Some photos of the last few weeks

Zane was all packed and ready to go the night before.  Unfortunately, he couldn't find his passport in time, so he had to stay home :(

 

My friend and I flew from Addis Ababa to Gonder, in the Northern part of the country.  Amazing!  It really was sort of like being in Middle Earth.  I mean, I've seen more impressive castles in Europe, but the fact that these are African castles, and have such an interesting history of their own, it was really amazing to wander around and try to imagine what life was like back at the height of these empires.  The castles were pretty well preserved, and we took lots of pictures of the details of the various castles and ruins in the Royal Enclosure.  But I'll spare you too many photos...

 After touring the Royal Enclosure, we drove up to one of the famous churches - this one is famous for all the icons and paintings inside.  The ceiling paintings were the most impressive!  Row upon row of Ethiopian angels looking down at you.  You're supposed to try to count all the angels... but I just spent my time enjoying the scene and taking photos.  We learned a ton of the history, and learned a lot about the Orthodox Church, as well, but I'll spare you the details - if you're interested, you can look it up in Lonely Planet :)  We had a good guide, though, which made for an enjoyable day in Gondar.  After an avocado juice and a nice dinner overlooking the statue of Emporor Tewodros, we went early to bed in our very nice hotel, ready for a drive up the Simien Mountains the following day...