Addis Ababa

Well  I made  it!
The flight was boring and uneventful, even more so than usual! It's quite a strange route-- for the first 4 hours to Beirut it's jam packed, then almost everyone gets off and just the last few stay on board to Addis. So 39 passengers and 10 crew for the next 4 hours!
The airport was easier than I feared and although there were big queues for something (no idea what!) I had my entry visa and suitcase in less than an hour. The driver was waiting by the exit and we were at the hotel 20 minutes later. Easy!
The best way to describe the hotel would be shabby but clean. There may well be more staff than guests but they all seem tremendously busy! The grounds are better than the hotel: 4 acres of garden and park. I took some photos but at the moment I can't get on the internet, so this post will have to wait.
I switched rooms already: the lock broke on my first one. Front desk sent someone to fix it but he made it worse and I ended up locked inside the room with him, and the key jammed in the lock! Fortunately the cleaner rescued us with the master key. Comedy moment!
Woke up at 6 to some very weird chanting on a megaphone, somewhere in the distance. It sounded like an Ethiopian Ian Paisley. Then some singing -- I think it was the Hovis ad music but I may have been hallucinating!
The group arrives on Monday morning after an overnight flight, then we have a short city tour in the afternoon. Hopefully I'll have more luck with the internet connection at our next hotel. If not, then all this careful typing was for nothing!

Be prepared.......

Almost ready to go, I just hope I've got enough mosquito repellent!

Ethiopia - ready to go?

I hope I'm ready because the flight leaves at 9 am Saturday! I had to switch from my old favourite Travel Blog because it just doesn't work on my shiny new Tablet so this will be a bit of a learning experience.
This is the trip: http://www.exodus.co.uk/holidays/aye/overview and it may well turn out to be even more adventurous than my usual excursions to Libya or Laos. So, fingers crossed for some occasional wi-fi!