Tuesday February 12th, 2013
Hello blog people! It’s been an interesting few weeks since
I last wrote. Things were chugging along meeting various organizations and
gathering information. Different project ideas keep rolling in which is great!
Each day is different and almost never goes “as planed”. I’v learned the best
plan is no plan but to go with the flow and accept whatever situation is
presented. Quite often this can turn out to be a lot of fun- like going to
stranger’s homes for buna or large holy day gatherings. There are at least 15
different saints in the Ethiopian Orthodox religion which means at least 15
days of celebrating by going to church and eating lots of food for a few days.
So after 2 months of 100% healthiness last week I had a bad
spell of food poisoning, vomiting for 12 hours mixed with diarrhea for a few
days, which left me whipped out for another few days. I finally recovered and
went back to work only to go on a really fun but exhausting hike. We (Alemu- my
counterpart) went to the local “Hora” holy spring’s where people come from
great distances to become healed. Our driver even brought a young girl who was
mysteriously paralyzed. On our return home I learned that she was going to live
at the Hora until she was healed. The entrance to the Hora felt like a refugee
camp. Ramshackle blue and orange tarps we set up in a large cluster housing
people of various ailments. Very sad to see, especially since it is located
inside the Bale National Park and technically illegal. I could see some ancient
old trees getting hacked to pieces for the use of firewood. This is one problem
I don’t know how to solve. Anyway Alemu and I and two “guides” hiked up through
the forest up to the top of a mountain where the main source of the springs
starts. I saw a Black and White Colobus Monkey and a gorgeous reddish bird among the huge trees
as we climbed (it was too quick of a glimpse to fully id). The springs were
small bubbling out of the rocks and were a cool mineral bubbly water. Hiking
back down we saw a narrow gorge and waterfall. It felt very wild and remote-
which it was.
Saturday some friends and I took the 45 minute ride over to
Dinsho where the headquarters to the Bale National Park is. We then went for
another big hike up into the forest, this time seeing several baboons and
Mountain Nyala (an endangered and endemic large antelope with curvy long
horns). Hiking up into the alpine zone (about 11,000 feet) felt a little like
Lord of the Rings” – crazy puffball white spikey shrubs and gnarled dense
trees. It was beautiful and so fun to see the vegetation change as we climbed
through different zones. It turned into quite the exploratory adventure and by
the time we got home I was again exhausted.
Sadly that night I had a fever and by Monday had a horrible
headache and fever. I went to the local clinic to get tested for various
tropical diseases and came up positive for Typhus- a disease spread by fleas.
Luckily the disease is treated by the same drug I use for the antimalarial so
hopefully it passes quickly. As I write I am feeling the best I have in several
days. So lesson learned- once sick take extra time to fully recover and rest.
But I did get to see some incredible things!!! So that’s what I’v been up to
the past few weeks. Hugs to everyone! Write if you can!
PS- My dad sent me a
tin of WSU “Cougar Gold” cheese and its absolutely heaven!! Thanks Dad!!!
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