We arrive early Sunday morning in Addis Ababa with our full plane. It takes about 2 hours to disembark, get visas, go through passport control, change money and gather our bags. Addis Bole airport is really chaotic when two large jumbo planes unload their passengers about the same time. It also is the one airport that scans baggage as you exit baggage claim……they are looking for folks that might be importing commercial goods in their baggage without paying the necessary duty!
We are happy to see the representatives (Alem and Johanes) of Diversity Tours as we exit the final checkpoint. Our coach awaits, as they say! We make our way to the hotel where everyone enjoys a nice rest for a couple of hours before lunch and seeing some sites in Addis.
The group takes in the Natural History Museum, where the highlight is Lucy. Lucy was discovered in 1974 in the Awash Valley of the Afar region of Ethiopia. She is estimated to have lived about 3.2 million years ago.

In Ethiopian Lucy is called "dinkenish," which means the wondrous one. Beginning in 2007, the skeletal fossils and associated Ethiopian artifacts toured the United States for six years, as an exhibition entitled Lucy’s Legacy: The Hidden Treasures of Ethiopia. Lucy and the exhibit were returned to Ethiopia just recently on May 7th.
Next stop was Trinity Church, which is in the heart of Addis. Trinity Church is sort of like the national cathedral for Ethiopia. It is the burial site for numerous dignitaries, including Haile Selasie and his wife, as well as the recently deceased Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Meles.

Amazingly, Jim Sorensen, our resident Ethiopian guru, meets an Ethiopian Orthodox Priest at Trinity Church who was born in a small community of Selekleka, where Jim and his wife Carolyn were doing medical missionary work in the 1960’s.

We are constantly amazed at the number of people who grew up in Selekleka, that some way, connect to Jim’s history of service there.
It’s early afternoon, but after the long flight and little sleep, everyone’s energy level is pretty low.

We decide to head back to the hotel for a little rest, before someone injures themselves by banging their head on the seat in front of them!
Tomorrow will be our first day in the field visiting communities and projects!

 We arrive early Sunday morning in Addis Ababa with our full plane. It takes about 2 hours to disembark, get visas, go through passport control, change money and gather our bags. Addis Bole airport is really chaotic when two large jumbo planes unload their passengers about the same time. It also is the one airport that scans baggage as you exit baggage claim……they are looking for folks that might be importing commercial goods in their baggage without paying the necessary duty!
We are happy to see the representatives (Alem and Johanes) of Diversity Tours as we exit the final checkpoint. Our coach awaits, as they say! We make our way to the hotel where everyone enjoys a nice rest for a couple of hours before lunch and seeing some sites in Addis.
The group takes in the Natural History Museum, where the highlight is Lucy. Lucy was discovered in 1974 in the Awash Valley of the Afar region of Ethiopia. She is estimated to have lived about 3.2 million years ago.

In Ethiopian Lucy is called "dinkenish," which means the wondrous one. Beginning in 2007, the skeletal fossils and associated Ethiopian artifacts toured the United States for six years, as an exhibition entitled Lucy’s Legacy: The Hidden Treasures of Ethiopia. Lucy and the exhibit were returned to Ethiopia just recently on May 7th.
Next stop was Trinity Church, which is in the heart of Addis. Trinity Church is sort of like the national cathedral for Ethiopia. It is the burial site for numerous dignitaries, including Haile Selasie and his wife, as well as the recently deceased Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Meles.

Amazingly, Jim Sorensen, our resident Ethiopian guru, meets an Ethiopian Orthodox Priest at Trinity Church who was born in a small community of Selekleka, where Jim and his wife Carolyn were doing medical missionary work in the 1960’s.

We are constantly amazed at the number of people who grew up in Selekleka, that some way, connect to Jim’s history of service there.
It’s early afternoon, but after the long flight and little sleep, everyone’s energy level is pretty low.

We decide to head back to the hotel for a little rest, before someone injures themselves by banging their head on the seat in front of them!
Tomorrow will be our first day in the field visiting communities and projects!