www.ethiopianairlines.com Archives - Jim Murty’s TravelTravelTravel

Ethiopia is so much more than Live Aid

13th July 202513th July 2025 funtime65

The eyes of the world are on east Africa again today just as they were 40 years ago but as I have discovered for myself, Ethiopia is so much more than Live Aid.

It would be safe to say that Ethiopia was on the radar of very few of us before the famine of 1984.

When, of course, that catastrophe was but a moment in time, albeit tragic.

Made worse by the rich heritage of a region with a very real claim to be the Cradle of Humanity, the Cradle of Civilisation.

Ethiopia’s women from history

The First Woman, Lucy, originated here 3.2million years ago and was discovered in Hadar ten years before the famine.

So unknowingly we have more insight into Ethiopia beyond the famine than we thought.

And any time we heard growing up a grannie or grandpa (it was usually them) call a flashy woman a Queen of Sheba.

They were really referencing an Ethiopian monarch, Makeda.

Who showered King Solomon with lavish gifts, considered huge even by the standards of the day, on her visit to his court.

And her modern marvels

Regular readers, my loyal Bandanini and Bandanettes, will be familiar.

With how one particular Ethiopian powerhouse and an Irish Ethiopiaphile crossed my path.

The magnificent Meseret Tesalign Berkeley, who championed her country in Ireland and Caroline Smith who promoted Ethiopian Airlines.

Who invited us out to Addis Ababa on an all-female crew to mark International Woman’s Day.

And left it to me to decide to go myself, well I do rock a Scottish kilt, or send a female colleague.

And I chose the latter to avoid a mutiny in the office.

Breaking injera bread and coffee beans

Mesalign, Caroline and I broke injera (a type of sourdough flatbread).

Scooping up the doro wat spicy chicken stew for the Enkutatash New Year.

And coming away seven years younger and check it out and it is a thing because of the difference in our calendars.

Although we’d maintain it is the magical qualities of the food, dancing and the coffee with Ethiopia its birthplace.

When a goat herder Kaldi saw his goats energised from eating coffee cherries.

Out of Africa

Of course Ethiopia is so much more than Live Aid

Boasting the most UNESCO sites of any country in Africa.

Take in the splendours of the Simeon Mountains, where someone tell Midge Ure there is regular snowfall.

And Simeon wolves and Gelada monkeys.

While the Denakil Depression (don’t be put off by the name, it’s a geological feature) boasts the Dallol hot springs and the Erta Ale volcano.

And the Blue Nile is a stunning waterfall and the largest lake in Ethiopia, offering boat trips and scenic views.

Yes, Ethiopia is so much more than Live Aid.

And the best we can do for this vibrant country and its people is to invest in its present and future and visit for ourselves.

Africa, Countries

Heading for a fall, I say Victoria Falls

17th April 202417th April 2024 funtime65

It’s been levelled at me my whole life.. but when the naysayers claim I’m heading for a fall, I say Victoria Falls.

Like so often the Vic Falls were in my diary en route to Namibia when the trip was pulled at the last minute.

Livingstone I resume

I daresay that my fellow Scot David Livingston had similar setbacks before becoming the first white man to discover them.

Livingstone, you might say was an early pioneer of solo travel.

So much so that the Times of London sent out a reporter, Stanley.

Who went down in immortality for the seemingly prosaic question on meeting him… ‘Dr Livingstone I presume.’

Flying solo

All this sprang to mind obviously on hearing of the Victoria Falls Safari Collection and how they are putting solo travellers front and centre.

VFSC is offering no single supplement during their ‘Green Season’ in Zimbabwe from 1 January to 30 June.

Solo travelling is very much in vogue which is why my voyages this year will be on my Todd.

That and Herself got tired of me going off piste whenever we’re away.

Go your own way

The popularity of solo travel is borne out by recent research from ABTA.

With 16% of travellers saying they went on a holiday by themselves in the 12 months to last August.

Compared to only 11% of travellers during the previous 12-month period.

And because the awe of waterfalls are often best taken in on your own then spoil yourself to a stay at the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge or Club.

Where you’ll be surrounded by verdant greenery and a direct view from the pool of the busy watering hole below.

We are amused

Relax at the nearby Victoria Falls Safari Spa, or visit the Falls, a mere 4km from the hotel.

The hotel is set amidst the rich landscape of the Zambezi National Park.

And dotted with riverine forests and elephant trails.

Rates at the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge start from US$ 255 pppn B&B.

Rates at the Victoria Falls Safari Club start from US$ 352 pppn B&B. Visit www.africaalbidatourism.com

Fly to Harare with Ethiopian Airlines for a sample £683 25-hour round trip with a stop off in Addis Ababa.

So let them say what they will about me heading for a fall, I say Victoria Falls.

Africa, Countries, Sustainable Tourism

Ellen and Rwanda

10th November 202110th November 2021 funtime65

What do you get the woman who has everything… yes, that’s my Scary One, but I’m talking here about Ellen and Rwanda.

With Herself about to celebrate a landmark I’ve been racking my brain about what to get her.

Not that I can stretch to Portia De Rossi’s largesse.

In establishing The Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund in Rwanda for her wife.

Ellen’s pad

And as I’m wanting to celebrate my own birthday a few days later than The Scary One, I’m not suggesting She is turning 60.

The Ellen Campus is going from strength to strength and is the focus of our growing interest in Eco and Nature tourism.

Now the best recommendation for where to stay surely comes from the Hollywood golden couple.

Lodge with us

And that would be Bisate Lodge.

Now I do like a hotel with an oul volcano view.

And I experienced just that in Mount in Tenerife in my walk through the ages.

And, of course Tenerife is more Western African landscape than Iberian Peninsula.

So when you’re in Rwanda, do like the locals, of which Ellen and Portia are now among the number.

And base yourself around the volcanoes.

Craters and lazy craters

Bisate Lodge is 5 star (obvs) and you will look out over the extinct (aaaw!) Bisoke and Karisimbi volcanoes.

This is where Fossey ran her research station Karisoke, dedicated to saving mountain goats from extinction.

Hike through the rainforest, up to nearly 3,000 metres, to visit Karisoke’s haunting ruins and Fossey’s grave, next to her beloved gorilla, Digit.

And my Scary One doesn’t know it yet, but she’ll rest for eternity with this hairy Scots gorilla!

Rwandan gorillas, now numbering more than 1000 throughout the Virunga massif, await you.

Bisate Lodge for March-May is $1750pps.

Who to fly with

And I will, of course, always flag up my friend Meseret and Ethiopian Airways as the guys to fly with.

And when you so get out to see Ellen and Rwanda be sure to tell them this Scottish gorilla says hi.

Africa, Countries, Culture, Food & Wine

Ethiopian Enkutatash an d another year younger

11th September 202121st September 2021 funtime65

Doesn’t it roll around quickly? Ah yes, Ethiopian Enkutatash and another year younger.

I’m fortunate to have the woman I title Ethiopia’s First Lady, Meseret Tekalign Bekele, Ethiopian Airlines‘ Sales and Service Manager (Middle East And Asia) around to remind me.

Out of Africa: Meseret and a well-dressed Bandanaman doppelganger

I broke bread, ate authentic Ethiopian food (with my hands) and drank wine with the elegant Meseret on more than one occasion in Dublin when she served there.

Enkutatash is, of course, the best New Year of them all.

Because it’s on the Gregorian Calendar you end up gaining back seven years.

Farewell 2013

Ethiopians will be glad to see the back of their 2013.

And the hostilities that have gripped the country, and the pandemic which grips us all.

And they truly deserve the respite that Enkutatash gives them.

The festivities mark the end of the three-month rainy season.

And on the eve of the celebrations each household lights wooden torches in groups called ‘chibo’ to signify the coming of the new season of sunshine.

And so say all of us.

A land steeped in history

Ethiopia is a country steeped in history.

Wth our touchpoints for our Western Civilisation, Lucy, the first woman, the Queen of Sheba, Emperor Haile Selassie and Olympic great Haile Gebrselassie.

While for this aspiring Eighties schoolboy long-distance athlete Miruts Yifter, or Yifter the Shifter, was an idol.

Enkutatash celebrations usually begin with church activities.

One more cup of coffee

Get your hands in: And scoop up a feast of food

The Ethiopian coffee ceremony is an integral part of the celebration.

And the ritual of coffee serving and drinking can last for hours.

It is a social occasion which if you’re lucky enough to be invited to is a great honour.

And one which I’ve savoured.. and the coffee is well worth the wait.

There is a lesson here that we all need to slow down and allow things to take their sweet, natural time.

Which is why I’m waiting for when I can reconnect with my Ethiopian friends.

And finally visit the East African country and cradle of civilisation.

Melkam Adisi.

Africa, Countries, Europe, Flying, Ireland, UK

Flyday Freeday Friday – Ethiopian have you covered

2nd October 20202nd October 2020 funtime65

Yes, you’ve read that right, our friends at Ethiopian Airlines are giving it away…

EA have launched their Sheba Comfort Insurance policy which covers customers for medical costs if you contract Covid-19 overseas.

EA have been busy, busy, busy… they’ve refurbished their passenger terminal at Bole Airport in Addis Ababa.

A clean bill of health: Ethiopian Airlines

And they remind us that they work with their Star Alliance partners via Frankfurt, Stockholm or Istanbul.

I wonder if I can get off in Crossroads City and rejoin them later.

Aer we go for 2021

You’ll keep going back: The Rovers Return, Manchester

And Ireland’s national airline, Aer Lingus, carrier are spoiling us again… with flights from only €25.99.

Which is Birmingham where you’ll need to take in Cadbury World in Bourneville and Manchester whose jewel is their Coronation Street tour.

Dublin-London is €29.99 and a few euro more from Knock in the West at €32.99.

Beefy: In London with a local

You want to get to the continent? I thought you would, and you’ve got the same taste as me, then I give you…

Living like locals in Saint-Pauli

Hamburg and Amsterdam from the Irish capital for €35.99. From Cork Clog City is just four euro more.

And Ireland’s national airline carrier will, of course look after you if circumstances change.

MEET YOU IN THE SKIES

Africa, Asia, Countries, Culture, Europe, Food, Food & Wine, Ireland, Pilgrimage, UK

Happy Jewish New Year

20th September 202020th September 2020 funtime65

Rosh Hashanah, Happy Jewish New Year, and because we want to see off this bloody year, and pray to Yahweh for a better new year, here is when and where all our cultures see out the old and bring in the new.

Hello, Chinas

The Chinese New Year: And sitting down for our annual Chinese New Year celebration with Wendy Wu Tours in Dublin in January at Chai Yo we gave sympathy and Chinese tea (and every food known to man that you can eat with chopsticks) for the plight of the poor people of Wuhan.

Little did we know, of course, that we would be suffering too within weeks. The Year of the Rat should have been a warning.

Next year when it will be celebrated in February will be the Year of the Ox and he is much more our reliable carrier of all our human burdens.

And rest assured I’ll be back in Chai Yo next year with Wendy’s friends, the Two Johns, before hopefully we follow The Son and Heir out to Wuhan’s neighbour Chongqing.

Iran the bells

Nowruz (Iranian New Year): And there is a diary date in my calendar which I can’t bring myself to delete – my trip to Iran which was deferred after the Americans fell out with them again and then this virus came along.

I do hope that when I do get out there it’s in a March when they celebrate Springtime when it coincides with the Northward Equinox.

They trumpet in the day, colour eggs and eat a hearty soup, Ash-e-Reshteh noodle soup.

Sri Lanka is my cup of tea

Sri Lankan New Year: And here we have two Sri Lankan cultures celebrating a date, April 14.

Aluth Avuradda, the Sinhalese New Year, marks the end of the harvest and is one of only two occasions when the sun is directly above Sri Lanka.

You’ll be eating small oil cakes called kavum and plantain dishes.

The Tamils of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka celebrate with new clothes, music, sweets and rice colour kolams (street art).

The Tamil Diaspora too celebrate April 4… so Malaysia, yes, and The Maldives too where one pasty-faced Scotsman once became an honorary member of the staff’s football and cricket teams. Yes, Mr Jim is coming back to Kuramathi.

While if you’re Irish (lucky you) you’ll know about the greatest Sri Lankan-Irishwoman, my old friend Tess De Kretser and her Olcote in Ceylon resort.

Ethiopia will take years off you

Enkutatash, Ethiopia: And this has become a fixture on my calendar in Dublin over recent years thanks to my friends at Ethiopian Airlines.

It, of course, takes years off you, not just the meaty food which you scoop up with your bread, and wine and Ethiopian coffee.

But also because it’s on the Julian Calendar which means that this will take seven years off you.

Scotland, the home of Hogmanay

Scottish Hogmanay: And in the words of the greatest dustman in television soap opera Norman ‘Curly’ Watts who decided the Scots owned New Year.

Well, they do own Hogmanay. And why Hogmanay which is what we call New Year’s Eve.

An early reference to the term is from The Scotch Presbyterian Eloquence as deriving from the Greek word agia mine or ‘holy month’.

More like a hooley though as many libations are taken to keep out the cold.

Which is probably where the tradition of bringing coal, shortbread and whisky with your when you go first-footing, being the first person to cross someone’s threshold (first-footing).

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO WHOEVER YOU ARE AND WHEREVER YOU ARE

Africa, Countries, Culture, Deals, Ireland, UK

The Sapeurs – the colours of Africa

26th August 202026th August 2020 funtime65

We all remember them Made of More from the Guinness advert… the stylish Sapeurs of the poorest country on Earth, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

And La Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes (Sapeurs) or the Society of Elegant Men of the Congo got another outing.

Now I used to have a pair of yellow trousers

On the excellent BBC show Africa with Ade Adepitan.

In the most recent episode, Ade meets the men who put much needed extra colour into their lives.

And those around them with their peacock clothes and dancing.

I was particularly taken, naturally, by the dude who dressed up in a kilt, Prince Charlie jacket and Tam O Shanter.

Dressed to thrill

Looking something like Usain Bolt when he wowed the Glasgow crowd with his lap of honour at the Commonwealth Games in 2014.

The colours of Glasgow: The Jamaicans in 2014

The Sapeur explains that he got his look from Prince Charles, and I’d pay to see Charles sashay like this bloke… or maybe not.

With Adams & Butler’s Kasao Learat and Ethiopian Airlines’ Meseret Tekalign Bekele

Needless to say I want to get out there to meet this Kinshasa chameleon.

Ethiopian Airlines flying high

I’ll have to put it on the long gyrating finger for just now but I have hope.

My friends at Ethiopian Airlines with whom I have enjoyed an Enkutatash (New Year) or two in Dublin fly London to Kinshasa from £609 return.

While Adams & Butler, with whom I have also broken bread, offer high-end travel all over Africa.

Bandana Africa

The Sapeurs say that it is not about the suit but the man in the suit.

So when I get out to Kinshasa I will have my kiltie with me with my own personal stamp… my bandanas.

I’m not skirting around the issue

And, because it is never the done thing to wear the same thing twice, my Maldives sarong too.

Africa, Countries, Europe, Food & Wine, Ireland, UK

Hungry and Thursday – Liverpool scouse

23rd July 202023rd July 2020 funtime65

And if you’ve felt too silly to ask what it is, the food that gives its name to Liverpudlians as in Liverpool scouse, this week’s Hungry and Thursday is all about Liverpool scouse and stews around the world.

Scousers have been getting their voices heard (and what’s new there?) these past few weeks, culminating in their fireworks party as they lifted the Premier League title at Anfield yesterday.

But seeing this is a food and drink post, and I already give you a sporting post, My Sporting Weekend every weekend, I’ll stick to scouse.

In a Stew

Which will stick to you teeth or in them. Because it’s really just stew with extras.

I first had myself a plate of scouse in Albert Dock, Liverpool, as I waited for my interview at the Liverpool Daily Post back in the 1990s.

I had pulled a sickie to attend and was to go on and stare inside the studio where the British morning magazine programme This Morning was televised, only for the camera to turn on me.

Just the job

Which is when I got a shiver down my back as I thought of my boss’s wife watching from up in Aberdeen and reporting to Jim that I was really down on Merseyside when I should have been at my desk.

Still, I got the job so it wouldn’t have mattered.

Back to the scouse and the word derives from ‘lobscouse’ which was a Scandinavian and Northern German stew brought to Liverpool by sailors.

The Liverpudlians, of course, reciprocated and sent exports of their own to these parts… The Beatles. And you can hear all about that in the city they made their home, Hamburg.

Hamburgers… and stew

On Stefanie Hempell’s Beatles tour (and you won’t get better).

While scouse isn’t the only comfort food that the Hamburgers have exported with great success. See Hamburgers and ships.

So what’s in Scouse?

Scouse consists of mutton, lamb (often neck), or beef with vegetables, typically potatoes, carrots, and onions. Serve with pickled beetroot or pickled red cabbage and bread.

Ethiopia and the world

While I leave my Liverpool-born son to make his way back from the festivities to Scotland, or indeed the phone call to bail him out of jail, I’ll take you on a gristlestop tour around the world of stew.

Meat of Africa

Ethiopian chicken stew: And I’ll miss those Ethiopian New Years in Dublin which I shared with my friends Carole, Lorcan, Tony and my Queen of Ethiopia Meseret.

Because Enkutatash runs to the old calendar which means that you actually lose time. I, of course, lose all sense of time when the wine starts flowing which I only do to soak up the Ethiopian stew which you eat with your hands soaking it up with bread.

d86a3b299e394d99a5e4af9992b34a11 — *And you can get a fancy dish too*

Balkan bellies

Bosanski Ionac, Bosnia & Herzegovina: And they love their homely food in the Balkans and it unites the different cultures and traditions.

Whether you’re with the ultra-Catholic Croatians of Medjugorje of Marian Pilgrimages or in Muslim Sarajevo in the Bey Mosque district What’s the story, Medjugorje? Wouldn’t you like to know?.

efdcd01aea154b30a8a07f7b9353e36c — *Let’s waffle on about Belgian stew*

Belgian bulge

Carbonnade, Flanders, Belgium: And the brave soldiers who went to the Front in the First World War would take their pleasures where they could.

So that meant wine, women and song… or in Ieper, dark beer (there’s lots of it in this dish), women (they’re the same the world over) and drinking shanties. All right up a Tommy’s street and the best people to go with are GTI Travel and Visit Flanders.

e1839cf6d8954a40b37c8ff8f50791be — *Catch of the day: Fish stew*

Portuguese please

Caldeireada, Portugal: And if you’ll eat anything as long as it swims in the sea then Portugal and Quinta do Lago SPORTUGAL and Portugal Centro is the place for you.

Load your plate up with shellfish and don’t be liberal with the squids and octopus.

You’ll need a rich base of onions, white wine, olive oil, and tomatoes, and season with a variety of fresh herbs and spices such as saffron and nutmeg.

CzechGoulashSmall2-678x1024 — *They’ll be the dumplings then*

Cesky goulash: Not to be mistaken for Hungarian goulash. All right, it is quite similar. Mop it up with the obligatory Czech dumplings and sauerkraut.

And, of course, Pilsener Urquell.

They had a big post-lockdown feast on the Charles Bridge in Bohemian Prague recently and I[m hoping there were leftovers!

And with apologies to Irish stew and other meaty greats from around the world.

Heck for fear of being force-fed vegetarian I’ll return to this subject.

America, Asia, Caribbean, Countries, Europe, Flying, Food, Food & Wine, Ireland, UK

In defence of… air travel

25th March 202025th March 2020 funtime65

If you’re reading, Greta Thunberg and the Flygstam (or flying shame) brigade…

I can’t tell you how many air miles I racked up last year.

I was away more than a dozen times with everywhere from Tobago www.visittobago.gov.tt and Ready, steady GOAT… racing in Tobago…

Through the Oo Es of Eh www.visitusa.ie and https://www.visitusa.org.uk and living the California life www.visitcalifornia.com My Weekend With Marilyn and Stair Wars.

Down to South Africa www.visitsouthafrica.com What’s new pussycat? and up to Jordan www.visitjordan.com The water of life, Petra, and the sands of time.

I only mention them over the other equally fabulous and welcoming destinations who hosted me because they were at the extremities of my Travel footprint.

Do I feel guilty, or should you? Well, yes. How could we not the way Greta goes on?

Of course there’s a multitude of evidence out there on the world wide web to back up Greta.

And like everything on the net you can find anything to support your view.

But I wax taken by the research done by https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/how-bad-is-air-travel-for-the-environment-51166834/ on the subject.

And their contention that air travel was better for the environment than car travel.

They estimate that the world’s drivers go through 1 billion gallons of fuel a day against 750 million gallons for air passengers.

Of course the fact that one form of transport is less harmful than another is not a strong enough argument.

Against that I would propose the positive effects of air travel… in expanding our minds, our frontiers and our appreciation of other peoples.

While fielding the accusations of the Flygskam brigade that the world is only in lockdown because of selfish air travellers who carried it across the globe…

In big monstrous metal birds.

Just imagine though a world in which our possibilities were restricted by a lack of air travel, or if you will, the past.

A world where we only learned about other peoples through the books and information we are given.

Now I’m not suggesting Boris Johnson or Donald Trump are feeding such a narrative but here is a cautionary tale of what could happen when we close ourselves off from others…

Legend has it that the people of Hartlepool in the north-east of England hanged a monkey who they mistook for a French spy during the Napoleonic Wars.

I have always believed that we are at our best as humans when we are being progressive rather than regressive.

While obviously being respectful of the world around us and those with whom we share it.

And being aware of our limitations with many a salutary tale out there from time immemorial of when to pull back.

Such as the tale of Icarus who flew too close to the sun only for the wax on his wings to melt.

This, and many more moral fables of how we should live with the natural environment around us, are all around you in Greece.., https://athensattica.com and My Greek odyssey.

But like Odysseus I have gone off on a tangent.

I will deal with the other forms of transport in the next parts of my ‘In Defence of’ series which will include cars,.

And no car hater me… how could I be? I should by rights be driving through the Florida Keys right now.

But to leave you on an up… the South Africans have discovered a balancing solution to carbon emissions under their feet.,, This plant can save the world.

And our shared history has shown too that our medicinal cures too can be found in the natural world.

So here’s to when we can all travel again.

And a shoutout to all our friends in the aviation industry who are our dreamcatchers… #DontPanicPostpone.#loveairtravel.

Uncategorized

Happy Newer Year – from Ethiopia

13th September 201913th September 2019 funtime65

Happy Enkutatash. You’ll notice here that I look a year or two younger.

That’s Enkutatash for you, the Ethiopian New Year, when the years just roll off you.

In fact seven of them.

The thing is that the Ethiopians are on a different calendar from the rest of us.

Theirs is fixed to the Julian Calendar from the Roman Emperor Augustus in 25 BC with a start date of 29 August J.C.

Which I guess must be September 12 in our money.

And this establishes the New Year on this day.

It is also associated with the return of the Queen of Sheba (I’ve one of them at home) to Ethiopia.

Following her visit to King Solomon in Jerusalem in 980BC.

It is also a permanent fixture on our calendar in Dublin.

When Ethiopian Airlines, Meseret Tekalign, the Country Manager for Ethiopian Ireland and our friends from the Airlines http://www.ethiopianairlines.com invite us to share in their New Year feast.

So if you like your injera (flat bread) and wat (stew) which we do in Ireland and Britain. And wine (guilty again) then this is the New Year for you.

And you’ll also get to watch their traditional coffee-making ritual. Beats my spoonful of instant, hands down.

Every New Year’s Eve, or Hogmanay as us Scottishy type people like to call it, is a time of reflection.

And Ethiopian rightly reflected on this year’s plane tragedy while emphasising their commitment to passenger safety.

It is also a time for Enkutatash resolutions I’m imagining, and I’m resolving to get out to this intriguing and glorious ancient country.

Where they have nine UNESCO World Heritage sites.

I love Lucy

And a certain little lady, Lucy, the first human, thus called because the excavators were singing Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds at the time.

Like your Beatles? Here’s a treat https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/09/09/the-beatles-in-hamburg-with-stefanie-hempel/.

Like your Africa? Then here’s another https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/home/whats-new-pussycat/

And, of course, because Lucy is on the Coptic calendar she’s probably only about 40… and looking just as good too!