On the roof of Africa
June 12, 2025
“I’ve always wanted to see the endemic birds of the Ethiopian Highlands,” announced the Maple Bear CEO.
“Hasn’t everybody?” I snorted.
A shoe was about to drop. It always did.
“You want to visit cousin Anita in Israel after the UAE,” he began, “but there are no air links.”
“Uh huh…”
“Turns out we can fly from Dubai to Tel Aviv via Addis Ababa.”
“…?”
“But first, we tour Ethiopia for six days.”
Oy vey!
How long before I totally lost my shit?
On our first night in Addis after a terror attack on another hotel of the same brand?
Or when our jeep broke down on the ‘roof of Africa’? (Nice full moon, though.)
Or maybe it was the baboons greeting me every morning? Or your birding guide holding a shot gun before you abandoned me for a bird walk?
“Are you looking at birds or planning to kill them?” Thankfully, I remembered we had duty-free Scotch.
Ultimately, delicious Ethiopian coffee won me over.
And winning ‘cousin of the year’ for my efforts, of course.
