During Meskel flower season, right after the rains, the countryside is painted golden with these tiny yellow flowers. We took a short day trip to the Muger Gorge, only around 25km away from Addis. Despite the little kids around, the view was pretty great and being so close, it was a nice getaway from the city. It was a little difficult to find initially, you drive towards Debre Libanos but turn at a side road that leads to a concrete factory. Absolutely no tourists around but lots of curious local kids came up to say hello.

There was also a small local troupe of geladas that were a little difficult to get to. I think their normal experience with humans does not always end so well as getting a picture taken. The kids were throwing rocks at them to scare them away and we had to stop them. They looked puzzled as to why we would want to see the geladas- after all, they are pests and steal crops and harvest from farmers.

On our way back, we stopped to explore some of the countryside and found an amazing clearing that was painted yellow with all of the meskel flowers. I kind of felt like I was on the set of Sting’s “Fields of Gold” video. My favourite time of the year in Ethiopia is definitely in October, right after the rain when everything is blooming. Just getting out of Addis and exploring any side road will lead to some great golden views.