Africa - Ethiopia and Kenya

Now I can understand why the British loved Kenya so much. I am sitting here on a terrace at the hotel, overlooking lush green forested hills that surround Nairobi amidst the fertile red volcanic soils. The weather is 25 C +/- 3C almost all year round - heavenly in otherwords. The Kenyan hotel staff are impeccably trained, gentle and move about with a noble grace. The standard of living and modern conveniences ranges from comfortable (Kenny Hills comes to mind) to mostly relatively good ("Cheras level") down to "Jakarta level" in some of the slummier areas. The English language is spoken here with a certain accent-free polish. There is a large and well-organized Indian population as evident from the profusion of Indian temples. From the design and diversity of the Hindu, Sikh and Jain temples seen from the road, there seem to be more from Western and Northern India here than from the Tamil south. Like in Malaysia many of them seemed to have been drawn here by the twin drivers of the British Empire - the railway and the military. The Indians here seem to be more organized and belong to different social and educational class compared to Malaysia. For example, there are many Indian-linked colleges, academies and even a hospital run by Sikh-charities.

Kenya suffers from the usual flaws of developing countries in terms of society and government. It is shocking to think that a year ago racial conflict killed hundreds and forced the uprooting of hundreds of thousands. My colleague (a military doctor) told me that racial discrimination by the Kikuyus against the Luos are longstanding and wide-spread, forcing many Luos when they obtain their ICs to add a 'K' in front of their names which always begins with 'O' (like in Obama) otherwise they would never get into college. But from the sound of it, the coalition government that under a peace deal brought the opposition party (who apparently won last year's elections) into the Kikuyu dominated government pending an election, has been working hard to improve the infrastructure and responding to the people's needs, in part hoping to win votes in the next election. There seems to be a free press where expose of corruption scandals and criticism of the President were unapologetic in the mainstream papers. A special independent parliamentary tribunal is about to begin to investigate and press charges against perpetrators of last year's racial clash. So overall, I notice a bedrock of sensibility, professionalism, old British rule of law that is bolstered by the determination of a sizable educated middle-class to stay on the path of progress because they know they deserve better.

Outside the city, as I discovered yesterday, lie the some of the grandest and most majestic display of nature in the world. There the fields of golden shrubs and grassland stretch out for as far as the eyes could see, dotted only with scattered trees . From the vistas, one could see rocky hills in the distance, slopes of extinct volcanoes and riven by valleys that look like creases in the land. On those fabled savanna, thousands upon thousands of beasts roam in a display of life as old as life itself. Yes, I was reminded that we humans are only a detail and a recent on at that in the marvellous canvas of nature. Even at the Nairobi National Park which is literally a turn off the airport road on the city's southern fringe, I was amazed to see hundreds of wild zebras, hundreds of impalas and gazelles, tens of ostriches, dozens of giraffes, flamingos and - to my good fortune - a pride of lions 5 female and one male staking out a herd of wild buffalos.

Further out, the central highlands around Mt Kenya produces world reknown tea and coffee. Further on, the fabled Masai Mara National Park and its sister parks are world famous - and judging from the tour brochures, the last word in refined world class tourism. Each year in August, tens-of-millions of animals passes through the Masai Mara from the Serengeti on their annual migration; you can watched over from the lawns of century old British colonial estates, or a modern tented camps on top of a nearby rock, or from elaborate tree houses, or buzz over from a small plane, or glide silently in a hotair balloon. The logistics and training for Kenyan hospitality is so organized by the British Raj that even in the wild, five-star comfort and service follows you. West of Nairobi, the land falls away over a sharp cliff into the 50km wide Rift Valley before rising up again on the other side. In between are more glorious savannas interlaced by a string of lakes where the flamingos congregate in their millions. In the Eastern coast, there are lush jungles, beaches and coral reefs surrounding old fortified towns belonging to Omani merchant settlements. In the west and in the north, the 'real' Africa rose around Lake Victoria and where the Sahel semi-desert begins.

The north is where I began this trip in Ethiopia. Ethiopia is truly fascinating, an ancient kingdom with an uninterrupted history going back more than 3000 years. They have been many empires and many centres of power, but one at Axum is well-known as a rival first to Ramses pharoah of Egypt and later to Rome. This is also where a number of 2500 years old obelisks were looted by Mussolini in the 1930s, placed in Rome but which Italy has agreed to return them to Ethiopia. Rare for African nations, the Ethiopians have their own writing, Amharic which is of ancient origin; the alphabet looks like a cross between Greek and heiroglyphic symbols. They have their own calendar which is 8 years and 8 days different from the Gregorian version (they had their millenium year 2000 on January 8, 2008). That's not unusual because we know of Buddist or Muslim calendars, but what is more interesting is that they have their own time, which starts and ends at 6am on the 'normal' time rather than at midnight, probably to coincide with sunrise. All very exotic and impressive.

In a place in the north called Lalibela is world famous for stone churches the shape of a cross that are carved vertically into the rock, and become underground churches. Somewhere there is also an enclosure where the Ethiopians believe holds the Holy Grail; every so often one monk would be appointed to be entrusted with the secret of the grail and there he will live and guard the grail for the rest of his life. Ethiopia also lay claim to some majestic scenery being the lower extension of Wadi Rum in the Jordan Valley and the northern extension of the Rift Valley.

Unfortunately, I did not get the time to truly explore Addis Ababa or anywhere in Ethiopia for that matter. Work and meetings had taken up all my time. However, one aspect I could observe was the people. I was truly impressed by the dignity and confidence by which Ethiopian people carries themselves. By this I am refering to a sense of dignity that is internal rather than an externally directed arrogance or superiority complex. I believe this came from their pride in their culture. They are certainly economically weaker than even Kenya. Its level of development is akin to that of a county level city in China. Even though many of them live in poverty, the streets are clean and tidy. Even in poverty and material disadvantage the people tend to be courteous and honest in dealing with foreigners. They are some of the warmest, gentlest, curious and helpful people I have ever met. They glow with happiness and pride whenever anyone point to their unique culture - which is deeply rooted in their blend of ancient Christianity.

Ethnically, they are striking in their good looks. The Ethiopians are a Semetic people not negroid like most oif Africa although given the proximity there must be a great deal of mixed ethnicity. The skin tone tend to be brown the colour of coffee or mahogany not purely dark. The hair are wiry and fizzy but not in deep curls. The facial features are sharp and fine boned with large dark eyes beneath full eyelids, on top of high - but not sharp - nose bridges. Both men and women tend to be lithe and thin, but (unlike the Masai we encounter in Kenya who are 6 foot + giants) not too tall. Some women especially look like giraffes with their absurdly long limbs and small thin faces. Sometimes I wonder if they are a mix of Indian, European and African genes; because they seem to have the fine bones and slim bodies of Asians, the sharper facial features of Europeans, some elements of the dark(er) skin and hair of Africans. May be its true after all that this is the origin of mankind. Ethiopia lay claim to being the origin of humans from the archeological finding of "Lucy" the oldest homo sepien bone in the world, currently in the Addis Ababa museum.

Everywhere you go in Addis, you see multi-domed Eastern churches looking much like the St Mark's cathedral in Venice. People wears or carries with them elaborate crucifixes and icons, often made from wood or metal with the most intricate designs of weaving knots that reminded me of Celtic designs in Ireland.

Nonetheless, one source of pride in Ethiopia is religious harmony. Although it is one of the oldest Christian nation in the world it also boast one of the oldest Muslim community in the world. And the two has lived side-by-side largely in peace for longer than anywhere in the world. I suspect that has a lot to do with the powerful effect of the Ethiopian nation and culture which has been around far longer than either Chirstianity or Islam. When those religions arrived, it got absorbed into an established kingdom and culture. Hence, for the Ethiopians they were already had an identity before religion had the opportunity to create new group identities and divide the people.