As for me, I’m about to leave this city to fiddle with the unknown. There is a big lake a few days away, and it’s in ivory territories: I will try to get there. But it is most likely hostile territory. I’ll buy a horse and go..
Letter XVII, Harar, May 4, 1881, Arthur Rimbaud.
Rain falls down steadily on the concrete city of Addis Ababa
This day of July 2010 marks the beginning of my discovery of the Queen of Sheba Land. I have just arrived in the immaculate and modern airport of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Rain falls steadily. The whole city of Addis Ababa is a stacking of either scaffolding and kitsch concrete blocks built by some Chinese entrepreneurs or wide and grim slums.
In the Great Rift Valley, the rose-colored Lake Longano is glowing
200 km south of Addis Ababa, I headed up to the Great Rift Valley. The rose-colored lake Longano is glowing. This the sole lake in the region free of bilharzia. The place offers a nice resort for privileged families fleeing the capital on week-ends but also for a few Western tourists eager to discover local wildlife. A few meters away, poor and barefooted livestock keepers live on the lake banks.
A visit of Aksoum supports the view that myths could be still alive in Ethiopia
I am now heading to the Far-northern city Aksoum. Definitely, a visit of Aksoum supports the view that Abyssinian myths could be still alive in Ethiopia. A 1700 years-old funeral obelisk, stolen in 1937 by the Mussolini’s troops and returned back in 2005 stands now over two meters above my head. And to complete the picture, just married Ethiopians are being photographed before the blue granite steles.
A few miles away, high grasses hide the remains of the Queen of Sheba’s palace. However, the ingestion of a traditional spicy chicken dish painfully ends up my discovery of the Axum myths.
Numerous islands of Lake Tana provide a safe heaven to ancient monasteries
A little bit nearer to Addis Ababa, the northern Baher Dar capital of Amhara region sits 1829 meters up. The largest lake of Ethiopia, the Lake Tana is the reservoir of the Blue Nile. Its waters are crossed by fishermen in papyrus boats. Numerous islands of Lake Tana provide a safe heaven to ancient monasteries.
Waterlogged for weeks since the beginning of the rainy season, the Blue Nile Falls fuel a powerful hydroelectric dam
A tuk tuk taxi driver agrees to drive me to the Blue Nile Falls, 40 km away. Traditional wooden houses line the road. Sheltered under an umbrella, some barefooted farmers are bringing back goods to town on a donkey. Ten minutes later, the tuk tuk shows early warning signs. The driver is blocking the exhaust pipe with a plastic bag. He eventually managed after much failed attempts to restart the engine. The same incident takes place twenty times before I eventually reach the Blue Nile Falls. Waterlogged for weeks since the beginning of the rainy season, the Blue Nile Falls fuel a powerful hydroelectric dam. Blue Nile waters channel fertile sediment flows until they join the White Nile in Khartum.
Gondar, another former capital of Abyssinia
I am now in Gondar, another former capital of Abyssinia. The city remains one of the most important trade in the country. The former State hotel Goha celebrates the neo-Stalinist style in vogue in communist countries. The hotel did not get rid off of its old-fashioned curtains and chandeliers.
The mysterious building of Lalibela’s rocky churches confirms that Abyssinian myths are still alive
Finally I arrive to Lalibela, the spellbinding black Jerusalem. The mystery surrounding the building of its 11 rocky churches confirms that Abyssinian myths are still alive in Ethiopia.
Now it makes sense to me what had prompted the French poet Arthur Rimbaud to get lost one day in Abyssinia.
