a little taste of heaven before reaching addis…

we stopped for lunch at the ethio-german park in debre libanos, established by abenet shifferaw, an ethiopian who, after living in germany for over 37 years, returned to his home country to build a hotel. i felt as if i had stepped into an ethiopian villa – the architecture of the buildings has a euro-african influence, with stone pathways, simple landscaping, and aesthetic rock-pile sculptures. the terrace looks out over a vast valley through which runs the jemma river, a tributary of the blue nile. we soaked in the sun under vibrant blue skies and puffy cumulus clouds, their shadows cast over the quilted green and brown hills.
after a scrumptious lunch of traditional ethiopian foods, we took a short hike down to the portuguese bridge. built in the 1540s or 1550s, this rugged stone bridge stretches over the gur, a small river that cascades over basalt rock, feeding into the larger tributary below. here we were entertained by a troop of baboons loitering on the hillside. the babies scampered about, chasing one another and tumbling this way and that, or clung close to their mothers tummies or backs. my favorite of the bunch was the lion baboon – the chief male of the troop – who sat sunning himself on a rock outcropping near the falls, enjoying the wind whipping through his mane-like hair. his chest bore a scarlet red mark, giving him the name blood heart baboon.