With a small but motley crew, I headed south from Addis Ababa. The central highlands of Ethiopia are a dense, agrarian landscape, quite unlike the Omo basin. The people are serious and hardworking; the women keep their tops on; and the middle classes are distinguished by umbrellas.
Between tangled walls of maize and false bananas, the
road was swollen with pedestrian traffic. Young men strolled arm-in-arm, while
women staggered in their wake beneath vast sacks. Girls in white shawls made
their way home from school.
A few horsemen passed: glamorous figures with long
whips and wide-brimmed straw hats. A priest appeared beneath a splendid
parasol. Nestled among the crops were round thatched tukuls.
Stanley Stewart (to
be continued)
