An early start (though we’re already discovering that “African time” isn’t quite as precise as Silicon Valley) to head from Addis to Dessie, a town about 400 km away. It was a Kodak moment journey as we passed through incredibly beautiful mountainous terrain surrounded by valleys still rich in lush green color from the rainy season. We continually dodged donkeys, goats, cows, and even camels. What a sight. There were friendly waves and curious looks as we caravanned through roadside villages. We enjoyed spans of roads newly paved by the Chinese which were delightfully smooth, but also many detours around road construction and even greater sections of road that slammed our bags and bodies against each other and the roof and walls of the car.