Lake Ziway: The Ethiopia Water Bird Spectacle

The Great Pelicans, are the main stars of this astonishing natural live show, which takes place, at one of the freshwater Rift Valley lakes of Ethiopia. To make the spectacle more mesmerizing, many other beautiful water birds accompany the pelicans at Lake Ziway.

Introducing, the eccentric Hammerkop from the Lake Ziway, Ethiopia. 

The exquisite combination of radiantly white feather, with the glossy black beak is another breathtaking beauty to gaze at, around the lake.  Of course, it is the one and the only, Sacred Ibis.

African Marabous are other essences of Lake Ziway.

The Yellow Billed Storks too.

Here comes the charm of Lake Ziway. The Great Egret

In representing all the other little but shinning stars, that the show will not feel complete without them, here are the top 3, and starting with the little gorgeous Green Sand Piper.

The fabulous Spur-winged Lapwing

Last but not least, the dazzling Black-winged Stilt.

Getting back to the spectacle, this is not only restricted on the lake, but also, up on the spectacular blue and clear sky of Lake Ziway. The mind-blowing show continues up on the glorious natural silver screen. Sky is the limit indeed! 

Talking about sky, well either up on the trees or the blue sky of Lake Ziway, there is nothing like a natural star, which stirs the show up, with lively action all by itself and without a single stunt.  Only the graceful AFRICAN FISH EAGLE can do it all. 

From the endless and compelling of the water bird spectacle, the Great Pelican contest- catching the dead fish thrown by the angler to attract them: is one of the illustrious and entertaining pieces. 

Different kinds of Ducks peacefully floating along with the beautifully green lilies on the lake, bathing, or roaming around usually in-group, is one of the colorful and superb scenes of the show. 

The stars of the spectacle are naturally beautiful, glamorous and exceptional. The show is naturally spectacular.  

The host is the naturally blessed and phenomenal Ethiopia, particularly Lake Ziway (located about 60 miles south of Addis Ababa. It is 31 km long and 20 km wide with a maximum depth of 9 meter and 440 square km surface area). The almost free of charge water bird spectacle is over now until next time…

The curtain is closing but I am still here stunned!

Well I do really hope you enjoy the preview of my visit to Lake Ziway, in which I really had unforgettable time and cannot get enough of it. Finally yet importantly, I want to mention one of the reasons, which actuate me to post something about Birds besides the fact “I love them.”

As we all know, May 11 and 12, 2013 was also the global celebration of World Migratory Bird Day. Simply WMBD is one of the networks with a mission I believe in “raising awareness for Migratory birds and their habitats.”

Besides, Ethiopia is a home of many amazing birds and I had great opportunities to see most of them, so I thought there is no more appropriate time than this to come up with something beautiful in honoring these stunning creatures.

And for the love of Birds!

Happy Mother’s Day!

In order to commemorate Mother’s Day, I pick one of my favorite pictures of all time from my photo album and start with it. It perfectly represents, a particular moment I was flabbergasted by the beauty of Zebras (which are of course one of my favorite creatures in the world next to Birds), and at the same time blessed enough to get a glimpse of “mother’s love”…as I always say, I live for moments like this.  I also want to share few more pictures of, “Ethiopian mother and daughter moments” from the city of Addis Ababa along with my favorite quotes about Mothers and motherhood.

“Mothers hold their children’s hands for a short while, but their hearts forever.” Anonymous

“God could not be everywhere and therefore he made Mothers.” Jewish Proverb

“Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a Mother.”  Lin Yutang

“I remember my Mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.” Abraham Lincoln

“The mother loves her child most divinely, not when she surrounds him with comfort and anticipates his wants, but when she resolutely holds him to the highest standards and is content with nothing less than his best.” Hamilton Wright Mabie

Last but not least, I want to celebrate my mother and all the special moments with her. 

Closing up with this insightful saying by Honore de Balzac “The heart of a Mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.”

Happy Mother’s Day To All Mothers!

Doro Wot: Traditional Ethiopian Holiday Cuisine

Addis Ababa is still surrounded by the holiday spirit and the festivity is going to continue till this Sunday, so I think it is the perfect time to talk about the Ethiopian national dish “Doro Wot”.  Food plays very important role in the Fasika festivity (Ethiopian Easter Holiday) and for every other Ethiopian holiday or special occasions.  The catering takes very long time and in most cases it starts a week before the actual day.  At times this extensive process can be exhausting, yet it is when you deep in Injera (the national staple) into the delicious Wot and savor the exotic dish of Ethiopia with family and friends at this time of year that makes you realize “It’s all worth it”.

For today, I pick one of Ethiopian traditional dish that no holiday meal is complete without, it is of course “Doro Wot”. It is not the recipe that I want to share with you all in this particular post but the behind the scene which is as exciting as the actual dish. It is the process which I truly believe worth to celebrate, give homage; document and most importantly share it with the rest of the world. I really want to thank my mother for the sneak preview of her Ethiopian Kitchen.

When Doro Wot simply stated it is like a chicken stew but it is way more than that for Ethiopians.  So let’s just get started. Well for many Ethiopians, the process starts from picking up the perfect chicken from the market.

Since many might find it strange and even it might raise the same and common question that I usually get from my foreigner friends in this kind of occasions (actually many Ethiopians do) about slaughtering and skinning, so here is a brief explanation before we proceed.

It is an esteemed tradition that passes from generation to generation and still continues even in the capital city of Africa (Addis Ababa) till this very day. It is the fact that for religious Ethiopian holidays and special occasion, the slaughtering and skinning of the animals is taking care of in many Ethiopian households by Ethiopians. It is more a sacred and spiritual process for Ethiopians with so many traditional, cultural and religious details.

Now let me take you back to the market scene.  Since it is not only the chicken we get from the market for this particular holiday dish, but egg which is one of the ingredients for Doro Wot.

Now getting back to the Kitchen, Since Butter is one of the ingredients for Doro Wot and since plain butter won’t do it, seasoning it with different kinds of spices is another process that actually happens three or four days before the main Doro Wot making day.

In a cooking pan large enough to eventually hold all the ingredients (in this case 4 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs, chicken legs, wings, drumsticks and fifteen hard-cooked eggs, peeled), on medium-low heat, cooking the finely chopped onion starts and this process continues almost for half an hour until the onions have turned golden brown.

Adding the Ethiopian Berbere spice, garlic and ginger.

While the spiced up onion is cooking with enough water, skinning, chopping and cleaning up the chicken takes place which is another interest process that takes some kind of patience, experience and skill.

At the same time making Injera at the other part of the Kitchen is another task and it is an extensive process all by itself. As you can imagine by now it takes more than one person to do all these so that’s when family comes in.

The other chore is boiling the eggs in another pan.

Peeling and getting it ready.

Time to add the seasoned butter

Then adding up the chicken and let it cook for an additional hour.

Almost ready… so spicing it up a little with the cardamom and black pepper and adding the hard-cooked eggs.

Finally it is time to eat

What can I say except, it is worth the process and worth waiting for.   Amazingly, uniquely, Deliciously Ethiopian!

The Prologue Of Ethiopian Easter Holiday

I believe the beauty of Ethiopian Holiday lies in its “every detail of the process”.  It is as exciting as the actual celebration day or maybe even better, if it is given the appropriate and it’s much deserved homage to it. Many of the Ethiopian Holidays are at least more than two days affair, especially the Timket (Ethiopian Epiphany) and Fasika (Ethiopian Easter) holidays which are so close to almost every Ethiopians Heart.

For this year, Fasika (Easter Holiday) is going to fall on Miazya 27, 2005 (May 5, 2013).  One of the reasons that make this holiday so special, for many Orthodox Religion followers it is the day to end the fasting season which lasted for almost two months.

The prologue of this anticipated holiday started last Sunday with the Hosanna celebration (Palm Sunday) in the city of Addis Ababa, which officially opens the door for the Holy Week and the exuberant Faskia Holiday preparation.

Then as if it is by magic, the Addis Ababa city scene started to change completely before everyone’s eyes and the Ethiopian holiday vibe walked in gracefully.

Let me introduce you the sporadic traditional Ethiopian “last supper” cuisine called Gulban in Amharic. A special dish only prepared once in a year, particularly at this time of season in commemorating the last supper.  It is prepared with split kidney beans and wheat seed. So every Thursday before Fasika Feast, Ethiopian kitchens get busy in preparing; I may say our very last fasting cuisine in the most traditional and alluring way.  Gulban can be eaten plain or seasoned up with Ethiopian spices Mitmita or Berbere.

Beauty lies in details indeed! So let me take you to another Ethiopian Kitchen scene in welcoming the Faskia Feast Celebration. Ethiopian cuisine as exotic as it is, it takes time to prepare it.  And it is this week Ethiopians start spicing up the plain butter and give it exotic Ethiopian test.

Niter Kibe (spiced up butter) is an essential ingredient for Ethiopian traditional holiday dishes.  It is indeed moments like these; one can test sense of smell as you walk by almost every neighborhood of Addis Ababa. It is part of the uniqueness of Ethiopian holiday and it is so tantalizing.

Well steeping out of the kitchen for a moment and walkabout to the Addis Ababa city. In Ethiopia food plays a major role in religious festivals and the Faskia feast would not feel complete without these famous traditional Ethiopia cuisines like Doro Wot (Chicken breast, drumstick and wing served in a hot sauce of butter, onion and berbere accompanied by hard-boiled egg) and Tibs (sliced lamb pan fried in butter, garlic and onion).  Here are the market scene for the chicken, sheep and egg.

Since the chicken buying processes is so interesting and entertaining there is more.

I do really hope you had fun at the market and Now, let me show you the Church scene and how Good Friday was commemorated in one of the Orthodox churches of the Addis Ababa City.

Well the shopping and getting ready for the Fasika Holiday is going to continue like this till tomorrow. 

I do really hope you had fun and enjoy the beauty of Ethiopian Holiday process via these details.

Happy Ethiopian Easter Holiday!

Ethiopian Palm Sunday In Addis Ababa

On April 28, 2013, Addis Ababa celebrated Palm Sunday colorfully than ever before. It was a special day for the Orthodox Religion followers because it was the last sunday for the fasting season and the beginning of the Holy Week. The churches were packed by the worshipers.

Since its the day that commemorates, the triumph entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem the week before his death, and in the orthodox religion it is believed that  palm branches are the  symbol of victory, so there where many Addis Ababa kids selling it outside the church gate.

They were not only selling the branches but they were also being creative by making  something beautiful out of it like palm cross and ring.

Besides the beautiful and mesmerizing ceremony, seeing Ethiopian people being embellished with the palm crosses along with the traditional costume was an extraordinary scene of the palm Sunday.

And I also got myself palm ring which was creatively created by Addis Ababa Kids.

I love it and I think it is worth sharing it with the world.

Shiromeda Market: Experience Ethiopian Cultural Life

Shopping in Addis Ababa City can be more exciting, inspiring, instructive and entertaining. Of course, Addis Ababa is the home of the biggest open market in Africa “Merkato” and there are other smaller but colorful markets and souvenir shops that are worth to wonder too.

Shiromeda market is reputable for Ethiopian traditional wear especially “Yehager Libes”, “Netela” (the one layer shawl with embroider border) and “Gabi” (thicker shawl known as Ethiopian blanket).  Unlike the souvenir shops here is where the locals do their shopping and buying “Netela” is an exciting experience so let me start with it.

Buying “Netela” from street vender!

You can also buy the famous “Netela” from little shops at the market.

Let’s get it then!

Since the rainy season is on its way, we need our luxurious 100% cotton hand made “Gabi” to keep us warm.

Want Ethiopian version of duvet here it is.

Hope you had fun now let me take you to the most exciting part of the market and my favorite. The section where you can find a wide variety of jeweleries, sculptures, ladies bags, t-shirts and many other goodies. Just get ready to be overwhelmed.

Well besides the Ethnographic Museum of Addis Ababa University and frequent traditional music events here is the best place to witness the beautiful traditional and cultural Ethiopia… live.

Happy Earth Day To You From Ethiopia!

Since it is Earth day, I find it appropriate to start with this profound saying by Lorraine Anderson “Nature has been for me, for as long as I can remember, a source of solace, inspiration, adventure and delight: a home, a teacher, a companion,” which I love so much and think that said it all.

I also want to share few pictures that perfectly represent moments that I was blown away by Mother Nature. I am so grateful to witness this beauty in Ethiopia ( I live for moments like this)  and want to celebrate the very fact that Mother Nature bless Ethiopia in abundance and  in so many ways that we all should be grateful today and everyday!

Well, let us all stop to take in all the wonders, celebrate, nurture and show love to Mother Nature.

Happy Earth Day!