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Farewell to Addis

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Our time in Africa is coming to an end, at least our current trip!  Addis Ababa has been our home between the various excursions exploring other countries and regions of Ethiopia. We have been staying with our eldest son in a small villa in the centre of the city.   Our villa in the centre of Addis, complete with a watchtower! 18 months ago this was Trudy in search of some garden plants for the new house. What didn't fit inside ended up on the roof! 18 months later the villa's garden has been transformed. A lot of our furniture from our Berkshire home has found its way to the villa. It really helped to make the place feel more familiar and homely for our son. ...and our son has a new addition to the British antique furniture: this antique Ethiopian chair, that apparently once belonged to a tribal king. Besides being the home of the many embassies to Ethiopia, Addis is also the headquarters for the African Union and the many NGOs that serve Africa. Consequently, there is a wide...
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Zanzibar

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The autonomous island of Zanzibar has a rich history, but it has not always been a proud history. While people have lived on the island for tens of thousands of years, history only starts getting properly recorded once the protected and defensible port of Zanzibar’s capital - Stone Town - becomes a base for traders of humans, of ivory, of spices. The Portuguese Empire was the first European power to gain control of Zanzibar until it came under the influence and rule of the of Omani Arabs some 200 years later in 1698; then in 1890 Zanzibar became a British Protectorate until it gained independence in 1963 - the same year it joined with the former German colony of Tanganyika to establish the country of Tanzania. As a result this autonomous island is a mix of Bantu, Portuguese, Arab and East Indian people that give the island and its people the unique and vibrant culture that is Swahili.       The trade route that is the Indian Ocean  Last of the cars One of the many dh...
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