We are in our final phases of the Ethiopia expedition, with over 3000 insects logged by various field methods, over 1000-person hours of field time, and several thousand hours of field work yet to process back in our labs and libraries at home institutions. The project was overwhelming and inspirational. We are humbled by the children’s enthusiasm for learning their natural history, and awestruck by the general lack of any knowledge about the local natural history. But we are heartened by the fact that local clergy have initiated a stone fence around the Zhara church forest, and hope to figure out creative solutions for funding labor, stone transport, and gates in the near future — for many church forests, not just for one.
On our last day, we drove to Lalibela to view the most unique church of all Ethiopia. Forged from one massive rock formation, Lalibela defeats all conceivable means of both architectural and construction technologies. How did Ethiopians in the 1200s carve hard rock into 13 churches? And how did they cart tools and food and shelter up an amazing mountain to execute this project? And what were the tools of the trade? And how do you design down from the soil surface into bedrock, and design amazing cathedral structures? It was overwhelming.
Church of Saint George, Lalibela facts (Source: Wikipedia):
- Built in the early thirteenth century
- Most well known and last built of the eleven churches in the Lalibela area
- Has been referred to as the “Eighth Wonder of the World”
- The dimensions of the complex are 25 meters by 25 meters by 30 meters
