Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Various local teenagers (none of them real Rastas) serve as unofficial, and often unwel-
come, guides. They'll take you to see some churches and the defunct Black Lion Museum,
which is just a family's home with paintings of the Emperor on the walls, but their real
aim is to sell you
ganja
(marijuana), which is held sacrosanct in Rastafarianism but is il-
legal in Ethiopia. You've been warned.
If you want to really meet and learn about the 'Jamaicans', the Zion Train Lodge and
Banana Art Gallery
(admission Birr15; hours vary)
are two good places to start. The
latter is the home-cum-workshop-cum-museum of Haile Selassie medals and memorabilia
of Ras Hailu Tefari (Bandy), originally from St Vincent in the Caribbean. His extraordin-
ary 'paintings' use only material from banana plants without even additional colouring.
It's 500m down the dirt road opposite the Black Lion.
Wondo Genet
The name of this hot springs resort 16km southeast of Shashemene translates as 'Green
Heaven', which was more applicable before the hills were cleared of most of their forest.
The only lodging is the
Wabe Shebelle Hotel
( 0461-190705, r/ste incl breakfast Bir-
r740/2000; )
, which sits in flowering gardens, but its run-down rooms make it a con-
tender for most overpriced lodging in Ethiopia. (The suite was originally built for Haile
Selassie, so it's got that going for it.) The cement
hot springs pools
(admission Birr25;
6am-10pm)
have more the feel of a water treatment plant than a resort; they should pay
you to use the toilets.
The well-trained
Wondo Genet Ecotourism Guide Association
( 0928-768347)
of-
fers a variety of one-hour to one-day walks in the area. Its office is by the resort gate.
Minibuses run regularly (until 5pm) from Shashemene to Wondo Wosha (Birr6, 40
minutes) village, 2.5km from the springs. From there, walk up the hill or take a
bajaj
(Bir-
r4).
SPRING
Sleeping & Eating
Zion Train Lodge $$
( 0911-887680;
www.ziontrainlodge.com
;
campsites Birr20, d with/without
bathroom Birr450/250; )
This surprising oasis, run by a French Rastafarian family,
features large Sidamo-style huts and also some shared bathrooms, all attractive and com-
fortable. The restaurant (mains Birr20 to Birr48) does healthy cooking using some organic
ingredients. It's signposted 1km from Jamaica.
GUESTHOUSE
