Ethiopia

My plane touched down in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia about 3 hours late at 11 pm on December, 8th. Fortunately, my driver had waited faithfully for me and drove me to my hotel, where they reopened the kitchen just for me and made me some incredible tibs and injera (the Dimitri Hotel is awesome!). The next morning I took a cab (basically, a guy the hotel paid to drive me around in his 1992 Ford Escort) to The National Museum. After meeting with the museum's director, I was taken to the fossil lab where I got to see the Bodo cranium (quite possibly my favorite fossil of all time) and the omo crania (the oldest known H. sapiens fossils dated to 195,000 years ago). During my lunch hour, I had an opportunity to tour the museum exhibits. Some of the highlights included an exhibit on the recent Herto remains (H. sapiens idultu), the walk through human evolution in Ethiopia, and the "Lucy Room." Ironically, after I traveled all the way to Addis Ababa, Lucy, probably the most famous fossil in the world, was sitting in an exhibit in Houston, Texas.

At 5 pm, my driver picked me back up and drove me through Addis back to my hotel which was a real adventure. At one point the driver veered off the "paved" road into the ditch...I eventually realized that the dirt ditch was now the road. I've lived in 3rd world countries, and seen my share of suffering, but I don't think anything can prepare one for the level of poverty in Addis; it's truly gut-wrenching. Having taking all my measurements on the first day, I spent the entire second day trying to figure out the Ethiopian banking system in order to pay my $20 museum fee, which ended up costing me $35 in taxi fares. I finished the day at Bole International Airport, waiting for my 1 am flight to Tel Aviv, Isreal.

Cape Town

I arrived in Cape Town on Tuesday, November 12th to work at the Iziko South African Museum and the University of Cape Town. Dan Proctor had suggested the Holyrood apartment across the street from the Iziko Museum and the Company Gardens, in the middle of the City Bowl with a great view of Devil's Peak. After studying the Fish Hoek cranium, the Klaises River Mouth fossils, and the Blombos Cave Ochre, I spent a little time touring Cape Town. I went up to Table Mountain to take in the view, and to the Castle of Good Hope, the V&A Waterfront and the Two Oceans Aquarium. During my stay the World Cup Draw was held on Long Street, just behind my apartment building. I enjoyed the festivities from my window and was glad that there were no incidences (apparently there were actually a few bomb threats but nothing happened).