Africa

>January 23/24, 2012. Gondar, Ethiopia

>Gondar was founded by Emperor Fasalides in 1635 and served as the capital city for 250 years. His father had converted to Catholicism, influenced by the Portuguese, and tried to shut down the Christian orthodox church. This resulted in a period of great instability and great bloodshed. When Fasalides took...
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>Saturday, January 21. Axum.

>The next morning, it was up early (again!), and off to the airport to head to the ancient city of Axum. Despite being the most ancient Ethiopian capital, documented history is disappointingly weak with regard to this area of the world. Ethiopians are quick to point out that Ethiopia is...
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>Sunday, February 5

>Just arrived back to Addis Ababa yesterday, after about ten days in Southern Ethiopia. Hot water and electricity were not always available, so of course wifi was non-existent. Every once in a while, we came across Internet access outside of our hotels, but it was generally of the dial up...
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Addis Ababa. January 18, 2012.

>The next day, we started out by taking a drive through the mercato, the largest open air market in Africa. Unlike the souks of Morocco, which offer a lot of tourist appeal, this market is geared more towards local commerce. 40% of the country’s GDP is related to the activity...
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Addis Ababa. January 17, 2012

We toured with our group for two days, while in the capital city. On the first day, January 17, we headed up into the Intoto Hills, which is the highest spot in town where Emperor Menelik (more about him later) established his base, and where he was coronated in the...
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