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Morning Chorus at the Mill
The organically certified Choche Coffee Farmers Cooperative and its 844 members collectively own two wet milling stations and one dry huller. With a huge debt of gratitude, I was invited to spend a week on one of them. Nestled on the side of a sloping southeast-facing aspect with a gurgling brook at the bottom, the wet milling station is perfectly situated to catch the best of the daytime sun. I arrived just before nightfall and erected the tent with the help of the burly site guardsman, Demesse, and his son, Solomon, on high ground to catch the view of the sunrise over the numerous rows of drying beds that fanned…
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Coming Home to the Birthplace of Buna
It took the jet propelled fly-by-wire tin can a mere four hours to reach Addis. As we descended out of the turbulent storm clouds, it felt like being transported to a completely different world. The parched earth of the Eastern Mediterranean was now replaced with lush semi-tropical pasture, pine and eucalyptus forest that fringed the sprawling city below. “Welcome to our shower!” smiled the sprightly young taxi driver as I emerged from Bole International Airport into an early morning deluge. The first drops of rain on my face in more than six weeks felt cool and refreshing. My first instinct was to scan the precariously balanced bike box being fixed…