Monday, June 26

After eating one last delicious meal at the guest house, we were on our way out of Dessie with another ten hour drive back to Addis. Before we left we got one more chance to see some of the beautiful Hope School children and say more goodbyes. Our plans to make record time back to Addis were thwarted early on when we got a flat tire. Luckily we stopped in town and had a chance to visit with some locals while the tire was fixed. Many people purchased a coffee coaster and used it as a makeshift fan to beat the heat of the valley floor.

Although this was our second time making this drive, I found the scenery to be much more beautiful this time. Majestic green hills to the east, plains with trees and little villages to the west. We encountered more camels, donkeys, goats, and oxen although fewer pictures were taken this time around.

We stopped again at the top of the plateau that looks over the valley below. It's also the home to many baboons and people selling unique hats. While Steve and others bargained for hats, I decided to run up the mountain, to enjoy the view, as well as get a closer look at a large group of baboons. It was a long uphill run that in the thin air took my breath away quickly, but I got pretty close to the baboons. Some of the larger males noticed me and tried to move the group away. I decided to push my luck and get a little closer when suddenly a group of the large males started screaming and fighting. I wasn't sure if they were planning on chasing me or just trying to frighten me, but I didn't plan on staying around to find out. I turned and sprinted down the hill, with an image of hundreds of baboons chasing me, in my head. I got down to an area I figured was safe, and saw that I had no pursuers. I hoped no one saw my mad dash but when I got to the bottom I found my team members laughing at the spectacle they had just witnessed. I guess baboon screaming followed by a lone person sprinting down a mountain in a bright blue shirt is somewhat conspicuous. Oh well!

The rest of the drive was pretty tame, people enjoyed some good rest and more of the amazing vistas Ethiopia has to offer. We were all relieved to get back to Addis in around ten hours for an evening of relaxing before heading to Roggie the next day.

Brett Lotz
3rd Grade Teacher