A Runner's Ramblings

After the spectacular day of safari yesterday, we weren’t sure day two could compare. I mean, we saw two of the Big Five (Lion and elephant, still “missing” the leopard, rhino and buffalo) and a bunch of other cool animals in one day, that’s pretty good.

We awoke to room service bringing coffee to our tent, a service we both thought we could quickly get used to, then loaded into the Land Rover for the prebreakfast game drive. As we rolled out of camp, we saw the elephants that were familiar enough by now that we were learning their names, then off to look for a leopard… and other stuff… but mostly the leopard. Within the first mile of the drive, our guide spotted lion prints on the dirt road, so we followed them. The lion was thoughtful enough to stay on the road and in ten minutes, we caught up with her. It was likely the same one we saw yesterday, but seeing any big cat is awesome, so we sat and watched her for a few minutes, then left her in peace.

With everything happening on the drive yesterday, I had placed my sunglasses on the seat when I stood to take a picture and forgotten about then until after they fell out of the car. I knew it was a long shot but I mentioned it to Anthony, our driver, as we set off, hoping we might see them. Once we left the lioness, we restarted our search for the leopard. Everyone was looking in different directions and occasionally we would stop so the driver could pull out binoculars and search the distant hillside. Minutes of searching seemed to take ages with anticipation. Then we stopped and reversed a few feet to see around a tree. Everyone turned to scan the area behind the tree and the driver got out of the car. This does not happen. Signs everywhere and the welcome briefing all emphasize the importance of staying in the car. What was happening? Anthony walked to the front of the car, bent over and picked up my sunglasses. So much squinting for cats, I had forgotten that I dropped them. They were a little worse for wear, an elephant had stepped on them and cracked one lens, but still useable, so I put them back on and we continued our drive.

Two hours of driving later and we still hasn’t seen a leopard. By now, we were all getting hungry for breakfast so we headed back to camp. On the way we saw a flock (although that feels like the wrong term) of ostriches running across the field. They are impressively fast.

The afternoon drive started with more elephants, but not the ones we were used to. Instead a family was crossing the river. It was fascinating to watch how two or three would surround the smallest one and push it. The baby was too small to forge the river on its own, but managed to keep enough of its head above water to get air while it was buffeted across. Then teenage elephants got no such help, but they splashed and played it the water for a long time. At one point, there were three elephants in the deepest part of the river and all that was visible besides the churning water, was one trunk periscoping up from the murky abyss.

We continued driving and came across a giraffe. We drove for another hour seeing only birds. We came across another car and asked if they had seen any cats, but no luck. I resigned myself to not seeing a leopard and tried to enjoy the bird life that enthralled me only one day before. The a phone rang. It was another guiding service and they just spotted a leopard by the river. Apparently, this is how it is done now. We weren’t you far away, so we drove over hoping to catch a glimpse. By the time we arrived, it had ducked into a bush and they had lost sight of it. We drive around to the outside and started looking. Dom spotted it first, hidden in the underbrush.

We all got a chance to see it. As the other car pulled around, the leopard got nervous and ran which was cool to see as well. Such graceful creatures. In less than two minutes, the last hour of aimless driving was redeemed.

Three of the four passengers in our car were elated to have seen the leopard. The fourth, a thirteen year old, girl was disappointed that she didn’t get a picture before it vanished. I offered to give her a copy of mine, but that wasn’t the same. As we made our way back towards camp, we noticed a collection of parked cars on the other side of a gully. A quick phone call told us there was another leopard. We had to take the long way around, but it didn’t matter. This leopard was still young and bold. She didn’t care that people were watching her. When we arrived, she walked directly towards our car and this time, we all got wonderful photos.

We ended the day with drinks and a fire on the (elevated) back of the river at sunset. Having watched two crocodiles share a meal in the river earlier, the 15′ high back was close enough to the water. As the sliver of a moon appeared just as the sun dropped, we agreed it was the perfect ending to an amazing time spent in Samburu.

Yesterday we left Nairobi to start our safari. We flew to Samburu National Park on a small single engine plane with a pilot and co-pilot only. There was no divide between the cockpit and cabin and the snack cart for the flight was a plastic box with hard candies that the co-pilot passed back. It’s been a long time since I was on a flight that was this relaxed. It was great.

The flight stayed at or below the clouds the whole time which have us great views of Mount Kenya and the surrounding areas. The bright red-orange soil made the green bushes and trees jump up at us. Before landing, we circled the runway once to make sure it was clear before coming in for one of the softest landings we’ve had all trip. Odd since it was only runway that wasn’t paved.

We were met at the plane by guides and loaded into an open sided Land Rover to drive to camp 22km away. Along the way we saw a more birds than I could hope to list, a couple of giraffes, a herd of gazelles and a family of hippos. Not bad for the drive in. When we arrived, there were four elephants hanging out in the shade near camp and we learned why it is called Elephant Bedroom. We dropped our bags, got a quick briefing about not going near the river (for fear of hippos and crocodiles), not to leave camp (lions and baboons) and don’t leave your room without a guide (elephants). So obviously there were a lot of things that could do us harm, but this is an established camp, how close are they really going to get?

We found out soon enough that these critters don’t care much about people and camps, established or not. About half way through lunch, we were told it was time to move onto the raised platform. An elephant was approaching, so we grabbed our camera and left the food. Apparently the elephants aren’t interested in our meals, but there some nice plants near by. After a few minutes, he moved more towards the river and lunch continued.

Lunch ended around 2:00 and our first game drive was at 4:00 so we went back to our room and soaked our feet in the plunge pool on our deck. The bird life was phenomenal. So much color and so many noises coming from every tree, it seemed unreal.

Just as we were about to get ready for the game drive, there was an explosion of barking, howling and singing from behind our tent. We looked around to see a lioness chasing one of the baboons! All the other baboons were making as much noise as possible. The lioness did not get her meal which we had surprisingly mixed feelings about.

At this point, we had seen almost everything we had hoped to see on safari and we hadn’t even gone on our first game drive. As we loaded into the Land Rover, the sight of more elephants was not worth pausing for. There were more exciting things to seeand the elephants would be here when we got back.

The game drive was amazing. For two and a half hours we drove slowly around the area surrounding camp. That much time in a car is what I normally think of as torture, but the time flew by. We saw zebras, dikdiks, ostriches, several types of antelope and gazelle, oryx, bustards, secretary birds, giraffes and of course, more elephants. The highlight was the lioness by the side of the jeep track we were on. We got within 10′ of her and she just eyed us with a look that said, “Do not disturb my nap!” We sat there for several minutes as she waited, then sensing we weren’t a threat, rolled onto her back with paws the air. She looked like she wanted someone to scratch her belly, but the guides weren’t keen on me jumping out to try.

After the drive, it was time for dinner and then much needed sleep. We still hasn’t caught up on the sleep we missed while on the train. As we climbed into bed, the birds had quieted down and silence was approaching. Then the elephant arrived and used our tent platform and an adjacent tree as rubbing posts. We stood there staring him in the eye and he just looked back with “yeah, did you want something?” What an amazing day.

Can there be a more elegant way to travel than a night train between two cities? The idea that you board one night, have a quick dinner and a few drinks, make new friends, retire to your own private compartment and wake up in a new town is very romantic. The actual experience never quite lives up to the hype.

After racing from Watamu to Mombasa on a tuktuk, two matatus, another tuktuk and a short walk/run, the train was delayed. We were prepared having heard that the train often arrived in Nairobi 2-4 hours late. One person in Watamu informed us that her last night train was 7 hours late which for a journey scheduled to last about 13 hours is a significant delay. Not everyone on board was expecting it.

We boarded at 6:40 for our 7:00 departure. At 7:10, they first told us that we would be delayed for a few minutes. At 7:35, we were informed that the engine for the train should arrive in 10 minutes. It seemed an odd time to mention that there was no possible way the train could move, but that was the last official update we received regarding the journey. Fifteen minutes later (and still before the engine arrived), they came through the train ringing the dinner bell as if all were perfectly normal, so we went to dinner. As the soup arrived, we pulled out of the station, several hours before New Years, to much rejoicing. Then the train stopped. Total distance traveled, less than 100m. The third class cars were still at the platform. By the end of dinner, we had stayed moving again, but this time we were going “back to the station” as if we had really left. Apparently there were problems with that engine.

The original scheduled arrival time into Nairobi was between 7:30 and 10:00, depending on who you spoke with. The Spanish family in the compartment next to us was used to European trains and assumed this gave them plenty of time to catch their 2:00 flight home. With each delay, they got more anxious.

Some Canadian, who had gotten on the flight after the “last flight” out of Juba, South Sudan, started taking bets on whether we would ring in the new year on the platform. When they started, we had four hours until mid night and they seemed overly pessimistic, but with under 90 minutes to go, it seemed more plausible.

The second engine arrived, we rushed to reboard, waited, then departed the station again with twenty minutes to spare before 2014. Many of us gathered in the dining car to celebrate the new year together. The Spaniards were busy talking with the staff to figure out how they would make their flight. And Australian brought out a fiddle; I got out the straws and we sang in 2014 with style.

As I was gently rocking to sleep, it felt like the train was slowing. That made it easier to sleep and we had no place to be, so we sleep soundly. We awoke outside a mosque during the morning call to prayer. The train had stopped to let the Spanish family off. They were taking a cab from there. During the six hours we slept, the train had gone less than 50 miles. Apparently, engine number two broke and we were waiting for engine number three. Despite still being significantly closer to Mombasa than Nairobi, most passengers remained in high spirits and laughed off the delays. About half the people we hung out with worked for NGOs and had been evacuated from South Sudan as the fighting intensified. So there we all sat, in the middle of nowhere, Kenya.

The third engine arrived and we continued our journey around 8:00. Before long, it was time for breakfast. The passing countryside was lovely, right out of a postcard, and we agreed that it was better to have seen this than slept through it last night. The next time the train stopped, there was nothing to do but laugh. Luckily, this was a planned stop and despite looking like a field with a shed near the tracks, we were assured that this was an official station.

We slowly continued on towards Nairobi, not wanting to stain the engine too much. After lunch and several more station stops, we were within 50 miles of Nairobi and closing in on the 24 hour mark on the train. As afternoon turned into evening, the wildlife came out again and the ride became a safari. From the window of the train, we saw zebras, giraffes, wildebeest, ostriches, gazelle and a few large birds we couldn’t identify. The wild animals sharing grazing area with cattle and goats seemed odd, but wonderful as well. It didn’t feel like there was as much distinction between urban and wild as we experience the states.

We eventually roll into Nairobi, first the slums, then into downtown around 6:30. We were just shy of a full day on the train. As we departed, we planned to meet up with a few of the other passengers later that night for drinks. We were all curious to know if our Spanish friends made their flight, but had no way to tell. What a memorable experience.

Once we got to the hotel, showered and ate, we were too tired to go out for drinks and collapsed on the bed. Next stop, safari in Samburu.

We left Mombasa for Watamu by matatu. This is the Kenya equivalent of public buses. They run between cities and charge a set fare. This meant we didn’t have to negotiate the ticket price, but it doesn’t guarantee the quality of the ride. Rather than using buses, matatus are essentially converted mini-vans with enough seats for 11 people and they don’t run on a schedule. They wait until they’re full, then head out. We got the express, non-stop matatu on the way up the coast, so the 100km (62 miles) journey took about two hours.

We arrived at the eco-camp planning to check in, get lunch and go explore. Lunch took longer than expected and with the heat, humidity and finally being someplace quiet, we took the afternoon off. A short walk on the beach that evening and we were ready to spend the next day diving.

The dive operator was part of a larger resort and the culture shock of that felt odd. It made us appreciate going back to the eco-camp with no internet or electricity at the end of the day. The dive guide apologized for the low visibility, but didn’t say how bad it was. Usually it’s over 100′ in Dec, but it turned out to be closer to 20-40′. A little murkier than we had hoped for, but the reef was in great shape and the fish seemed be thriving. Many seemed comfortable with divers so I was able to get some nice photos. Hopefully a few will turn out well enough to print. One school of 12-16″ fish were comfortable enough with us that I was able to reach out and touch them. That never happens.

After two dives, we left, grabbed lunch and headed to the Gede ruins. This city, with many mosques dates back to at least the thirteenth century, but was never discovered by the Portuguese who had a harbor 15km away. Wondering around the stone walls and ancient buildings was a cool experience. We tried to picture what life would have been like back then. Later, as other groups arrived to see the site, the monkeys started coming out. When an Italian family arrived with a local guide, the monkeys ran right over, paused only for a second then climbed up on mom’s shoulder for a photo and treat. Dom and I were quite happy having the monkeys not climbing on us, and since we weren’t about to feed them, they only had a passing interest in us.

The second day in Watamu started similar to the first with breakfast at the eco-camp followed by two dives. The it was time to head to Mombasa for the night train to Nairobi. We got to the matatu station just before one left which meant we didn’t have to wait. Unfortunately, this was not an express. We started with two families in the matatu with us and just after we got in, we picked up two more riders on our way out of the parking lot. That brought the total number of people in our 11 passenger mini-van to 21. As we drove along, people not going all the way to Mombasa got out and occasionally others got on. Once we dropped to only having 9 passengers, I thought we could spread out a bit… Then another family got on with a few individuals and we maxed out at 23 souls hurtling down the semi paved road at 45mph in a car that was retrofitted for 11.

The other problem with not being on the express is that the matatu stops at every intersection to try to get more riders. This started to make us nervous since we had only 4 hours to get to Mombasa before the train left. Then we pulled into a stop, slightly larger but otherwise similar to every other stop we’ve made to look for additional riders. When the assistant driver jumped out, rather than him trying to convince people to get in our matatu, four or five guys swarmed him. Everyone quickly started yelling and trying to get money from him. Eventually he relented, gave about $10 to one of the four and started to open the back where our bags were. They poked out from under the back seat far enough that Dom and I both reached down to grab a strap, just in case. The yelling continued, then someone grabbed my bag and started to pull. I wasn’t letting go and so we started at each other for a second. By now the driver had gotten out and tried to reassure me that it was ok for them to take my bag. I let go and jumped out as the yelling continued. When I got to the back, I wrestled my bag from the guys and Dom grabbed hers. Then we asked anyone who spoke English for an explanation. Turns out this was a transfer station and all those arguing drive different matatus. Each wanted our business since it made it easier to fill their car.

We eventually got that sorted out and got back on the road, but now we were cutting the transfer to the train even closer. We stopped looking at clocks and settled into the none-too-reassuring knowledge that we’d get there when we get there and there wasn’t anything we could do this stage. When we got to Mombasa, the town was in full party mode for New Years and the streets were packed. We found a tuktuk that squeezed us between cars, posts, buildings and other objects that we had no business going between all at 30mph. We made it to the train station in just enough time to get snacks and toilet paper before boarding. It was quiet the adventure getting to the night train… Then came the ride itself, but I’m still on the train, so I can’t tell that story yet.

No electricity or internet connection has made it difficult to update, but here are a few photos from Watamu. Tonight we catch the night train from Mombasa to Nairobi. Should be interesting for New Years.

First of all, I found Mombasa to be not very interesting to photograph so there isn’t a lot to pick from for this update. The town feels past its prime and although there are some interesting points, there aren’t as many as I’d expect in a town this size.

The main point of interest here is Fort Jesus which was built by the Portuguese. No one seemed to be able to keep control of the fort for more than about 50 years, so there were many local rulers and the town is still one of the most diverse we’ve seen on this trip. The fort has the usual collection of cannons and thick walls to look at, but the most interesting parts were the carved wooden doors.

After the fort, we wondered around Old Town which had a lot of curio shops. I found several old, brass sextents, but none were in working order and several were missing pieces. We read about a good lunch spot, but when we arrived, all the food was sitting out getting cold. We didn’t stay. Up the street a block we had seen another promising place. As we approached, the owner was walking out and started making noise for his staff to invite us in. He seemed rather chuffed when we walked in and decided to stay to take our order. Clearly he was the reason we came in.

“What would you like?” No menus or choices listed on the wall, so we started with, “Well, food… no meat.”

“Ok, wait here” with that he disappeared. I thought he was going to look into options for us. Instead, he came back with a plate of saag and a plate of rice. “It’s this ok? You try first. If not, we find something else.” Both plates were hot so I figured they were safer than the last place. The rice and saag were good, so he brought two more plates for Dom. Then some curried beans. Then some too-hot-to-hold chapatis. All very good and he was pleased as ever that we liked it. When we went to pay, Dom got out the equivalent of $5. He laughed and told me I should never let my wife hold the money or she will take it and run away. I said I would have to run after her, but apparently if I run at all, I will get injured or die. This he important enough to know the he said it and acted it out. Laughing the whole time.

This afternoon/evening we walked around the seaside where local families go on Saturday afternoons. We stopped to get chips that many vendors were frying over a charcoal fire. A few kids came up and asked us for money. One very optimistic one hide the bag of chips he was working on behind his back, then asked for money for food because he was sooo hungry. Apparently that works often enough to keep trying it, but there are no more starving children here (or in Ethiopia) than at home. That’s not to say there aren’t any, but passing out money to kids on the street who say they’re hungry seems to have created more problems for cities over here than it had solved.

After the walk, we found a nice vegetarian Southern Indian restaurant for dinner. Although dosas were on the menu, we were told they weren’t making anymore tonight. Then a large Indian family walked in and we were assured dosas would be ready shortly. Funny how that works.

Tomorrow we had up the coast to get ready for diving! Oh, and according to the hotel clerk, I’m Obama’s stand-in since he has still not come to Kenya.

Last night, we caught an evening flight from Addis to Nairobi. Most of what we read told us to be extremely cautious in town, to get out as soon as possible and don’t go out walking after dark. We got a decent meal on the plane, but needed water, so the first thing we did after checking into our hotel was go for a walk. The store was a block away and after getting water we walked a few more blocks. We were in a good part of town and other than one kid asking us for money, we had no problems. After a day spent in town, it feels like most modern cities, big, crowded, slightly dirty and moving quickly. It felt no worse than many US cities I can think of.

This morning, this plan was to go to the train station, get a ticket for the night train to Mombasa, grab a coffee and head to the elephant orphanage. The plan worked great until step two… It turns out between researching the trip and arriving, two things of note happened that made the advice we took about buying tickets the day of travel no longer correct. The first was Christmas which we probably could have predicted, but what we didn’t know was that many families travel to the coast between Christmas and New Year. Second, someone cancelled all buses between Nairobi and Mombasa. Not sure who or why, but the end result for us was the only ticket available on the train was third class. As memorable as that would be, we decided to look for other options and found a travel agent (I didn’t know they were still around) who was open and booked flights.

A quick coffee and it was out to the elephant orphanage. They have 30 elephants under 5 years old and 25 of them come out for public feedings once a day. For about $6 you stand there behind a rope while they attempt to bottle feed the orphans. In practice the elephants know the routine well enough that they often take the bottles and try to wonder off or finish their bottle and go look for other ones that aren’t being guarded. After eating, most of them wanted to splash about in the puddle a few feet from us. Some of the splashes were larger than others as Dom’s muddied skirt can prove. Some came over to the rope so we could pet them or they could rub against us, depending on the perspective. The hour went fast.

Later, we explored the National Museum of Kenya which was much more impressive than it’s Ethiopian cousin. Things were well arranged to tell a story and everything seemed to have a label explaining it. Nice exhibit on early humans again as well as more birds than I thought existed in one place. Then it was time for our flight to Mombasa. The crew told us before taking off, they hoped it would be a memorable flight. Memorable is not what I want in a flight, but it turned out fine.

Upon arrival in Mombasa, we ran into the second half of the problem of not being on the night train. Where to sleep. Turns out that even late the same day is still between Christmas and New Years, so there were no hotels available… We arrived at the hotel wet have reserved for tomorrow and they were extremely concerned that they had overbooked. We told them our plans had changed and we still plan to stay there tomorrow. They spent the next ten minutes calling and running around to all the other hotels looking for a room. The hotel is more expensive than we planned on, but it’s a bed and an internet connection.

After nut getting the train, finding a flight, seeing the elephants, not getting a hotel, having a wild tuk-tuk ride through Mombasa and getting the cleanest room since arriving in Africa, the flight might not have been memorable, but the day certainly was.

Boxing day meant it was time to leave Ethiopia. We enjoyed our time immensely. The people were some of the friendliest we’ve met and the culture is fascinating. The idea of coming back and hiking from one remote village to another (with lots of iodine tablets for the water) is very alluring.

We got an early flight from Lalibela to Addis, then spent most of the day seeing sights there. Unfortunately, our prearranged driver had slightly different plans for our day than we did. We started by visiting the enormous market in town and getting stuck in traffic. We didn’t move more than a few inches for over 15 minutes! A car broke down in the intersection and with other cars on all sides, there was no “out of the way” to push it to.

Next we went to the National Museum. On the whole, this is not an amazing place to visit, but it is home to the Lucy skeleton and we had to see that. There were a few other interesting exhibits about early humans, but we were done in under an hour. Then, there was just enough time for one more injera for lunch before heading to Nairobi.

At some point in Lalibela the idea of building churches up from the ground stopped making sense and instead, it was decided that they should be carved out of solid rock. There are 11 churches (depending on how you count) that were carved and dug out of the ground. The one above is the Church of St George. Like most, it’s three stories tall and all made in one piece of rock. Although they were impressive from inside, their true grandeur was most visible from outside. According to legend all eleven were built in 23 years, but it seems likely that it took longer.

The churches were the main (only) reason we visited, but the caves and tunnels that were made to connect some of the churches were just as cool. As we left one church, our fifth of the day, we were looking for something a little different. Dom noticed a dark passageway and asked where it went. “To the next church… but wouldn’t you rather go up and around?” Really??? No! So our guide led us through, turning on his cell phone flash light only near the halfway point. When we got to the far end, there was a gate… which was locked from the outside. Oops. Luckily a guard heard us knock and other than look at us like we were weird, had no issues letting us out.

All the churches had artifacts on display and monks who were, to varying degrees, interested in sharing and showing them off. We learned that there are ONLY three types of crosses in Ethiopia: Gondar (above left), Axumite (above right) and Lalibela. The Lalibela reminded me of a dancing Shiva with a circle with seven points around the outside. At the next church, we learned that there were ONLY six types of crosses in Ethiopia. This monk also included hand-held crosses, necklace crosses and staff crosses. The mathematician in me wanted to ask about the possible permutations like hand-held Axumite and staff Gondar, but decided it would probably get lost in translation.

Having not terrified us on the last cave/tunnel, our guide offered us a choice for the path to the last church. We could the “Heavenly Route” by going up and around which would give wonderful views of the city and surrounding valley. Or we could descend into “Hell” and take the unlit 50m (~165ft) tunnel. We opted for the tunnel. “It will be good practice,” our guide told us… jokingly, I think.

Christmas day consisted of an 8km (5 mile) hike up the mountain on the edge of town, a 42km drive on rough roads and dinner in an architectural experiment. It started at 7am to beat the heat. Over those 8km, we gained more than 1000m of elevation, and we didn’t start low. The monastery we were going to was around 3400m above sea level. The view from the top was better than the monastery we came to see, but it was still worthwhile. We each rode a mule part of the way. Dom got to ride, I was told I should ride “for the experience”. We didn’t even remember it was Christmas until half way through the hike since Ethiopia is on a different calendar and doesn’t celebrate until Jan 7.

After the hike and a quick lunch, we climbed into an old land rover for an hour long ride over some of the roughest road I’ve been on. The giant earth-moving machines had to pause their work to let us by on our way to one final church. This one was in a cave and was built up rather than carved out. There were intricately carved wooden ceilings and doors that made this one our favorite of the churches in Lalibela.

When we returned, it was almost time for Christmas Dinner and although we couldn’t find any place that made tacos, we decided to treat ourselves. We went to Ben Abeba, the best Scottish-Ethiopian restaurant in Lalibela. It’s run by a wonderful and vibrant expat living there in a state of semi-retirement. She wanted to celebrate with others on Dec 25, rather than waiting so threw a party. It was wonderful. We arrived and meet two couples, one from Denmark, the other from the UK. One person was working in Addis, one in Gondar and each had someone visiting. Later we were joined by a brother and sister from Australia. When dinner started, all the tables were arranged for couples. We didn’t want to stop socializing so we pulled three tables together and completed confused the wait staff. It was a fabulous way to spend Christmas: good food, new friends and a wonderful host.

This morning we flew to Axum, the ancient political and religious capital. The main draw to the town these days are the stelae (granite obelisks) dating from around 400 CE. The tallest currently standing is 25 meters tall and weighs 170 tons. A taller one (33 m) is in several pieces on the ground beside it. Although local legend says it stood before being knocked over by Queen Yodit during a raid, it’s more likely that it fell when they tried to raise it.

After the stelae fields, it was time for lunch and, by wonderful coincidence, a bike race in town. Details were a bit sparse, even many of the locals seemed surprised by the race, but from what we could gather, it was a criterium style race as part of the final day of a five day tour. When we arrived, the category 3 racers were going, but by the time we finished lunch, the pros in category 1 were starting. The race went back and forth on the main road through town. Many locals watched and cheered despite few having any idea what was happening. Several encouraged me to jump into the race assuming it would be hysterical to watch a “faranji” ride with pros. Instead I watched while drinking an avocado juice.

Later we toured the tombs of early Christian kings (circa 600 CE) and the palace of the Queen of Sheba (circa 1000 BCE).

The most important history lesson of the day didn’t come from our guide or the museum, but from our driver. One day a dog, a goat and a donkey went to town on the bus. The donkey got on and paid with exact change. The dog paid too much but the driver didn’t have change. The goat said he would pay when he got off, but ran out the door at his stop without paying. The animals remember that to this day which is why when a car drives down the road, the goat runs away, the donkey ignores it and the dog chases it, still looking for his change.