crippled and painfully poor people on the streets, which is a welcome sight, but overall it’s a step back in time. Horse taxis are common, and donkeys - oh, donkeys! - are everywhere. There are a few nook and cranny shopping areas that reminded me a little more of the souks in Morocco. The earth is red and dusty, but the tropical plants in many of the streets, especially in the newer parts of town, make it feel more alive.
The only reasons we went to Adama, (we ended up going there three times,) are because
  1. Faya Orphanage is there and we wanted to visit / deliver donations
  2. Our girls lived in an orphanage there for a few months and
  3. it’s a well-timed stop for anyone heading south.
So if you are doing any of those things, it’s worth a stop. Otherwise, not exactly a tourism lure. Plus, there is malaria at certain times of the year, so don’t forget your bug spray. Enjoy the pictures! I’ll post more of our visits to Faya Orphanage later.
<click: to make the pics bigger, and again for biggest!>
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- Teff fields on the way down to Adama.
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- Those durn donkeys. I understand they are useful, but they are like the stupidest animal ever.
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- It was fun shopping in a much more relaxed atmosphere. Imports were more expensive, but food was a little cheaper here.
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- I SO wanted to ride a horse taxi and never did. Next time! Some of the horses were well-kept; others, barely alive.
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- Beautiful flowers everywhere - this one was outside Faya Orphanage's door.
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- These funny little three wheeled cabs - I hadn't seen them outside of Italy. Safe as any other mode of transport in ET, I suppose!
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- We stayed at the Safari Lodge - the epidemy of kitsch. It was nice to have a pool, but there was no shallow end. This montrousity is one of the restaurants.
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- Sugar enjoying the small playground in the back. That was super helpful for the kids.
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- They really liked it here, but mainly because there were no baboons or warthogs to startle them!
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- After three visits to Adama, the girls finally trusted me to ride the brightly-festooned horse. And they LOVED it.
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- Daddy doing story time under tha mosquito net. We were DEETed up in the day and wrapped up in the nets at night. We didn't take any meds.
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- Bedbugs! Ewww. Actually, mostly annoying. Not sure if there ARE more savoury places to stay in Adama. Any hints, blog readers?
February 9th, 2010 at 10:27 am
great pictures! it really is like stepping into another world, isn’t it?
February 9th, 2010 at 11:11 am
thanks for posting this. My girls are also from Adama so I really enjoyed seeing the pics!!
February 9th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
Hi there, great to see these pictures. It brought back memories! We stated at the Kuriftu lodge. It was Beautiful. Like a Sandals or something. It’s on a lake - where you wouldn’t dare put your feet in, but the birds and flowers and plants were gorgeous. Everyone gets their own little hut to stay in with very modern bathrooms made from local materials. It was incredible, but we only stayed 3 days as it was fairly expensive.
February 9th, 2010 at 4:15 pm
Your girls look so much smaller in these pictures than they do now! They’ve grown so much!! Love the pics.
Ruth