Timkat, Ethiopia

The crowd swells as  the Timkat Festival unfolds

BY MARGARET FARRELL


The Timkat Festival is a highlight of any visit to Ethiopia. Celebrating the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, it is one of the most important religious events in the Ethiopian Orthodox calendar. 

It is celebrated throughout Ethiopia but the most special place to experience Timkat is in Lalibela with its ten 13th century rock carved churches. Each of the churches participates in what is an explosion of spontaneous religious fervour mixed with sheer exuberance.

Processions start from each of these churches, and converge like the meeting of rivers in spate. There are drums, horns, chanting, ululations, and dancing. Each procession is preceded by groups of young men waving their traditional wooden staffs and gyrating in circles as they move along.

The priests follow in their gorgeous vestments, holding vividly decorated umbrellas. Centre piece of each procession is the Tabot, wrapped in exotic fabrics. The Tabot is a replica of the Ark of the Covenant. According to tradition the original Ark is kept at Axum in the far north of the country.

Crowds of energetic men and women surround and follow the core of the procession. The sound is deafening and the excitement is extreme. Most of the Ethiopians are swathed in white fabric, and have a biblical look – until, that is, you see their mobile phones in operation. They are as keen as the tourists to capture the experience.

The procession proceeds to the Church of St George, the most iconic of the rock churches, in the shape of a cross, the Bete Ghiorgis is carved out of red granite from the top down so that only the summit protrudes above the surrounding countryside. Access to the church is down steep and slightly hair raising steps, along a narrow cut in the rock, and through a stretch of tunnel.

Once you clear the tunnel you are in a space surrounding the monolithic shape of the church. Colourful murals liven the atmosphere.

You can hear the drums and chanting throughout the night of Vigil. Ethiopia tours are for small groups of up to 20 or private groups of 4 or more.

Book your trip to Ethiopia especially for Timkat Festival with Blue Dot! Click here.

Map of Ethiopia

High priests carrying the church Tabots (A model of the Ark of the Covenant)

Deacons with black robes over their mostly white garments formed two parallel lines that converged and retreated from each other, and danced back and forth

Cross shaped pool where the baptism will take place every year

Ethiopian Orthodox Christian priests bless a cross shaped pool of water during Timkat

Ethiopian Orthodox Christians are showered with water, blessed by priests

Day 2 of our Timkat, we reach the special ground where the waters are blessed for the Baptism rites. The whole area was crowded, and locals waved lighted tapers as the priests began arriving in all their glory. Deacons in their white robes with red borders, and priests wearing black cloaks over their white robes, formed a perimeter around the open space. 

Then the hierarchy arrived in spectacular gear, armed with their umbrellas and beautiful crosses. Many of them wore crowns that have been used for centuries.
The Black Cloaks performed a slow, rhythmic, carefully choreographed dance to the slow hypnotic beat of drums. Meanwhile the deacons shook cestrums and swayed to the slow beat. Both groups made ritualistic gestures with their traditional staffs. It is fascinating to watch.

Finally, after sermons and speeches, the waters are blessed. The “font” is a large cross shaped above ground pool. As soon as the serious business is completed the hordes of young (and not so young) men rushed in to touch and splash the Holy Water. It quickly degenerated into a gigantic water fight. 

Timkat continues on for most of the day. Once the senior priests had recovered, they formed another procession that stopped for some time at the gates of our hotel before moving on.

Put Timkat, the celebration of the Epiphany, on your bucket list, you will not be disappointed.  This is just one of the many highlights of your Ethiopia trip.

Ethiopia tours are available for small groups of up to 20 or private groups of 4 or more.

Book your trip to Ethiopia especially for Timkat festival with Blue Dot! Click here.
 

A patriarch at the Timkat Festival

 Church hewn into the rock

Inside rock hewn church

Bet Amanuel (Emanuel Church) in Lalibela, Ethiopia

Bete Giorgis (St George Church), Lalibela, Ethiopia

 

The Big Tsingy, Madagascar

The Big Tsingy

By Brod Brennan

The highlight for many of us on our Madagascar trip has been the trip to the Big Tsingy.  Just getting there is an adventure! After passing through ancient baobab forests we finally reached the Tsiribihina River where we loaded our 4WD vehicles onto the flimsy rafts that we shared with the local Malagasy. We were on our final leg to the village of Bekopaka, the entrance way to the remote and mysterious limestone labyrinths that make up the Tsingy National Park. 

The spectacular mineral forest of Tsingy de Bemaraha, affectionately known as the Big Tsingy, stands on the western coast of Madagascar. Tsingy is the Malagasy word for “walking on tiptoes” and the nearly impenetrable maze of limestone needles justifies this name. 

The whole protected area, designated a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 1990, comprises a surface of 1.575 km². This remote area was not a tourist trek until 1998, when the southern part was declared a National Park. The reserve’s canyons, gorges, undisturbed forests, lakes and mangrove swamps display an astonishing richness of fauna and flora which have still not been completely recorded.

We started our ascent out of Bekopaka early in the morning and trekked through the shadows of the forest. Along the way we spotted several lemur species. The area has 11 species in total, including Decken's sifaka, red-fronted brown lemur, fat-tailed dwarf lemur, grey mouse lemur or the Cleese's woolly lemur and the Sambirano lesser bamboo lemur, which only occur here. Other resident mammals are the small carnivorous falanouc and the ring-tailed mongoose which predominantly hang out in the canyon floors.

Once we had passed through the lush surrounding forest, we then entered the Big Tsingy by sliding through a series of narrow cave passageways to start our ascent to the top.  We climbed past layer after layer of razor sharp limestone pinnacles using our harness carabiners to hook on and off as required.  A series of strategically placed ladders took us from ledge to ledge. Finally we made it to the top and crossed a swinging suspension bridge to reach the centre.  The exhilaration of reaching our destination evaporated all of our anxieties – none of us had ever used a carabiner before! But that was just all part of the Madagascar adventure & our special trip to the Big Tsingy. It should be on everyone's top list of attractions in Madagascar.  

We have scheduled group tours, family tours & private tours for 4 or more people to Madagascar.

Book your trip to Madagascar with Blue Dot! Click here.

Map of Madagascar

Tsiribihina River crossing

Rafts are pulled across the river using poles

View of the Big Tsingy

Crossing the swinging suspension bridge                                            Using carabiners to hook on and off

Climbing through the rock walls to reach the bottom

Life along the river

One of the 11 types of lemur found at Big Tsingy

The river provides a source of water & food

Everyday tasks along the river

Meet the locals

Pirogue are the main method of transport for locals

Ring-tailed Mongoose living on the canyon floor of the Tsingy

Kamchatka, Far East Russia

Brown bear mother and her four cubs

BY Brett Goulston

Not many people know where Kamchatka is. And not many people can pronounce it, let alone spell it. For the record… it’s a peninsular at the southern end of Siberia, that’s shaped like a salmon - which is ironic because it’s the salmon capital of Russia! It’s a forgotten part of the world’s largest country. In fact the locals refer to the rest of Russia as “the mainland” even though it is not an island. 

Now that you know where it is, why should you visit?  

There are many reasons. The first is for the bears. The Kamchatka Brown Bear is a passive cousin of the Alaskan Brown Bear. That doesn’t mean they are safe to hang around with, but they are more likely to run off if you are too close, rather than attack. At Lake Kurilskoye, you can see them up very close, from the safety of a speed boat and a bridge. Watch them catch and eat their salmon. They are one of nature’s great creatures. You’ll get fantastic photos. 

Secondly, this region has the most active volcanic and seismic activity in the world. There are more than 20 active volcanoes and dozens of bubbling  geysers and hot springs. They are incredibly scenic and you can climb and walk around. The views of them from the helicopters provide more great photos. The Valley of the Geysers must be seen to be believed. Part of a World Heritage listed region, it was only discovered about 75 years ago!  

Next there’s the wilderness generally. Staying in the Nalychevo National Park allows for wonderful short (or longer) walks, the abundance of wild flowers, hot springs to bathe in and more. Near by, you’ll drift down the Bystraya River while fishing for salmon (I caught heaps) and take a boat ride on Avacha Bay spotting more wildlife. The best time to visit Kamchatka is in August when you will experience the warmest temperatures.

There are however a few down sides? Firstly, it isn’t cheap because the only way to see the core sites, is via helicopter. While the views and the overall helicopter experience are fantastic, the costs are not. Secondly, like the rest of Russia, most requests related to service are met with a “niet”! Russian service, or lack thereof, is a cultural thing.  It’s kind of funny but hard to get used to. We run tours to Kamchatka with small groups of up to 20 people.

Book your trip to Kamchatka with Blue Dot! Click here.

Map of Kamchatka

Travel Kamchatka peninsula in a Russian helicopter

Kamchatka's snowy peaks

Two of the Three Brothers Rocks in the Avacha Bay

Observing nature

Salmon fishing

Catch of the day

Bears ahead

Kamchatka brown bear feasting on salmon

Valley of the Geysers

Hot Springs

Native wildflowers

Cute ground squirrel