Tag Archives: Politics and history Before visiting Oman, I didn’t know a thing about its history. I’d been drawn to its exotic location and intrigued by Bruno’s photos from his time here a decade ago. I knew that Oman was photogenic. I didn’t know that it had so many photogenic forts. Thanks to Vasco da Gama and a little-known Omani sailor, Oman is filled with them.  Merry Christmas everyone! Except, that is, the people of Ethiopia. They have to wait another two weeks to celebrate the birth of Jesus. As with all things in Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church likes to do things a bit differently than the rest of the world. Lalibela, the site of eleven thousand-year-old rock-hewn churches, is living proof of that!  Dian Fossey is one of the most famous names in primate study, and she conducted her research right here in Northern Rwanda. Even though we couldn’t come face to face with her infamous mountain gorillas, Bruno and I decided to follow in Fossey’s footsteps. It was an illuminating journey.  The streets were clean, the stop-lights worked, the road lines were being freshly repainted. It was hard to believe that exactly twenty years ago, one of the most widely-publicized genocides in history was planned and executed from here. We were driving into Kigali, and I had expected anything but this.  We followed in the footsteps of David Livingstone along Lake Malawi and the lush hilltop town of Livingstonia. It taught me a lot about missionaries, slavery, and the legacy of a great explorer. |
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