After leaving my house 39 hours ago, I finally made it into Ethiopia. First a ten hour flight, then three hours to Amsterdam, eight hours to Nairobi and then this morning's final two hour Kenya flight into Addis Ababa. The sunrise view from the Nairobi airport was terrific, just as the low-lying clouds melted away and the land came into clear view, John Denver's Rocky Mountain High played in the gate four waiting area. Nothing like a little John Denver while watching this scene unfold out the big windows to make me feel like I'm halfway around the world.
The next day we met up with a few people who are attending the conference and the small group of us went and enjoyed a lovely evening at a somewhat touristy, but nevertheless charming and interesting place. Local beers, wonderful injera and delicious piles of spicy meat pastes made up the nicely traditional Ethiopian meal. There was a live band, with strong drums, some flutes, lots of singing and wild dancing by a man and two women. Anyway, a lovely meal. Tomorrow is a full day here in Addis. We're going to try and arrange a cupping in the morning with a local exporter, and venture out to the local market, which I hear is amazing.