We all arrived, except for one person late by one day, one suitcase lost in Washington DC, and several pairs of underwear pinched from the hotel laundry in Adis. Not bad, considering that we are a dozen passionate conservation biologists, on a mission to survey the bugs of the church forests in Ethiopia (photo is when we are showered, semi-rested, and eager to go!).
Our local flight to Bahir Dar was scenic, and we had a good traditional dinner at the Ghion Hotel in Bahir Dar. The Lonely Planet calls the Ghion a “tired hotel” due to the fact that almost everything needs replacing. But it has a million dollar view, on Lake Tana. Today we boated to the Misli Fasildes church forest, where bird rookeries abound: sacred ibis, sea eagles, different types of herons literally swooped around our boat. In the afternoon, we visited the church forest on Zegie Peninsula, where a dreadful fire destroyed their church only 2 months ago. Nonetheless, during this two week religious period of fasting, everyone was praying and paying respects to their religion. We gazed in awe at the 4th century hand-painted religious scripts, and also made our first insect collection — Hal with an ant!