Why are Ellie and I going to Ethiopia and Zanzibar?
Well, it all started last September. A few years ago, I worked for a short-lived but noble radio programming experiment called Washington Post Radio. One of the shows was hosted by former Post sports columnist and ESPN personality Tony Kornheiser. I'm not a sports fan, but Tony's show was often on in the background at the office, and he is pretty funny. So anyway, long story short, Washington Post Radio went away and then so did the TK Show.
So last fall, Tony resurrected the show at the local ESPN radio affiliate. I was curious to know whether the show was the same as it had been on WTWP, so one day I went to ESPN980.com to find out. It is more or less the same show. As I listened to the audio stream, I noticed a place to click and enter for a prize package from Ethiopian Airways. I clicked, I entered my contact info, and went on with my day.
A couple of weeks later, I got a call at home. The caller identified herself as being with ESPN 980. "Great, a poll," I thought. "Congratulations, you won the trip to Ethiopia!" she said. "???!!!???" I thought. "You're kidding," I said. "Do you remember entering?" said she. Right now you're thinking, as was I, "Sure, but I didn't know people actually WIN those things!"
So anyway, within a few days I'd learned that what I'd won was a 5-day, all-inclusive trip to Ethiopia. I pretty quickly chose my sister Ellie as my traveling companion. She's fun, she doesn't have young kids tying her to home, and we traveled together last year very well (to Paris and Barcelona). Since it seemed a bit silly to go all the way to Africa and turn around 5 days later, we decided to pay our own way for an extra few days through one of Ethiopian Airways' package deals.
The frontrunner was instantly Zanzibar, for a chance at a very different and exotic setting to relax in after a hectic, fascinating tour of major historical sites in Ethiopia. However, Zanzibar suffered a 3-month power outage between December and early March! We started investigating other options, but thankfully power was restored just before we had to make a final decision.
We leave Saturday evening, March 27, and as of now our itinerary has us arriving in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, the next evening. We leave first thing the next morning for Lalibela, one of the original UNESCO world heritage sites... spend 2 nights in Lalibela, visiting churches and monasteries, plus riding mules and hiking in the mountains... Then on to Axum, in the far north, which claims to house the Ark of the Covenant, along with other important religious and cultural artifacts... Then back to Addis, where we'll get to take in sights like the national museum and Africa's largest marketplace... Then on to Zanzibar, where we'll tour spice plantations, see dolphins and monkeys and swim in the Indian Ocean... Then back to Addis where we'll have one more day of sightseeing before we head back home.
Internet access allowing, we'll post updates and photos as we go. It should be a fascinating, exhausting, exhilarating trip. Stay tuned!
-- Elizabeth
(Photo above taken in Feb. 2009 in Barcelona)
