Chapter in a Jungle Book

We loaded up into the Toyota Landcruiser early in the morning ready to hit the open road. Each of us on this trip had different aims but one common goal, reaching some of the rarest and most beautiful lands in all of Africa. Thomas, our driver, was on another tourguide job, Immanuel and Wendyfro were government officials on agricultural and geological assignment and doubling as bodyguards/guides, Winnie was exploring the territory for another possible school project, and I was along for the ride. The beginning of our journey was scenic and smooth as road construction has vastly increased thanks to the recent Chinese infrastructure investment across the country. Getting out of the cities and into the countryside offered a glimpse into the true Ethiopia as over 90 percent of the 85 million (plus) residents live in the rural areas. The landscape is strikingly green laden with a plethora of different types of plants and vegetation ripe with the evidence of seasonal rains. Along the road, vendors offered up fresh fruits and we were sure to indulge - bananas, oranges, passionfruit, papayas, etc. The homes scattered throughout the countryside were the traditional circular mud huts with grass roofing. People labored along the roadside, some carrying goods atop their heads, others atop the donkeys they led. The children played mostly barefoot and some unclothed, yelling enthusiastically when they saw me wave out the window, "Farenge!" Farenge is the term given to light-skinned people in Ethiopia. Every once in awhile I would get a "China!" reflecting presence of Chinese infiltration/investment in the countryside. At one point along the way we hit a roadblock. A clan of monkeys were chilling out on the road and on both of its sides. Being my first monkey sighting of the trip, I naturally asked Thomas to stop immediately so that I could revel in the monkey-business while snapping photos. The astute creatures, hairy and human-like, pranced around aimlessly caring little for our presence in the road. I started throwing crackers out the window in an effort to engage them, and sure enough they took the bait drawing closer to the car. Now I had the whole car joining in the feeding and soon all of the monkeys were crowding around to partake. All of a sudden, a significantly larger-than-the rest apish monkey emerged and we all knew we had encountered the leader of the pack. The other monkeys sheepishly cowered in his presence, stepped away from the vehicle, and patiently awaited his next move. He stood there chest puffed out and staring us down with self-assured dominance almost as if to let us know who was boss. We found it fascinating watching the interplay. He let us snap some photos and then went to an elevated spot on the land where his lady joined next to him and they both stared steadfastly at us. All the rest of the clan stood frozen. Both path in the road and message of the monkeys were now clear. They wanted us to swing along to our next destination and leave them be. So we hit the road once again. We arrived at our 1st leg destination 8 long hours later and checked into our hotel in Jimma. It was pitch dark and we were all ready to hit the hay and catch some shut-eye so that we could be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for the remainder of the gorgeous journey to our second leg destination, Mizan. The next day there was more of the same breathtaking scenery, scrumptious fruits, and much more challenging road conditions, but alas, we made it in one piece frazzled but in awe of all our eyes had taken in. The following morning we awoke like kids in a candy shop (landscape eye candy that is) ready to take on the adventures of the day. We hopped in our Landcruiser and headed to the local police post to scoop up our armed guard that would be accompaning us around the Mizan countryside. Our armed guard was outfitted in a khaki colored ensemble complete with an Ethiopian ouzi in hand. Standard practice in the area for visitors, after getting permission from the local government to explore, was to be accompanied by one or several armed security police officers in case of a wild animal or guerilla fighter attack. Straight from an action/adventure film, eh? We headed out onto the open expanse and into the rainforest surrounding Mizan of Jaffa region. Loads and loads of green vegetation fresh with dew made up our backdrop. The fields around were ripe with coffee and tea plants. The Jaffa region is the region where coffee originated and the home to arguably the best coffee on the planet. The coffee plants are a beautiful forest green and they line the fertile red-brown soil with grandeur. The farmers in the fields are many and they pick the fresh beans from the plants in steadfast preciseness. When we reached a row of homes within the village surrounding,we stopped at one of them that seemed busy with life. Outside a mother holding a newborn baby; surrounding her were about 10 kids under the age of 10 and off to the side, the woman's husband, a coffee farmer, held a freshly picked bag of beans and discussed with a couple of other gentlemen in what looked to be a possible business transaction. When I walked onto the scene, the kids started pointing and yelling "Farenge". Following their acknowledgment were fascinated stares as they seemed to be hanging on my every word and move. They giggled as I spoke English to them and asked them get-to-know-you questions. Some understood and answered in English and others looked onward in curiosity. Winnie was engaging the mother in Amharic conversation asking about the area and the current state of education and health support. As I was leaning down conversing with the children, one of the girls, Baraket, grabbed a strand of my hair and started feeling and brushing it with her hands. All at once 5 others joined and before I knew it my hair was being pulled and felt in all different directions to the childrens' utter delight. The hair incident was followed by all of us creating a circle and singing an Amharic song while clapping and dancing together. We then said our goodbyes and prepared to continue on our journey. Baraket followed me close behind to the vehicle and then asked me in Amharic to take me with her. My heart sank, I kissed her on the cheek, and said a prayer that perhaps I would see her one day again. Further into the rainforest we treaded until we reached an opening where we came upon a waterfall. We climbed out of the car and spent the next half hour staring at the rushing waters and taking photos. What an amazing place Mizan is, what rich land the people live upon. I wanted to see more of this beautiful place and find out more about the peoples' lifestyle so we headed back into the main town area to grab some lunch to recharge our energy levels for a hike into the village in the hills. The hike began at the foot of the hills where a stream flowed peacefully and we found many swimming and others bathing. As we made our way to the beginning of the ascent a large group of uniformed school children joined us with books in hand. I began speaking with several of them and asked one young girl to show me her schoolbook. As I perused through the table of contents, I found topics like, "Ways to prevent HIV", "Prominent African Women", and "Roles of Men and Women." I flipped to the the 'Roles' chapter and found a short cartoon. In the first block, the question is asked, "Can girls play football (soccer)?" The answer is "Yes". The picture showed a girl kicking a soccerball. The next cartoon read, "Should boys help in the kitchen?" The answer is "Yes". The picture was of a boy stirring the pot over a stove. Amusing. I closed the book and trudged upward into the hills the kids surrounding. As we made our way to the top we greeted many outside their mudhuts along the way. The view from the top was another amazing one. We sat on a tree stump and I thought about the people who surrounded me and their simple way of natural life. Perhaps I can take a lesson from their book.