Emperor Menelik II (1844-1913), one of the most documented and beloved figures in Ethiopian history, made an impressive attempt to change Ethiopia and its feudal system for ever. From his capital of Addis Ababa, founded only a few short years before he became emperor, Menelik directed the process of changing Ethiopia from a traditional to modern polity. His period of rule saw the introduction of electricity, telephone, telegraph, cinema, public schools, printing press, and hospitals. The Emperor employed European advisors to modernize his army, to introduce modern communications and transportation. He was savvy enough to embrace the new technology of his time—photography— as he was well aware that a picture with the insignia of his office could only enhance power. The emperor was introduced to the new technology by his Swiss councilor, Alfred Ilg.
Elisabeth Biasio in her book Majesty and Magnificence at the court of Menelik, Alfred Ilg’s Ethiopia around 1900, related how the emperor came to discover photography inadvertently after an informant told him that the Swiss expatriate had “put him in a black box”. Quoting Konrad Keller, who was on a German diplomatic mission to Ethiopia, Elisabeth wrote at that time the emperor knew nothing about photography. “The emperor summoned Ilg one day and told him: “I have heard something about you, that was very bad of you. I have been told that without me knowing anything about it you made me very small and put me in a little black box with my whole castle, houses, people and mules. And most incredible of all, apparently in this box I was standing on my head with my legs in the air.”
Afterwards, when Ilg had explained the most important rules of optics to the emperor, who was absolutely fascinated by all technical innovations, and when he understood what happened inside the camera, he frequently allowed his portrait to be taken, Elisabeth stated. The emperor instructed the photographers on just how he was to be portrayed. Here are some photos taken at the time by Ilg which I scanned from Elisabeth Biasio’s book.

(In the first picture, the emperor and empress in their luxurious private quarters, furnished in western fashion, at an informal, western-style dinner. Menilek’s (but not Taytu’s) daughter Zewditu sits to the left behind the empress. Zewditu was empress from 1916-1930. This photograph shows that Ilg knew the imperial family well and that he was admitted even on private occasions.)

The picture was taken 1896 after the battle of Adwa was won. Menilek poses as the victorious monarch with all his insignia: with the lion’s hair crown (anfarro), the symbol of the valiant warrior, the imperial Kabba lanqa and the scepter. The lion, as regal animal, is an illusion to the verse from the Apocalypse (5,5) “Behold, victorious was the lion from the lion of Judah”.

This photograph emphasises the emperor’s function as supreme military leader as he is wearing the crown of lion’s hair and carrying a rifle.

Emperor Menilek and Empress Taytu. In this rather informal photgraph the emperor is wering the kerchief and a balck cape (kabba). The empress has draped her tobe around her.

Addis is putting photography in the spotlight this week. The Addis Foto Fest 2012 opened on Monday night at the historic Etege Taitu Hotel in Piassa, Addis Ababa. The festival features some 45 photographers and curators from Africa, USA and Europe and nine exhibitions across 7 venues. Aida Muluneh, director and founder of the photo fest, said that the festival is moving forward towards becoming a key event in the landscape of African contemporary art and culture. “Our goal continues in each edition to provide opportunities to expose our participants and viewers to the various ways in which the image of Africa is portrayed,” Aida wrote in the catalogue.

The program includes panel discussions, talks and workshops with editors and photographers covering issues such as media and photography market in Africa. The opening exhibition, “Addis Transformation”, was dedicated to the 125 anniversary of the city of Addis Ababa, documenting the diplomatic capital of Africa and a thriving metropolis. From the scaffolding tower rising toward the statue, dwellers sharing half built condo apartments to vendors facing the threat of eviction, the photographs produce striking messages about a city at fast pace, price of a construction boom and the causalities of building a city. On one wall, a panoramic photo of Addis taken by the Ethiopian photographer Abate Damte, shows a newly built skyscrapers glowing ethereally in the morning sun and in another wall, Mulugeta Ayene’s images of the city’s building and squares that have undergone a number of facelifts and additions, revealing a unique insight and intimate vision of the city.

Medium prints and frames have been chosen for American photographer Kyle Lamere’s captivating images of Addis’s pretty and fashionable girls strolling around the city center. The photos are artistic, fun, relaxed and simply well-executed shots.

It is stated in the catalogue that Lyle LaMere is a portrait photographer from Chicago, IL who shoots a wide range of subjects-musicians, models, local artists, social entrepreneurs, all-around good folk, and the occasional pro wrestler.

Finally it was good to see the photos of veteran photojournalist Belete Tekle, whose collection of images span three periods of Ethiopia’s political history. Starting from 1960 until the end of 1990, he has documented the urban and societal development, showing how from the small beginning Addis grew into the city it is today.
Launched in 2010 as the Addis Foto Fest, the 2012 edition sees the remit expand along with the sheer quantity of exhibitions and events taking place throughout the week.The Festival will run until 8 December.
(All photos here are taken from Addis Foto Fest Facebook page.) ,except two of Kyle Lamere’s photos which were sent to me by Wanja Kimani, one of the organizers of the photo fest.

For more info, visit Addis Foto Fest.

Disappearing habitat and climate change have been blamed for a decline in the Ethiopia’s bird populations – now a conservationist says the Chinese nationals living in Ethiopia could be causing the Ethiopian birds to disappear.
Speaking to the Amharic Reporter published yesterday, director of Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society, Mengistu Wondafrash, said many of the Chinese living in Ethiopia are illegally using a board with sticky liquid and cereals to hunt birds and consume them.He estimates scores of rare birds have been killed this year and claim the killings have reached a new high.
This is the first time a notable conservationist spoke openly about what others knew but not dared to express.
Other than threats of overpopulation, ecology and land management, the Chinese are becoming the reasons behind declines of bird population in Ethiopia, the conservationist explained.
Mengistu said his association has issued letters to responsible parties to warn Chinese to stop slaughtering birds.
While Ethiopians don’t shoot and hunt birds, it has become evident that in the Chinese culture, anything that has feathers is edible and the Chinese don’t make exceptions to eating any bird.
“They are mostly doing it in their camps, which makes it hard to control,” Mengistu said.”As long as the police fail to take action and the government remain silent, the situation is likely to get worse,” he added.
Many changes have also affected bird populations – most notably changes in land use and agricultural activities that have affected the bird by reducing available feeding grounds, Mengistu said.
These changes can change the amount or quality of key resources needed by birds, such as suitable places to nest or a shortage of food in summer or winter, he added.
Mengistu stated that rare birds like Liben larks are also continuing to be at risk. Liben larks that are restricted to a very small range of grassland that measures only 36 square kilometers in Negele Borena are experiencing widespread decline and if nothing is done and their populations continue to decline, they may also have the unfortunate distinction of being the first bird to go extinct in Ethiopia, Mengistu said.Two other Ethiopian endemics share an incredibly limited range in southern Ethiopian with the White-tailed Swallow Hirundo megaensis and Ethiopian (Stresemann’s) Bush Crow Zavattariornis stresemanni. The flagship bird of Birdfair 2010, Prince Ruspoli’s Turaco Tauraco ruspolii, has a limited distribution to the northeast of Yabello.

Ethiopian artist Merid Tafesse paints images of genuine topicality in an immaculate caricature style. An exhibition entitled, “DON’T ASK ME WHY” at the private Lela Art Gallery in Addis Ababa presents the artist’s 36 works, most of them done in charcoal with cartoonish manner, a style that have become the artist’s signature works. Human figures, portraits and clowns dominate the works and are put on the papers by a casual application of drawing. Merid’s charcoal looks like an up-close black and white photograph and he is so fine with the brush that he could complete his creations with just one stroke. His shapes appear to form a segment of a much larger implied image that continues to either side or beyond the actual paper.
Merid said that the works reflect his development as an artist starting from his school days at an art school. “There are works that I have done as recently as last month and others which I made just after graduating from school and started using charcoal, “the artist explains.
Asked how he chooses his theme and subjects, Merid says, “When it comes to starting the drawing, I do not draw or plan the composition. I am open wherever I go. I just open myself and see. I might start with lines. It could be something that touched me on that day. What I saw on the TV, what is going on in the world, the Arab spring or something like that. Sometimes a burning idea just pops into my head. Usually after I work on something, I will see themes. The puzzle keeps me asking questions and that seems to make the work evolve.” One portrait of a man, entitled “The Hypocrite,” shows a clown who seems to be sad but laughing inside. The artist said it was a work inspired after a particular incident in South Africa four years ago. “There were attacks on foreigners, anybody working in South Africa was attacked, because the people think the foreigners have come to take their job. One afternoon there was a person, a guy, who followed me and talked to me. He said, ‘I see the way you walk- you are not from South Africa.’ I told him that, ‘I am Ethiopian,’ and passed him by. He said that he was sorry that there was attack on the foreign community but as he was saying that, there was smile on his face, a satisfied smile. So I am inspired by him, and make a guy with a suit- a clown who looks like he’s crying, but he’s laughing inside.”

Merid specialized in painting at Addis Ababa University Fine Arts School but he soon abandoned it entirely to make experiment with charcoal. His first one-person show was in 1999 in Jerusalem followed by several exhibitions in Addis Ababa, Paris and Cape Town, to name a few cities. His work was also featured in a group exhibition to 20 African countries and the region. It takes courage to abandon a lucrative career as a popular painter in order to follow your instincts and make rigorous abstractions. Merid hasn’t much enjoyed commercial success. “I diverted from traditional methods into a more conceptual, collective, less market-driven practices. I started to value simplicity over complexity. I am convinced that art making was essentially a form of behavior. If you do colorful and cultural stuff, you could sell. But I’ve decided to experiment with charcoal. The color is black which has a negative connotation. Blackness is associated with darkness. In fact, someone black or brown is someone who is exposed to the sun. If we don’t get enough sun, our color becomes pale. To be black is to be in the light, “he explained.
A work ‘Taking sand to the sea’ with heavily patterned based, yet more vibrant, color palette captivated the attention of art lovers. The artist said the work has already been exhibited at the National Museum. “You don’t normally take sand to the sea. You rather bring sand from the sea. You don’t take salt to Dalol. But that is the kind of situation we are. We have everything. We have oil seed. But it is taken from here and manufactured in a factory abroad and sent back to us. That is what I tried to show.”

Talking about artists that have influenced his career, Merid said he counts Tadesse Gizaw as his influence. “He was one of the most extraordinary teachers anyone would be lucky enough to have; a lot of my draw was to him. He was not only a painter but also industrial designer. He was a craftsmanship and an inventor. He invented the Amharic typewriter. He fabricated his own machine gun. He did a steam car. He was my teacher when I was first year at art school,“he explained.
Explaining why he is using mostly charcoals, Merid says the spontaneous nature of the medium often command immediate decisions at times. “This gives movement to the subject matter and allows me to bring to the viewer snippets of time that represent intimate aspects of the human condition,” he explains.
The fine strokes and simplicity in the subjects added more zeal to his creations.This exhibition is a continuum of creativity and it is a thing of simplicity, humility, and self-knowledge.

Historian, author and commentator Professor Richard Pankhurst talks about the renowned intellectual, statesman, diplomat and Ethiopia’s first western trained physician, Hakim Workneh Eshete (also known as Dr. Charles Martin). In an article published in the Capital newspaper, the most prolific writer on Ethiopian historical matters reviews two recent books that saw the light of the day on the historical figure.
Hakim Workneh, aka Dr Charles Martin, was the first Ethiopian I ever met, and the first Ethiopian doctor to give me medical advice – albeit only once or twice during my childhood. Hakim Workneh, who was an important figure in Ethiopian history, is the subject of two recent biographies. He came from a prominent Gondar family that, for one reason or another – we do not know precisely why – was attached to Emperor Tewodros’s court at Maqdala.
The family was there at the historic moment when Robert Napier’s expedition launched its assault on the Emperor’s citadel.
Workneh, then about three years old, was in the care of his aunt, herself little more than a child, who, on hearing the noise of battle, fled the scene. This was not surprising, as an Ethiopian royal chronicle of this time reports that the commotion was terrible.
Workneh meanwhile realizing that he had been abandoned by his guardian, rushed about like a mad thing, looking for anyone he knew – but to no avail.
The British, seeing him in this condition, jumped to the conclusion that he must be an orphan. This, given the large number of Ethiopians killed in the preceding fighting, was not an unreasonable supposition.Several British officers, feeling a sense of responsibility for the assumed “orphan” – and lacking any way of ascertaining his identity, thought it best to take him back with them to India, from where their expedition had emanated. There, they proposed to give him a Christian education. Though already baptized in Ethiopia, the waif was accordingly re-baptized in India – and was educated at the expense of two British officers, Colonels Chamberlain and Martin. He was accordingly re-named Charles Martin.
In the years that followed, Martin, as we must now call him, received a good education, partly under the auspices of the British-based Church Missionary Society, from which he learnt the “golden rule” to “do as you would be done by”. He went to school in India, Burma and Britain. This enabled him to qualify in due course as Ethiopia’s first modern-trained physician and surgeon. His story is told in two recent monographs. The first, in Amharic, is thus widely accessible in Ethiopia. It is by Ato Tadele Bitul and is entitled YeAzazh Hakim Warqnah Eshetu YeHiwyot Tarik (Addis Ababa, 2000). The second, by Professor Peter Garretson, entitled A Victorian Gentleman & Ethiopian Nationalist. The Life & Times of Hakim Warqnah, Dr. Charles Martin (James Currey, London, 2012). Professor Garretson had access to Hakim Workneh’s diaries and was thereby able to provide a more in-depth account of this remarkable son of Ethiopia.
***
On acquiring his medical qualifications Martin, accepted a medical post with the British colonial administration in Burma. This assured him relative prosperity, but tied him to British employment. He did not however forget his Ethiopian identity – and dreamt of one day visiting his ancient motherland.
The opportunity to do just that seemed to strike in March 1896 when Menelik defeated the Italians at the battle of Adwa, and there appeared a possibility of a European-trained physician being sent out to treat the Ethiopian wounded, who were entirely lacking in modern medical facilities. The young Ethiopian patriot took the leave to which he was entitled, packed his bags, and set forth for Africa, but travelled only as far as the port of Zeila in the then British Somali Protectorate. There, his leave from the Burma-based British medical service expired – and he felt obliged to abandon his planned journey to his beloved, but seemingly elusive Motherland. All, however, was not lost, for while in Zeila he met the British Commissioner, John Lane Harrington, who was subsequently appointed the first British envoy to Ethiopia. He told Menelik of his medical compatriot in far-off Asia. The Emperor, a great modernizer, was naturally much fascinated – and facilitated Martin’s eventual home-coming.
All this, dear reader, was a far more complicated story than I present to you here. Suffice it to say that Martin was discovered by his Ethiopian family from whom he learnt that his original name was Workneh. He duly entered Menelik’s service – which posed no small problem as employment in Ethiopia was traditionally rewarded by land grants rather than a monthly wage to which the good young Ethiopian doctor was accustomed to in Burma and India.
Workneh, as we now know him, nonetheless elected to return to Ethiopia, and on retiring from British Colonial Medical Service decided to settle there for good. He gradually emerged as one of the country’s great modernizing spirits.
***
Workneh, who subsequently entered the service of Ras Teferi Mekonnen (the future Emperor Haile Selassie), accompanied the latter on his ground-breaking European tour of 1924. A notable advocate of modern education, Workneh was critical of the Egyptian teachers in the old Menelik School, founded by the monarch of that name in 1908, and urged Teferi to establish a more modern Europe-oriented school: the Teferi Mekonnen School at which he served as administrator. He was a keen supporter of English rather than the prevailing French, as Ethiopia’s foreign language of instruction.
Workneh was one of the foremost Ethiopian opponents of slavery and the slave trade, and on being appointed governor of Chercher Province, in the east of the country, did much to bring both these institutions in that region to an end. All in all, he gained a reputation as a progressive administrator.
He is however probably best remembered, as I remember him personally, as perhaps Ethiopia’s ablest and most loyal pre-war diplomat – who was appointed as his country’s Minister, i.e. Ambassador, to Britain in 1935, now seeming so long ago. As such his views on the evolution of Anglo-Ethiopian relations (reproduced by Garretson) are worthy of attention.

Wonderful portrait of legendary Oromo musician Ali Birra! Andreas Hansen’s article on Addis Rumble hits Ali’s biographical highlights from his young career in Dire Dawa all the way to his present life as a music legend.
Extracts.
The rumours of Ali Birra’s death have been greatly exaggerated. During his career, Ali has not only been jailed dozens of times. He has also been reported death more than once. First in the mid-70’s when the authorities in his home town of Dire Dawa told Ali’s father to travel to Addis Ababa to collect the corpse of his son. The father found Ali sleeping in hotel, rather hung over from the previous night’s performance, but still very much alive. In the past decade, the rumours of Ali’s death surfaced again and in 2009 he was announced dead on Wikipedia. In late 2012 in Addis Ababa, I met Ali – still alive and thriving – and he told me that the untimely obituaries and imprisonments are the price he has had to pay for playing Oromo music and promoting Oromo culture.
Check out the full article here.

An American visitor to Ethiopia describes how he experienced racism as a Chinese man.

As part of China’s controversial development policy in Ethiopia and Africa at large, Ethiopia is full of Chinese construction workers commissioned to build the roads. In fact, the majority of foreigners in Ethiopia, especially in the remote countryside are mostly Chinese. This has led many Ethiopians to believe that all foreigners are Chinese. And so when they saw me walking and hitchhiking through the countryside, they similarly assumed I was Chinese. From people squinting their eyes at me to yelling “CHINA…CHINA MAN,” I became one of few westerners to experience racism as a Chinese man. The racism began when I first entered Ethiopia through the city of Gondar. As I walked through the streets a little kid yelled at me from across the road. He said, “Knee-How?” and then put out his hand for some money. I chuckled at him and then gave him a few notes. Little did I know at the time, but this would be the first of many “Knee-Hows.”
After being greeted in Chinese for a second and then third time, it began to get on my nerves a little bit. Not only did they yell “Knee How,” but they would sometimes make a squinty face at me or just simply shout “CHINA” as I walked by. Eventually, I started yelling back, “I am NOT Chinese! Have you ever seen a Chinese man with BLONDE hair!”
Although I am a quarter Japanese, very few people can guess that I have Asian blood. While I do have high cheekbones and a somewhat ethnically ambiguous look, I am also blonde, blue eyed, and 187 cm tall. “How could they possibly think I was Chinese,” I thought. It was only until I got into the countryside and saw countless Chinese men working on the roads did I realize why. It was also there that the shouts and faces increased dramatically.
Eventually I began to internalize the constant proclamations. I began to question everything I knew. I thought to myself, “maybe I have been in denial my whole life and no one had ever had the heart to tell me before the Ethiopians.” And right then and there, I understood. I was in fact a full blooded Chinese man from China.
From then on, when people would yell “CHINA, CHINA,” I would respond very dryly with, “Yes China. Good Guess” I even started correcting people’s grammar. I would say very slowly, enunciating each syllable, “Nooo, not CHI-NA…. You say, CHI-NE-SE.”
Part of me now believed I could even speak Chinese. So sometimes I would shout back at them in my best fake Chinese. Though I would try and sound as stern and serious as possible, they would just laugh at me and continue to shout, “CHINA, CHINA!” It was relentless.
It didn’t bother me that I was now a Chinese man. What really bothered me was the mocking tone and high pitch by which they yelled China at me. Not to mention the squinty faces they would make using their fingers. It was just plain racist and made me feel like less a person just because I was Chinese.

All joking aside, I now truly understand what it is like to be a Chinese man in Ethiopia. And I have to say, it is not easy. In fact it is incredibly aggravating. However, it isn’t just Ethiopia where people are confused as being Chinese. In fact throughout the Middle East, all Asians, whether they be Thai or Japanese, are confused as being Chinese. As a result of my perspective gained in Ethiopia, I now also know how angering and frustrating it is to be labeled a different nationality. So, if you don’t know someone’s nationality, then don’t try and guess it. It’s just plain annoying. Finally, if you’re ever in Ethiopia or are an Asian backpacking through the Middle East or most anywhere, it’s best to just accept the fact that you are now Chinese because trying to explain the contrary just isn’t worth it.

The Young Ethio Jazz Band.

A group of US-based young Ethiopian musicians, ranging in age from 10 to 15, are playing Ethio-jazz and getting some media coverage like this one.
Sirak Tegbaru leads young members of Oakland’s Medhani Alem Ethiopian Orthodox Church in an unusual extracurricular activity: a traditional Ethiopian jazz band. The young musicians, ranging in age from 10 to 15, had their first performance on Sunday, at Rasela’s Jazz Club in San Francisco’s Fillmore district. They call themselves the Young Ethio Jazz Band.
The students play Ethio-jazz, a style that blends American jazz and Latin rhythms with traditional Ethiopian sounds. Led by figures like Mulatu Astatke, Ethio-jazz flowered during the 1960s and early ’70s.
The eight person band played several covers at Rasela’s, with many members taking solos on each song. Most Ethiopian music hasn’t been written down, so Tegbaru has to study each song carefully, learning the keyboard, horn, bass, and drum parts so that he can teach them to his band. After seven months of practices, they were ready for their first performance this January.
Yonathan Estfanos, who plays trumpet, describes the Young Ethio Jazz Band’s sound as “unique and mellow and lively. And nothing like anything people have ever heard of, especially people of this generation.” Like many of the band members, Estfanos says the band has allowed him to preserve his cultural heritage. “I feel like I’m going back to my culture, you know? I feel like I’m going back to my roots,” he said.

With its stirring plot, profound themes and lushly imagined language, Lib weled Tarik was so much more than Africa’s first novel. Jack Fellman turns the pages of a literary work of art.
The novel as an art form was late in appearing on the African literary scene. The first novel in an African vernacular tongue was the 90-page Amharic work, Lib Weled Tarik (literally, a story produced from the heart or an imaginary tale), written by the Ethiopian, Afewerk Gebre Eyesus, and published in 1908 in Rome.
Afewerk was born on July 10th 1868 on the Zeghe Peninsula of Lake Tana. His family was related to Empress Taytu, wife of the Emperor Menelik, who early on noted the talents of his young relative. In 1887 Menelik sent the 19-year-old Afewerk to study in Italy, where he proved an exceptional student. In 1902 he was appointed Assistant in Amharic to Professor Francesco Gallina at the Oriental Institute of the University of Naples, and it was in this capacity, and with the professor’s active encouragement and support, that Afewerk produced his novel- Africa’s first.
A historical romance, Lib Weled Tarik is set at the time when Christianity had begun to spread in pagan Ethiopia, triggering a series of local religious wars. It is the story of a Christian family, in particular of a father and his twin children, Wahed and Tobbiya. Sold into pagan captivity, the father is ransomed through the generosity of a merchant who had taken a liking to his son, Wahed. The boy then goes in search of the merchant in order to pay his kindness, but fails to find him and himself falls into captivity.
A year passes and Wahed’s father, accompanied by his daughter Tobbiya, who is disguised as boy for safety’s sake, set out in search of Wahed. Father and daughter, however, also fall into captivity, but they are treated royally by the pagan king who helps them to find both Wahed and the merchant. At the end o the novel, Tobbiya’s true identity is revealed, the pagan king and his people convert to Christianity, he marries Tobbiya, and his cousin marries Wahed.
The plot of Lib Weled is simple enough. The action takes place in a limited setting and time span, and there are a limited number of characters, representing allegorical types more than clearly delineated individuals. (Tobbiya, for example is the general spoken version of the word ‘Ethiopia’ while Wahed means ‘unity’ referring to Monophysitic Christianity, the state religion of historical Abyssina.) The general tone of the novel is didactic and the tenor moralistic, as the boundless virtues of Christian Abyssinia are endlessly recounted.
However, Afewerk-ever the true artist-knows how to counterbalance hi serious themes with injections of comic relief. A good example occurs, significantly, in the very middle of the work, when he introduces the pagan king’s jester and court dwarf and their humorous antics.
All told, the novel is a good story of adventure, suspense and, of course, romance. Perhaps more importantly, it filled an aesthetic-stylistic void that existed in Amharic, for Afwerk clearly showed, for the first time, the vast literary potential of the language. Indeed, he writes in a very rich and elegant vein, and one feels he is seeking to exploit the language’s inherent possibilities to the fullest. He also introduces a wealth of new words and meanings in the story, and later editions of ten include glossaries for the benefit of modern Amharic speakers.
In 1951, Luigi Fusella published a summary and partial translation of the main passages of Lib Weled Tarik in Italian, and in 1964 Tadesse Tamrat published a very free paraphrase-translation (with omissions) in English.
Usually, first works are pioneering and somewhat groping and tentative. By contrast, Africa is particularly, fortunate in that her first novel is one of real merit and a true work of art.
Selamta Volume 18, Number 3
July-Sept 2001

Here’s a selection of animals, birds and landscapes photos taken in different parts of Ethiopia. I thought I’d share a few of them with you- I hope you like them.

Long-crested eagle perches on a pole, crest waving in wind.
The remarkably long, feathered crest possessed by the aptly named long-crested eagle, is this unmistakable bird of prey’s most striking feature. My bird guide book tells me it is a relatively small eagle with dark brown to black plumage, long, white feathered legs, and a well barred tail. With the broad, rounded wings spread in flight, patches of white are conspicuous at the base of the primaries.
(Photo taken by Søren Kristensen, a Danish ornithologist that I’ve had a chance to accompany to the northern and western part of Ethiopia).

The common hippopotamus has an impressive array of tusk-like canines and incisors. It is considered by many to be Africa’s most dangerous mammal, as attacks invariably result in death. When feeling threatened, it opens its huge mouth and bellow. Females are fiercely protective of their young, which are born after an eight-month gestation. (Photographed at Lake Chamo in Arba Minch.)

Gureza (Abyssinian Black and white colobus)
This is the species most frequently seen by visitors to southern and western Ethiopia. This beautiful monkey is easily distinguished from other primates by its mantle of long white hair around sides and overall black features. Its major habitat is forest canopies and it is abundant in the western, southern and central highland of Ethiopia, specifically on the shores of Lake Awassa, Lake Zengena, Wench Crater Lake, in Turmi of Hamer region, at Wondo Genet, Welliso Negash lodge. The forests of Bebeka Coffee Estate, north of Mizan Teferi, offer the best viewing possibilities. This one was photographed in the Negash lodge, Welliso west of Addis.

The Danakil Depression in north-eastern Ethiopia is the hottest place on earth in a summer month. It is nested on top of an at least 1000m thick layer of quaternary evaporates including large potash (potassium salt) reserves. Endless salt and sulphur, and sprinkled with a rather adhesive coarse orange deposit is seen.

The Gheralta region is renowned for its chain of mountains, cliffs and hundreds of rock churches.The arid sandstones crimson terrain of the region is different from the more rounded green hills seen elsewhere in the Ethiopian highland. The Gheralta lodge, opened since 2006, takes guests off the beaten path and into an intimate eco experience. Spread over ten hectare in the foothills of the region, the eco-lodge, only 15 minutes drive south of Hawzen and about two hours from Mekelle, is cozy with a five bungalow, a restaurant with leisure area that open onto the sunlit garden filled with cacti, aloes, euphorbia trees, making it the fifth in Addis journal’s list of Top Ten Eco lodges.
General Manager Binyam Ekubastion leads a staff of trained locals who have come to understand the hospitality industry and the idea of ecotourism which is still operating on a very small scale here. He explains how the lodge’s founder Enrica and Silvio Rizzotti have decided to construct a lodge after a disappointed stay in the area when they visited it a decade ago. “The couple took over the property and constructed a family style resort, with good standards, integrating building into the environment. The buildings are all made from sustainable materials with minimal impact on the area. Materials traditionally used by the farmers of the region, stone walls, wooden ceilings, thatched or stone-made roofs are used,” he explained.

The visitors, most of whom are European tourists, are offered what the manager Binyam describes as an “authentic experience.” They sleep in the round-shaped spacious tukul with small solar nights to illuminate the night. The lodge’s green features include everything from energy efficient light fixtures to landscaping practices that are designed to maximize water conservation, using its own potable borehole.

The rock or tree hyrax (a small endearingly fluffy creature whose closet relatives are the elephant and the sea crow), inhabits both the sandstone crevices around Gheralta. It also hosts a ground squirrel colony and a number of rabbits. The area is alive with mysterious rustles and birdcalls during the day and after dark by almost deafening choir of cicadas.
The stand is full of history, geography, culture books, most of them written in Italy and English. Cocktails and canapés are served in the lodge’s lounge area nightly. The cuisine, a local blend of Ethiopian and Italian, sourced from the gardens, is served in the homestead’s formal dining room. Fresh goat meat is served with greatly seasoned rice, vegetable sauce, fresh vegetable salad, home-made bread, cooked beans etc. The traditional veal escalope Milanese is also their specialty. For breakfast, the lodge serves a very tasty honey, from the region which is one of the finest types of honey in the country. More than a few celebs have found their way to Gheralta Lodge—Hollywood director James Cameroon, actor and rapper Will Smith and his wife Jada Smith to name a few.

Gheralta is a truly special place, a comfortable lodge in a beautiful setting that is making a real difference to the lives of the community.

We might say goodbye to one of the most famous Ethiopian rift valley lakes soon. Lake Abiyata, which lies 200 kilometers south of Addis Ababa and often glimmered pink with flamingos, is declining rapidly due the damming of rivers and soda ash production. “The lake is among the most endangered of the lakes. Its gradual demise is recorded in a concentric series of old shorelines, obvious on the ground,” say environmental experts.
Lake Abiyata (locally known as Hora Kunni) is the shallowest of the rift valley lakes. It occupies a very flat depression, bounded to the west and east by small fault scarps. Its waters are more are appreciably more soda-rich than those of Langano. This expresses the fact that Lake Abiyata has no outlet, and evaporation continues to concentrate the soda. At present the lake’s maximum depth is about 7 meters, but this is decreasing as the lake shrinks.
“The lake’s gradual demise is recorded in a concentric series of old shorelines, obvious on the ground,” said Frances Williams and Paul Mohr who worked in the department of Geology of Addis Ababa University.
“The shrinking is partly the result of climate, but is exacerbated by soda extraction,” the experts wrote in recent booklet. A soda-ash plant operating at the northern end of the lake is also harming the delicate water body. It evaporates lake water in isolated pools to precipitate out dissolved sodium carbonate, it was said.
The experts warn that the lake could be dried out in the next two to four years if no action is taking. The government has yet to take a position on the future of the lake.

A student at Addis Ababa University’s Information Technology Department is being detained by the country’s security services for his Facebook activity. Manyazewal Eshetu has been arrested and charged with criminal defamation after he posted on his Facebook page criticizing the “rampant” corruption at Arba Minch University, according to a report from the Amharic service of Deutsche Welle. The 21-year-old student was picked up from his home in Addis Ababa last Thursday and taken to a prison in Arba Minch town. Though the Facebook posting had been taken down, police said the student made a defamatory statement, attacking individuals such as the university president.
Manyazewal’s guardian told DW his effort to find a way to free the student hasn’t succeeded. The guardian spoke highly of the student who he said has a good school record, participates in different extracurricular activities, and contributes articles for school publications. The guardian added Manyazewal was recently awarded a prize for his outstanding contribution in Ethiopian university student’s sports competition held in Arba Minch town.
Though a number of journalists and opposition figures have been charged with defamation in recent years for voicing their opinions in Ethiopia’s nascent liberal press, this is one of the rare cases in which someone is being targeted for a post on the social network.

The Ethiopian poet and playwright Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin’s biography hit bookstores last week, according to Tsehai Publishers.
The new book, called “Soaring on Winged Verse,” was based on interviews that author Fasil Yitbarek has held with Tsegaye, family members, friends, colleagues, the publishing company said in a press statement.
The 244-page book, priced $24.95, chronicles the life of one of Ethiopia’s most remarkable authors, tracing Tsegaye’s days from his Boda village to his rise as luminary figure.
“This book gives readers the most complete look into the life and prolific career of Tsegaye, a playwright and author of influential poetry in both Amharic and English,” the press statement reads.
“Beyond providing a biographical account of the events that shaped the poet’s life, Soaring on Winged Verse serves as an intimate window into the writer’s world and provides readers a glimpse into his creative musings and to his remarkable journey as a writer, traveler, and advocate for his home country.”
The biographer, currently professor of English at Qatar University in Doha, has published an English novel, The Texture of Dreams in 2005. “In Soaring on Winged Verse, readers will encounter a story that goes beyond mere facts to encompass the inspiration of Tsegaye’s remarkable and dynamic life,” the publisher said.

በንግግርም ይሁን በጽሑፍ ለማንሣትም ሆነ ለመጥቀስ፣ ለመወያየትም ሆነ ለመከራከር ከማይመቹኝ (discomfort እንዲል ፈረንጅ) የኢትዮጵያ ርዕሰ ጉዳዮች ሁሉ ዘርን፣ ብሔረሰብን የተመለከተው ዋነኛውና አንዱ ነው። ጉዳዩ በዕለት ተዕለት የአገራችን ሕይወት ውስጥ ወሳኙ እና በሁነኛ መልክ ማኅበረሰባዊ ማንነታችንን እየበየነ እንዳለ እያወቅኹም እንዲህ እንደ አሁኑ በአደባባይ ለመውጣት ግን ብዙም አይቀለኝም። ምክንያቱ ሌላ ምንም ሳይሆን ጉዳዩ ያለው ስሱነት (sensitivity) ነው። አሁን ግን ላልፈው አልቻልኩም። አይገባምም። ለምን?
ከአማራ ክልል ወደ ቤኒ-ሻንጉል ጉሙዝ ክልል ያሶ ወረዳ ተጉዘው የከተሙ በርካታ ሰዎች በወረዳው ባለሥልጣናትና ፖሊሶች፤ ሰብአዊ መብታቸው ተጥሶ ከቀያቸው መፈናቀላቸውን የሚያትት ዜና የሰሞኑ ኢትዮጵያውያን ድረ ገጾች/መገናኛዎች ዋነኛ ትኩረት ነው። ስለዚሁ ጉዳይ ዜና ያስነበበው “አዲስ አድማስ” ጋዜጣ ጉዳዩን በተመለከተ የሚከተሉትን ቁም ነገሮች አስፍሯል።
Read the rest at Adebabay.

Baher Dar is an interesting town to visit in the northern Ethiopia route. Much of the city’s popularity is thanks to its palm-lined avenues, pretty lakeside vistas, and colorful market. The focal point of the town is Lake Tana, and its island monasteries dotted around the lake.
Kuriftu Resort, one of the establishments designed around the lake, has majestic setting. Opened in 2009 and set on a 10,000 msq of land, the lodge is cozy, chic and relaxed with 28 guest rooms with private views and individual bungalows that open onto the lake and sunlit garden filled with roses and citrus trees. The ultra-modern lodge is product of a bamboo, thatch and stone and with furnishings that include antiques and traditional motifs. It’s not the first eco-lodge in the Baher Dar but it is the swankiest, and the only one with a giant swimming pool. While it will take a little time for the new stone facades, linking walkways and patio to settle and age, the overall design is attractive, with leather seating, low tables and pleasant table and chair arrangements in the dining room.

Kuriftu Resort, which is owned by a returnee Tadios Belete who is now based in Addis Ababa, has brought convenience to many travelers who had been facing challenges in overnight accommodation. When he was a young man and refugee in Sudan, Tadios dreamt that one day he would return home and invest in his country. He has achieved a remarkable standard. “Anyone with a good smell of business can feel and sense that there is an opportunity here,” he says. Tadios now runs Boston Partners Plc, a company well-known for building Kuriftu resorts in different parts of the country.
He said the lodge was constructed a tranquil, natural domain offerring the perfect sanctuary for those seeking a quiet retreat to restore spirits.”The rooms are thatched with grass and tend to be larger than your average guest rooms. They are furnished in Ethiopian style with a traditional yet modern beds and furniture that afford a level of luxury you would expect. Basically, we are creating a home away from home for tourists and many other travelers who pass through Baher Dar town.”
The downside is the room price, which is for example $220 for family room. Though the food quality is outstanding, it’s also bit overpriced.
If you don’t mind a major hit to your wallet, you’ll have a good time and tasty food.

Ruth Woldeselasie is fast becoming one of Ethiopia’s hottest designers. Her designs, which are simple, straightforward and locally inspired pieces, are getting recognitions from different corners. She draws inspiration from country and urban folks in order to produce wearable and long-lasting clothes. In her ‘Urban Roots Couture’ label, the Addis-born designer is trying to mix fashion with street culture – pushing the boundaries to the maximum. Since its inception, Urban Roots Couture has received press coverage from major local newspapers such as the Capital, the Reporter. Ruth has recently styled the likes of Jano Band, the recent Miss Ethiopia pageants and Miss Universe Ethiopia. She has showcased her work at numerous places in Addis such as a solo show at Radisson Blu Hotel, and another one at Sheraton Addis to mark Rotarian’s 50th celebration. Last November, at Velvet Restaurant and Pastry, she collaborated with twenty enterprises that specialize in using recycled and organic-based textiles materials to create outfits. In the Hub of Africa 2012, she partnered with Sole Rebels, an artisan who manufactures eco-friendly footwear, to showcase her works in African Union Conference center. She also participated in African Mosaique’s group show, “Biennial Fashion and Cultural Gala” at Sheraton Addis on January 4, 2013. On December 15, 2012, she has staged an “Eco Friendly Fashion Show” at Alliance Ethio-Française.
I caught up with her recently to talk about her works at her newly- opened-but- not -officially inaugurated store which is found in a building in front of Atlas Hotel. Tall and elegant with oval-shaped face and pointed nose, Ruth cuts as a conspicuous figure. Yet she is unaffected, intelligent and warm.

Ruth believes her eco-friendly methods are the way forward, while still producing quality designs. “Making sustainable garments starts with creativity in the design. I try to create reduced waste garments through a particular weaving technique. I make clothes using things I find here. That is what we call eco-friendly. We should try to make use of waste in Ethiopia. If we don’t, it is like throwing out money. We can’t afford waste, “she says.
Ruth erupted onto the social scene way back in the 1995, at a time when modeling was considered indecent and the Ethiopian locals interpreted wearing a mini skirt as desiring to be naked. She nonetheless enrolled for a local modeling agency, owned by an Italian lady, who also used to have a glossy magazine called New Faces. “Nathalina was in charge of New Faces and she recruited young catalogue models. Liya Kebede started modeling there. Kadra, one of the top models now in Paris, also was part of it, as well,” she recalls. Under Nathalina’s sympathetic but rigorous guidance, the young models have prospered and graced magazine covers in skimpy cloths, daring to express their passion for fancy fashion, and was received with mixed feelings of admiration and, for the larger part, dismay. “We were not even allowed to go out of our house. Nathalina used to ask permission from our parents.”
Unfazed by the consternation, she stubbornly persisted with her passion for fashion and when she was 18 years old, she opted to go first to France and then Italy to pursue fashion after completing secondary education at Shashemene Adventist School. In Italy, she enrolled in school called New Faces Fashion. “I had to take courses. Portamento, they call it there. They teach you the way you walk, you behave. We also took make up art, dance, and photography. “
But, most important of all, she learned responsibility and self-reliance. “I covered my expense. I lived alone. I was independent. May be that is my character,” she says.
It has been a natural progression from there. She initially worked as a model, but she wanted to focus on the design and styling process. “You change agencies, different agencies. You start travelling, learning about other cultures. To find out what is outside my country. I didn’t only focus on modeling only. I was attracted to art, its creation, its faces and meanings, management, marketing, business, music. But again, for me, fashion is the easiest thing to do, “she says.
The art led her to music and to take Dj’ing course in Milan and eventually to become a DJ as well. In London, she took marketing management courses. Yet, another course she took there would be an invaluable resource for the designing and styling career that she was taking up. It was called “Organic and Eco-friendly life style” and it has such a tremendous change on her perspective and outlook on life and her budding fashion career. “After I learned about eco-friendly or healthy life style, I started mixing it with fashion. That is my way of expressing my knowledge about such life style and things like that.” Ruth started to embrace a simpler, modern and organic lifestyle and started using traditional elements in her designing. In her outfits today, she is using organic cotton, Kaki, linen, bamboo and recycled leather trims as just some of the fabrics in her line.

Ruth has worked with high-profile designers such as Franco Moschino, Jean Paul Gautier. She said she did mostly Alta Roma, a kind of fashion known to creativity, superior craftsmanship of tailoring and modern vision of fashion.
After 15-year-old stays abroad Ruth returned to Ethiopia to kick off her dream career as designer and to launch her own brand, Urban Roots. Ruth says that she is finding Addis as an inspirational places to live in and to create fashion with philosophical concepts and an environmental sensibility. She constantly looks for the new and experimental in her productions based upon a special combination of her concepts and designs. She strives to offer more affordable creations to a broader range of clients, not contradicting the overall trend of designing clothes that are easy going and wearable.
She insists of using only hand embroidery for decoration on textiles instead of printing and giving work to people instead of having it fabricated in a machine.She meanwhile continues to soar above the clouds, proving that nothing is out of reach for the determined woman.
(The last photo shows a young model with Ruth’s production of skateboard at the Designer’s store.You could creach Ruth by email, ethio.ruth@gmail.com.)

Lela Art Gallery will present a retrospective of the work of Zerihun Yetmegeta in a new exhibition opening Saturday, April 20. “Yekelebet Menged” (Ring Road) will run through May 12th at LeLa Contemporary art Gallery in Addis Ababa. Zerihun is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential artists in contemporary Ethiopian art, in a career that spans almost five decades.
“Zerihun explores for the past 50 years the visualization of space by creating an illusion of depth and engages the viewer in the game of seeking recognizable imagery and inventing his own visual chronicle,” an associate curator, Leo Lefort said.
The exhibition will feature black and white paintings, prints, drawings which according to the curator “allude to the textural quality of sculpture -equating Paul Klee or Pierre Soulages- suggesting a third dimension where there is only the flat surface of the canvas.”
As Leo noted, “Like a distant mirage, the viewer is drawn into the works of Zerihun, wanting to explore the multiple layers of information: referring to symbols, gods and Saints, motifs inherited from magic scrolls, Akan akua’ba figure from Ghana or King Ezana.”
The exhibition will explore dominant themes throughout Zerihun’s career, including mythology and fiction, anthropology and truth, illusion, duality, myth, and fairy tale. “The irradiation of color and the absence of a precise narrative,” will be the main feature of the show, according to the curator.
For more, go to LeLa Art Gallery website.

A saline lake in Ethiopia that’s baffled scientists by its 15-fold growth threatens to spill into the nation’s longest river and damage the country’s plans to become a commodities powerhouse, Bloomberg news agency reported on April 24.
Lake Beseka in the Rift Valley has grown to its largest size ever amid irrigation runoff and seismic shifts in past years. Should salt waters contaminate the Awash River, they would risk Ethiopia’s oldest state-owned sugar estate and an India-funded project downstream that’s key to the government’s $5 billion plan to turn the country into a top sugar exporter, according to Bloomberg.
“The fear is for the river,” Water and Energy Ministry groundwater chief Tesfaye Tadesse said. “If it discharges by itself without any control, the river is going to be contaminated forever.”
Bloomebrg said that river basins including the Blue Nile and rugged highlands bless Ethiopia with plentiful hydropower and the continent’s second-largest water resources. The government is counting on Indian financing, a Saudi billionaire and Chinese loans to grow sugar, rice, bananas and oranges for export to expand the fastest-growing African economy without oil reserves.
Find the full story here.

This photo by Gali Tibbon, an Israeli photojournalist and documentary photographer, showing an infertile Ethiopian woman baptized by priests in Lalibela just before Christmas day has won the prestigious World Photography Awards 2013 in the professional travel category. According to faith the water has fertility powers that will allow her to conceive.

The second image by the same photographer shows a ray of light penetrating into the church from a cross shaped window as a pilgrim walks by.
For more Lalibela photos of Gali Tibbon, check here.