In the jagged arid mountains 30 kilometres out of Gondar in northern Ethiopia, baboons and leopards still lurk amongst the hidden valleys. At least, that’s what we are told when visiting the splendid but empty eco-resort of Befikir Kossoye on a recent work trip to Ethiopia.
Befikir, meaning ‘By love’, is a series of rondavel huts made by village craftsmen and women from local timbers and fibres that each house two private bedrooms with bathrooms. The resort was set up by Mr Dagnew Legesse, or “Daniel”, as he introduces himself who made his money trading at the Mercato, the famous open-air markets in Addis Ababa.
“I used to visit my aunt’s house near here as a child when I lived in Gondar,” Daniel explains. “I was upset as an adult to see the destruction caused when the trees were cut down for fuel and shelter, so I decided to set up Befikir.”
Daniel used local labour to replant 50,000 indigenous trees in nearby gullies and plans more such activities. Local people help him to run his resort, and he is clearly proud of his achievements. He just needs more visitors to come to make it all worthwhile.
And it’s certainly worth making the trip from Gondar on the recently constructed Chinese road that winds up into the mountains past small villages perched amongst a Grand Canyon-style landscape.
We walk along the escarpment and marvel at the views. We see where Queen Elizabeth agreed to meet the famous Ethiopian president, Haile Selasie, near a large old tree in early 1965. We spy amongst the rocks one young woman braiding another’s hair, and ask to have ours also done – though not with quite so many strands!
Late in the afternoon, after watching the sun spiral down past uneven peaks into the valley floor, we gather in the main dining room for foot massages followed by traditional Ethiopian food, a large platter of flat spongy sourdough bread called injera covered with various small portions of stews and salads.
We try the local red wine, which isn’t as bad as we thought it might be, and which goes down rather quickly on the cool night sitting around the blazing fireplace. The evening ends with an elaborate coffee ceremony that involves washing the local beans, roasting them, grinding them and then adding them to the pot of water steaming on the fire.
Next morning we rise early to walk down the nearby ridge in search of those elusive baboons and leopards. Our guide carries a rifle just in case and hands me a perfectly carved wooden stick to help my knees survive the steep path down. We talk about the hyenas heard overnight and note baboon droppings and leopard footprints.
But alas, despite the best efforts of our guides, we fail to see baboons or leopards this time. They are probably sensibly staying warm as the cool winds blow strongly up the valleys. But we are not too disappointed. The early morning views and light paint a different perspective of the landscape as we pass a goat herder and his flock going about his everyday activities.
Later that morning and sad to leave so soon, I give Daniel the traditional Ethiopian handshake with right shoulder lean in together as we depart for Gondar via a local women’s co-op making pottery and weaving shawls.
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