Ethiopia

Gelada Baboons were on my bucket list as well as seeing some of Ethiopia. Ethiopian merchants used to go to Sri Lanka (home of my ancestors) in ancient times. The churches built from carving down in to the ground are incredible and the Simien mountains national park was the closest yet that I have come to panoramic views of the natural world, it was very moving. The conservation efforts around Geladas has generally got positive praise but the locals that also live off the land do have their conflicts with them. Geladas eat a quarter of their body weight of grass every day so you can understand how these grazing needs may impact on neighbouring areas of farmland. I also was very sympathetic to the way people lived who do not have basic needs met. The country style of living is sustained through networks of often families helping each other which puts stress on education. Those that do then go down the almost urban path of education to launch in to a more industrialised other world have to face the reality of that separation from a crucially sustaining network. I could imagine some people would feel the Geladas were better off than some of the children and adults living side by side and this is exactly how very toxic conflicts can emerge. Ethiopia as a country has put forward an ambitious climate change pledge including planting 20 billion trees over a four year period (likely set back because of war) very much for the people so they seem to be attune much more so than other countries where there is almost denial that our survival is attached to good ecology.