Our hotel in Ambo was so noisy with traffic and dogs barking, so we did not sleep well. We got up at 5:45 and were at breakfast at 6:30. After breakfast we headed to Lake Wenchi. It was a beautiful and bumpy ride through the mountains. Along the way we handed out bread, bananas and candy to the kids we saw. They were so excited! A few were scared and ran away thinking we were going to steal them, as they do not see many white people. We would see one child and stop our car and within ten seconds, kids would be coming out of no where and would be grabbing the food. The kids were so precious. We saw mostly farm land and they would be plowing the fields with cows and a hand plow. When we arrived at the lake, we were surrounded by kids with horses telling us to get on. It happened very fast so we did not even have time to get our backpacks before we were off on the horses (which were being lead by children) down into the crater lake. It took about 45 minutes to get to almost the lake where we got off the horses. Our guide was still coming behind us and the kids who lead our horses were telling us to pay them, so Tiffany and I did. Later we found out that we only were supposed to tip the kids a small amount. They saw us as tourists they could take advantage of, and we were. 🙂 Oh well, I am sure they could use the money. On the ride down we passed many huts and yards and the little kids would come out and wave and say “hello”. We walked the rest of the way down to the lake where our boat with two men were waiting to take us to the island in the lake where a very old church is built. It was very beautiful and peaceful. The church was built in the 16th century and has since been restored. On the way back up to the view point, we rode horses again and I started feeling really sick and was cramping badly. I barely made it to the restroom which a little boy lead me to and we had to walk a ways. The restroom was a small cement building with no door and a hold in the floor. After I came out of the bathroom the little boy asked for a tip and the boy who lead my horse back was also there asking for a tip. I gave them both a small tip. We then headed back to a resort for lunch. The drive took about an hour and I felt so sick. At the resort we saw a few monkeys. From there it took about two more hours of driving to get back to Addis, and we went straight to the orphanage. We did some shopping in their little shop. We then went to the office and signed the custody papers. They brought Josanna and Eva in. The nanny handed Josanna to Jim and she was ours to keep. It was so overshelming that the last 18 months had finally led up to this. Both Tiffany and I were crying :-). Michelle, our guide, took pictures for us. It was a wonderful special moment. The orphanage gave us a little outfit in a back pack as a gift. They gave us all her medical records. Then we saidour good byes to the orphanage staff and we got in the car with our new daughters. I cried most of the way back to our guest house, I was so happy and overwhelmed. When we got back to our room we gave Josanna her first bottle and then we went down for dinner. I was finally feeling better and was able to eat a little. Josanna went right to sleep and slept until Jim woke her up for a bottle at 2am. She slept until 6:30. She is such an easy going baby and is so sweet. I am glad that we have gotten to share this experience with the Fiekends. It has been really nice to be able to talk and visit with them and I feel a little safer going out when there are four of us. God has truely blessed our trip here to Ethiopia and I am so glad to have been able to come here and experience the culture.
Ethiopia, Day 5 – Wenchi Crater Lake
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