Since returning from Ethiopia, Sue has dived back into her U3A groups and been on several rambles and attended several interest group sessions, and I have attacked the garden and vegetable plots, planting four rows of main crop potatoes and preparing several beds for future sowings of vegetables. The greenhouse is now full of tomatoes,… Continue Reading

(01.05.23) Our flight today was at 10.45 am, we had arranged with our guide to be picked up from the hotel at 8 am so we were in breakfast for 7 am, all packed and ready to leave. It is just a short drive to the airport and along with three other members of our… Continue Reading

(29.04.23) Sue and I woke at 5.30 am, breakfast was at 6 am and we were due to leave by 7 am, however, the power was not expected to be on until 6 am. In pitch blackness, using a small torch we managed to dress and make our way to the restaurant, only to find… Continue Reading

(27.04.23) It was a most uncomfortable night for Sue who woke in the early hours of the morning feeling hot and unwell and chose to sleep on the cooler floor beside the bed and out of the protection of the mosquito net. Of course, the mozzies did not miss such a golden opportunity and opted… Continue Reading

(26.04.23) Today was a leisurely start to catch our flight from Bahir Dar to Arba Minch via Addis Ababa. Breakfast was consumed by 8 am and I spent the rest of the time adding to the blog before boarding our mini-bus to the airport by 10.30 am. The twenty-minute drive to the airport was the… Continue Reading

(23.04.23) Today did not start well for me, it should have been a day of visiting the northwestern cluster of rock-hewn churches, with an early impromptu visit to the church of yesterday to be blessed by its holy golden cross. However, I woke feeling ill and chose to sleep it off at the hotel. I… Continue Reading

20.04.23 (on our way) Today we were flying from Heathrow Terminal 2 to Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa on a late 9.30 pm flight so for once we could afford to wake at a reasonable hour and complete any necessary preparations for departing at our leisure. We prefer to be at the airport early… Continue Reading

The day after I flew back to the UK (the 20th of March) I had a morning appointment for another eye injection in Leicester and an afternoon appointment for physiotherapy in Harborough. Later that evening I started to feel unwell with a runny nose and a hacking, tickly cough. I had picked up a bug… Continue Reading

Awake at 2 am on the 12th of March I packed my case and rucksack into Sue’s Mini and set off for Stansted Airport, picking up Jim Hankers and Jeremy Brown by 3 am in Harborough. Paul Bissell was taking Jim Crawford and Sean Perry in his car and we were to meet in the… Continue Reading

The ten-hour flight from Los Angeles went quickly, as soon as the in-flight dinner was consumed it seemed that breakfast was being served. Probably thanks to being seated in a pair of seats towards the rear of the aircraft, instead of the usual three or four arrangement, the eight-hour period between meals must have been… Continue Reading