Arrival

Feb 25, 2007

After only 17 hours in flight, Ethiopian Airlines dropped me off in Addis Ababa. Because I had no time to secure a visa in the States, I was allowed to get one at the airport. A 90-day tourist visa took only about 20 minutes to get. The trick is that you need $20 US to get one. Because using any other country's currency is illegal, finding a $20 bill later on (for other visa issues) can be quite the trick. Fortunately Ralph, one of the consulting team, was there to get me home. It was the first of the daily harrowing trips and the reason we have a professional driver assigned to us. Wuhib is our driver, he has several years of local and long-distance driving experience, and is a joy to ride with. We ride in a relatively new white Toyota pick-up with a crew cab. Comfortably seats 5 and has had as many as 7 in it thusfar.