May 29, 2009

We left Lalibela this morning to fly to Gondar. At the airport, we spoke to an official from Ethiopian Airlines and discovered we could stop at Bahir Dar for no extra charge. Apparently the travel agent we used had been entirely incompetent because she had assured us that this was not the case. Now Bahir Dar was the other city that we had really wanted to visit. It is located on the shore of Lake Tana which is the largest lake in Ethiopia. You can rent a boat with a guide and visit various ancient monastaries on its shores and islands. So Richard and I immediately started researching lodging and attractions in Bahir Dar. Everything seemed to be falling into place until we read that Bahir Dar is in the malaria zone since it has a much more tropical climate. We have malaria pills but unfortunately had left them back in Debra Zeit. So that was the end of that exciting possibility!

After weathering a very turbulent flight with a stop in Axum, we finally arrived in Gondar and checked into a hotel. Gondar is a much larger city so it felt rather like we were returning to civilization. We stayed at a government hotel perched high on a hill. Once again it was a no electricity day. We’ve had that for three of our four days away from DZ.

The highlight of Gondar is the palaces built in the 16th and 17th centuries. There are six palaces in the Royal Compound and then a separate bath and church. It was all quite amazing. It felt like a little bit of Europe right in the middle of Africa. We spent the afternoon exploring with a guide we booked through our hotel.

We had dinner at the hotel and were relieved that this particular hotel has a generator that they turn on at 7 pm!