Well, many things have changed in Ethiopia but internet access is still sporadic and slow! My apologies fot the lack of contact. I do not even know where to start to tell what has happened in the last 3 weeks.
We spent 3 days in Addis catching up with family and friends then headed north to travel around the highlands. I will go into details when I get better internet access but sufficient to say we had an amazing time, visited all the historic sites (including some we hadn't even heard of!) and saw scenery to take your breath away. Our main aim though was to connect with Tamru and Wubi's birth family. 4 Years ago we met members of their birth family on their mothers side and we had a chance to meet them again at Addis Zemen, a small town between Bahir Dar and Gondar. We spent a lovely day with them again, with their aunty, cousins, 2nd cousins twice removed, the next door neighbours, etc. One of their cousins made us a beautiful basket and an embroidered cushion cover, which we will treasure.
We had arranged to meet members of their birth father's family in Debark as the village they were from was way out in the Simien mountains and inaccessable by car. We arrived at lunchtime and a few minutes later the family came around the corner. It is impossible to describe the raw emotion showed by these people. Azanaw, Tamru and Wubi's birth father, had left the village in 1989 and they never saw him alive again. They had heard he had died but didn't know the circumstances or even that he had married and had 2 sons until
I contacted them. One brother and one sister of Azanaw were there and they wailed with a mixture of joy at seeing the boys and grief at the loss the their brother. There were also 7 of the boys cousins as well and we spent 2 wonderful days with them. I will fill in details later.
We have 2 days at Addis and then we head of early wednesday morning for 1 night at Jo'burg and 3 nights in Dubai....then home!
Better go now, bye for now,
Love from Kathie
