III. Visit Ethiopia

Ethiopia – a Paradise of Wild Lives

 by Li Jianzhong

Dispatched by the Ministry of Education of China, I flew to Ethiopia On January 8th, 2002 and worked in Addis Ababa as a Technical and Vocational Education and Training coordinator of Chinese teachers for two years. During that period, I visited many places in the mysterious land. What I experienced in the strange land was quite different from my expectations.

For many foreigners living in Ethiopia or short time visitors who came to Ethiopia with an apprehension and cautious outlook, Ethiopia is a country that surprises its visitors with its “13 Months of Sunshine” of fine weather, deeply rootedreligious culture with three thousands years of history and a country of diversity in unity. This is reflected in the hospitality of its people making the country one of the safest places in the world for tourists and other visitors. To the surprise of many visitors, Ethiopia is also a land of abundant wild lives.

Wherever you go in Ethiopia, you are sure to have a chance to encounter various wild lives. It’s admirable to see how easy and peaceful life the wild lives enjoy in this land, a land potentially rich, kind and generous.

Bahar Dar-a lakeside city is located about 500km North-West to Addis Ababa. It took me and my family one and half hours from Addis Ababa to Bahar Dar by air. After checked in the beautiful Ghion Hotel, my wife and daughter were eager to rush to the lakeside to see Lake Tana, the largest fresh water body in Ethiopia. Wandering by the lake, we were totally attracted by the unique and beautiful scenery: green trees with flowers standing on the bank like huge colorful umbrellas; white clouds and blue sky; flowers and greens everywhere; endless smooth water as well as the boats and birds on the lake. It looked as if we were in an art museum musing with an artist’s nature painting, not in a real world.

Further on we saw some fishermen feeding pelicans with the left over of the processed fish. All of a sudden, hundreds of those big white birds gathered from no where and formed a unique and unforgettable scene: human, birds and nature all were in a perfect harmony.

The next morning we hired a boat to see the mouth of Blue Nile- the longest river in the world. We were told many hippos live in that area. We wanted to see the origin of the Blue Nile and hippos in natural environment with our own eyes. The boat broke the silence of the lake. We saw hundreds and thousands of different kinds of birds swimming or hovering on the lake. We landed on Men’s Island to visit a historical orthodox Church, and finally we arrived at the mouth of Blue Nile. Shallow water, abundant trees and waterweeds, an ideal places for hippos to live. There, we found several hippo families including baby hippos with their parents. They seemed not scared of visitors. They just kept relaxing and enjoying themselves.

As part of our itrenenary, our next destination was Arba Minch, a tropical city 500 km south of Addis Ababa. This time we traveled by car. The further we moved to south, the greener we could see. The typical tree was what we called “Flat top tree”. It looked like a flat-top pine tree or huge umbrella.We can tell just by the tree that we are in Africa. Near Arba Minch, it became warmer. Fruit trees like banana, mango, papaya, avocado etc. are flourishing here year round; one of the most beautiful spots is the tropical forest of Arba Minch.In Amharic, national language“Arba Minch” means “forty springs”.

The forest is between Lakes Abaya and Chamo, which are part of Rift Valley chains of Lakes found in the Southern part of the country. In the woods we did find springs here and there. It’s said that the springs are the main water source for Arba Minch’s residents.

In the thick woods it is hard to see the sun. The scene was so unique and exciting that we kept walking in the woods for almost half day. We did see monkeys, baboons, wild pigs, zebras as well as other animals that we didn’t know their names. Most animals there seemed not afraid of us. Some monkeys and baboons even dared to take food from our hands. Those animals were lucky to live on this land.

Many people dreamed that human and wild lives could co-exist in peace. The dream has become true in this beautiful country. Because of their religious belief and their way of live, most Ethiopians love nature. In this country, even though some people live in a financially precarious situation, they usually never hurt wild lives. What a unique nation!