Submitted by SafariADV on Mon, 2019-09-16
Today we return to Addis Abeba!
We are in Ethiopia, at Lalibela; this morning we woke up early, we had breakfast on the terrace, challenging the fresh air of the early morning, but we wanted to enjoy this view for the last time before leaving.
After breakfast we check out and then we leave; it takes about an hour by car to reach the airport, a few minutes less if you use an off-road vehicle.
Lalibela is located at an altitude of about 2600 meters above sea level and the airport is at 1950 meters, going down, along the road that adventures among villages, meadows and cultivated fields, our ears block exactly as it often happens on an airplane.
There is the sun and we take photos from the window, they will not be perfect from a technical point of view, but they are great as a reminder of these landscapes that are really very beautiful, moreover in this period of the year the vegetation is luxuriant.
We arrive at the airport, unload the car and head towards the entrance.
Before entering we must have the luggage checked; how inconvenient it is, but it is a very useful and increasingly adopted precautionary measure in the world.
We enter, Lalibela airportis not very large, it is only domestic and has flights coming from other parts of Ethiopia, most travelers are tourists and wealthy pilgrims.
We check in and then head to the controls, a guy, clearly of Bantu ethnicity, looks at us and tells us "Karibuni Tanzania!". He must be a bit confused but we greet him back anyhow and then we go to find a place to sit and wait for our flight.
Our flight is a bit delayed, we have the feeling that punctuality on domestic flights is not the main feature here in Ethiopia; but we are not in a hurry and therefore zero stress.
We take off and enjoy the landscape from the window, as soon as we leave Lalibela below us we see only vegetation and some canyons carved by the rivers.
The flight takes about 40 minutes, and then in a moment we land in Addis Abeba and arrive at the domestic terminal, from where we left 2 days ago; we retrieve our luggage, that arrives fairly quickly, and then we leave the airport.
It's 11.30am, a car is waiting for us; today we will tour Addis Abeba; compared to the rest of Ethiopia, the capital is not a must, but it is worth a day trip to see the main attractions.
