Visit Every City

August 27th-28th, 2023

“Lewis! Let’s go climb that hill!”

I heard Nick’s voice clearly through the heavy wooden door. I had woken up just moments before after finally falling back asleep. We had talked about climbing the hill just in front of the church property, but I wasn’t sure if we should. I figured we’d have packing to do and probably some paperwork to get done before heading to the airport. I guess the guys had decided to go.

Dan and his herd of dogs led us up to the top where there is a marker bearing the name of the forest reserve — Kanjedza— although there isn’t much of a forest anymore. The hill itself seems to change slightly each time I see it but it’s still there and still the highest point in the area. Looking southwest you can still clearly see Mount Soche although its pinnacle has been reshaped by Freddy. In the valley below the Kanjedza hill there are new roads and new houses going in everywhere. Supposedly the dust roads will be converted to tarmac sometime soon. Regardless of the changing landscape, the mountains and valleys of Blantyre are still familiar and still breathtaking. We returned from our hike and went about preparing ourselves for a long afternoon.

Carol had finished cooking us our last meal in Malawi just before Gracious arrived to take us to the airport. Dan drove as Nick and I sat in the back seats watching the scenery go by. There are trees growing along some of the main roads. “I planted these trees.” Gracious was a forester once upon a time, tasked with helping ensure that the forests of Malawi stood strong in hopes that future generations would benefit from them as well. Many of the forest reserves around the country have been severely diminished by heavy deforestation. Many people for years have illegally harvested trees to make and sell charcoal. Many trees were cut down for the sake of urban growth. Some of the issue might have been solved by replanting of trees years ago, but there hasn’t been as much attention paid to preserving the forests as there once was. Over the past few years the government has started encouraging people to plant more trees. Just outlawing the use of charcoal and encouraging the use of gas and electric cooking hasn’t been enough. There is a noticeable change in some places, and the consistency of electricity and the availability of gas have both increased. Perhaps soon there will again be plenty of luscious, green forests for future generations to enjoy.

We arrived at Chileka International Airport just after 1pm. This was Nick’s first time being there. It’s a very small airport with only one crowded terminal. We hugged Gracious and Dan and thanked them again for taking such good care of us. Once inside our bags were scanned and then checked by drug dogs. We stood in a line that wrapped around and filled the entire center of the room. There were only four checkin counters so the line moves slowly. I should have remembered that just after checking our luggage in and getting our boarding passes we would have to get our exit stamps at one of the immigration desks, but with everything so close together and not really any direction it was easy to forget that step (I definitely experienced a bit of dejavu).

The terminal itself was extremely crowded but thankfully the small cafe was relatively empty. We grabbed a couple of cherry-plum sodas and a couple of coffees before our plane was ready to board. The BBC news channel on the television was covering a story about a Ukrainian fighter pilot who had been killed. Nick wondered out loud if anyone would really be interested in such a story especially in Malawi. Just then half a dozen young men — I would describe them as white American men in their early 20’s with perhaps a slight Eastern European accent — pulled open both doors of the small cafe and stood in the doorway. “I knew him. We used to talk all the time.” One of the young men had spent his younger youth in the same area as the young fighter pilot. It turns out there was at least one person there who was very interested in that story.

After making a new friend with one of the airport employees (his name was Paul P. Phiri) we climbed on the plane and found our seats. An attendant approached Nick, checked his boarding pass, and handed him a hotel voucher. The man didn’t have one for me right away but soon returned with mine. It seemed that Ethiopian Airlines hadn’t let us down. We would again be staying in one of the hotels in Addis Ababa. So far each time I’ve been there and received a similar voucher, I’ve stayed at the Skylight Hotel. This time both our vouchers said we were staying at “Zehab.” We thought it was strange that we couldn’t find that particular hotel online, although another hotel kept popping up in the search results.

Not thinking too much of the hotel situation, we enjoyed the four hour flight to Ethiopia, deplaned, went through the same immigration and security checkpoints we had before, and then walked outside asking for “Zehab” Hotel. A few bus drivers and attendees pointed us down one of the rows of minibuses. About halfway down the row was a man behind the wheel of a white bus. Printed on the side in clear black lettering were the words “The Hub.” Zehab … The Hub! We climbed inside where we met a Malawian man named Moses. Moses was a health educator currently returning to South Sudan after visiting his family in his home country. It was interesting hearing a little about the people and their culture there, as well as discussing the history of tribal warfare that continues on to this day.

Nick and Moses continued chatting as the bus filled up and we left for our hotel. Although not much farther from the airport than the Skylight, The Hub Hotel was right in the middle of what I might assume is a typical neighborhood in the city. I had hoped to walk around a little outside the hotel after we got checked in and ate dinner, but by that time it was raining heavily. We did step outside for a moment but ended up chatting with one of the hotel managers. In his broken English he showed us some of the trinkets for sale in the lobby and told us a little about Ethiopia’s claim to be the birthplace of civilization.

The next morning came early. Breakfast went by too quickly and soon we were on the same minibus with the same driver with some of the same people (including Moses) headed for the airport. I noticed that all of the hotel staff from the night before were there first thing in the morning. As we drove through the city, the bus driver honking at the inconsiderate pedestrians and drivers everywhere, I noticed many of the locals walking to work. I saw a few people step out of an area that I could best describe as a homeless tent encampment on the side of the main road. I think of Ethiopia as an up-and-coming country with one of the largest airlines in Africa, but there is obviously still quite a disparity of income levels there. Hopefully one day we’ll get the chance to explore more than just the airport and a couple of hotels.

On the flight out we had landed in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire for a short layover but stayed in the plane. This time we had to get off the plane, go through a security check with our carry-on luggage, and later re-plane so we could continue on to JFK. It was nice to stretch our legs for about an hour before the long leg of our journey. When I chose our seats I had gotten an aisle and a window seat with the hopes that there would be an empty seat between us. No such luck. But our travel companion for more than 16 hours of flight time was an adventurous young lady named Yang. We told her about our travels to Africa and other places in the world, and she educated us about life, history, and politics in China. She was returning to Brooklyn after visiting her family in Beijing. Yang has lived in the US since she was a teenager. She came for school and stayed for work and life. It was very interesting hearing about a country that we’ve never traveled to, and being able to hear some details which might not have been openly broadcast to the world about regular life there.

Fast forward to NYC, we landed ahead of schedule and made our way through immigration and customs quickly. Unfortunately our luggage seemed to come out last even though hardly anyone else was there to collect their luggage. Suitcase after suitcase tumbled on top of each other until eventually, aided by Nick, the two airport employees started pulling some of the bags off the belt. Thankfully our bags came out undamaged. We grabbed them and headed out to meet Lena.

Lena drove us home and cooked us dinner. It’s so nice to be home again and to see my wife! I made it through dinner but was definitely ready for some sleep. Nick will be heading out every early in the morning, flying to Boston then Vermont where he will be reunited with his wife and children (and dog) before they drive back home to Fargo. It’s a long trip after another long trip.

Over the next few days I plan on catching up on sleep, spending time with Lena and Lola, preparing for the Sabbath and the upcoming feasts, and also processing the experience of another trip to visit brethren in Malawi and Zimbabwe. And as always I’ll be planning my next trip.

– Lewis VanAusdle