Update on Ethiopia-matt

Greetings all, glad to hear that all are ok (minus the rash and poor review of HP6).
I am in Ethiopia now after traveling through Uganda, Kenya.
While in Uganda I visited with Cindi McMillian [you might not know her she was Patrick’s (you might not know him as he did not leave site) first site mate] in the capitol and then did some mountain exploring(with an armed guard) in the eastern part in Mt Elgon National Park. It is very similar to Olympic National Park with the addition of a bamboo forest. Uganda is a beautiful country with a ton to offer.
Christmas Holiday was spent with a bwana Kenyan family in Nairobi. I knew the mother from a class. We watched Home Alone 2 and Spanish soap opera “mis 3 hermanos”. I took them to see Chronicles of Narnia” and the youngest boy opted to urinate in the parking lot instead of the bathrooms. “you can take the boy out of the village…..”. In Kenya all buses have seatbelts, 80kmh speed governors, and overcrowding is punished. Safe roads are possible.
I flew to Ethiopia and had no problem to adjusting to one per seat and no call boys for the flight. Being in the Nairobi airport brought back memories of our start in Africa.
Ethiopia is incredible. By far it’s my favorite place that I have visited. The rock carved churches in Lalibela are called the 8th wonder of the world and I would agree. Today I took a boat out to the island monasteries in Lake Tara. The country side is like a cross between northern Montana and Arizona mesas. It is just incredible. People have horses to get around and use donkeys to carry stuff. I took a bus for a 300km ride and it took 12 hours on a gravel road, but it was SAFE, safe I tell you. Every vehicle I have ridden in here has been safe and slow. And if this is your interest, the women here are easy on the eyes. Another benefit, people do not seem to hurt stray dogs.
Along the road there is wreckage of tanks scattered about. Children were using one of them as a play toy. We even had a man board our bus with an assault rifle, after a bit of arguing with the conductor. The refugees get pretty poor treatment and while I was in Kenya they were protesting being abducted by the government security forces as dissidents from the last election.
Anyone interested in a motorcycle tour of Ethiopia let me know, I’m coming back here. Next, I’m off to Egypt for two weeks and then home.
I hope that everyone continues to settle in well and keep spending money. I look forward to hearing how everyone is doing. Matt.

ps patrick is not the only one who has lost a bag, i am a backpack less backpacker, thanks to ethiopia air.