Africa's Camelot, Gonder, Ethiopia

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Fasilada's Castle in the Royal Enclosure

Our next stop was Gonder, about an hour's flight from Lalibela. Sad to leave the surreal history of Lalibela, as we could have easily spent more time soaking up the local culture and amazing sights.  Again, to save about a day's drive, we took a 45 minute flight to Gonder.  We were lucky to grab a free ride with an older American couple into town. And then found a hotel that had been recommended but was not the best.  But as is typical of our travels, we made do with this as it was much more within our budget.

It was quickly off to the Royal Enclosure, home of ex-Emperor Fasilada's castle.  Yet another Unesco World Heritage Site, as it was built during his, and subsequent emperor's rule in the 17th and 18th centuries.  Not at all what you would expect to see in Ethiopia, or anywhere in Africa for that matter.  I felt like I was back in Ol' England.  The

Turret and Wall around Fasilada's Bath

castle has a very Camelot look to it, and I half expected some knights to be feasting inside.  Each Emperor seemed to add his own building to the enclosure, and there were even lion enclosures or cages, for their pet lions!

Attached to the ticket was a secondary site, Fasilada's Baths.  We weren't even planning to go there, but because it was free with our ticket, we thought we take a peek.  Glad we did, because this place had even more character and ambience than the castle.  Possibly Fasilada's second home, there was a square building sitting in a stark white pool, with a bridge over to the entrance.  Apparently, the pool is filled naturally from the flowing river, and is still filled for a yearly celebration/water baptism called Timkat -  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timkat.  It is quite the celebration from what we hear.
The large bath is surrounded by a protective wall with cool turrets, and then a series of seating bleachers for Timkat observers.  Immediately surrounding the bath is an ancient wall, that has been overgrown by tree roots in a site reminiscent of Angkor Wat.  A wonderful setting,

Walls around the Bath, overgrown with tree roots

made even more interesting by four wild Spotted Eagle Owls that were sitting on the low tree branches above the pool.  They were beautiful creatures, and they sat unfazed, just watching us.

The Simien Mountains are relatively close to Gondar, and we had hoped to make a trip there, as we had heard wonderful things.  Unfortunately, we found it was too difficult to see in a short period of time, and would need a few days hiking to see the most spectacular sights.  So, we put this info in our back pocket, for the time we return to Ethiopia.  Instead, that afternoon, we walked out of town to Debre Berhan Selassie Church.  Not expecting too much looking at the exterior, the interior was a great surprise, with some amazing murals, still very clear to see. 

104 cherubs on the Ceiling of Debre Berhan Selassie Church

They depict many scenes from the bible, and also some interesting gruesome scenes, and depictions of Hell.  On the ceiling were 104 individually painted Ethiopian cherubs, all with a slightly different expression on their face!  The Lonely Planet describes it as 104 Mona Lisa's!!

An early final morning, we arranged with a local guide Philimon, to take us to some mountains closer to Gonder.  Philimon had great English, and we really enjoyed his company.  Turns out, we did go to a portion of the Simien Mountains, and had some wonderful mountainous views in the crisp, morning air!  The other highlight of this area is the rare Gelada Baboon.   Also called the Bleeding Heart Baboon for the distinct chest patch that is used to attract a mate.  They are only found in the Simien Mountains, and are the last remaining grazing baboons, which means they stay out of the tree and find their food on the ground, grazing for grasses. 

Above the Simien Mountains

We were lucky to see a troop of baboons, but none really close enough to see the Bleeding Heart.  We could, however, see the wonderful light brown coats of shaggy hair.  
The previous day, we had reserved our next flights on Ethiopian Air, with a less than helpful, but grumpy agent.  We were trying to book a flight back to Addis Ababa, and then another on to Dire Dawa, and I think we interrupted his lunch plans.  He advised us against the booking as there was only 1.5 hours layover in Addis.  We've been on much shorter connections, so ignored his warnings.  Today, we arrived at the airport to find the flight had mechanical difficulties, and they ended up flying another plane up to complete the journeys.  That means we were 4 hours late arriving in Addis, but somehow we had sweet talked the Ethiopian Air officials, and they put us up in a hotel in Addis for free, AND gave us dinner and breakfast.  Not bad service considering we had only missed a flight valued at $40 US in the first place.  We get really lucky sometimes, and chalk it up to good karma!!!  **Stub

Beautiful Spotted Eagle Owl