As the days went by we realized we’d been paired with the ideal guide. Mesfin is easy going, a native of Lalibela and a man who has friends everywhere – friends were constantly stopping to shoulder bump him as Ethiopians do. “Dogs are my favorite animal” he announces one day. Why do people eat dog? he asks. A dog could be your best friend and who eats their best friend? Ha. We couldn’t answer that. We drove along listening to Mesfin’s music – much of it Ethiopian and good, with the occasional American country music song thrown in. “I love country music” he says. We brought a good selection of music, including country (Waylon and Willie, the classics) but the incompatibility of iTunes kept us from sharing. I did not offer to sing. No one complained about that.

From Danakil, Lalibela is a good day and a half drive through the mountainous region. And it’s not like you go over one mountain pass and down the other side. We drive through so many mountain ranges I wondered if we would ever get down. Ethiopia has 70 percent of Africa’s highest elevations – the scenery is of endless peaks. Camels are left behind, exchanged for donkeys; 99 percent of the donkeys look exactly alike. As with the camels, the donkeys wander aimlessly about everywhere looking for food and water. How does anyone tell their donkey from their neighbors’? Mesfin tells me that at the end of the day the animals know where home is. OK but only because Mesfin says so.

The rock-hewn churches of Lalibela are indeed the eighth wonder of the world. At first it is confusing – these were carved from granite that covers the ground . . .exactly how? Gradually it becomes more clear – the early buildings were carved from the top down and moats (for lack of a better word) were dug around the planned structure so excess rock could be removed. And now is the time to ask, who planned the structures? Who were the architects of these massive straight-sided buildings? Who were the crew bosses and the crew? Were they slaves or did they receive compensation? Or did they just work for the glory of God and King Lalibela? There had to be plans or drawings or scratches on stone that dictated what happened where and when and by whom. How did the finished crosses, for instance, become perfectly matched on all four corners without some form of direction? My head is spinning. We are told that most of the written history was destroyed in the 15th century. Somewhat like the pyramids, there is a mysterious air here. The rock churches continue to be used for services every day. As long as the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian priests don’t question who is responsible for the great structures, no one else will worry about it. Gotta love a good christian mystery.

The idea of hewing churches underground from stone has been attributed to King Lalibela. He did not want his churches easily destroyed by the many and various warring tribes in this part of the world. If worse came to worse (the Mongol hordes were approaching, for instance, although that never happened) the pious people of the region could bury the churches, hiding them from those hell-bent on mayhem. Looking at the massive area of Saint Georges’ church, I cannot imagine how the people would manage that, especially if they just finished carving the rocks. That would be an insult.

We couldn’t see Ethiopia all in one trip and we certainly couldn’t eat all the injera we were served at every meal. Made from teff grains, injera is acidic, soft and filling, used to scoop up the other foods being served. Back in Kenya, we aren’t craving it. Food-wise and best of all, there was always plenty of great coffee – Ethiopians invented the beverage and during Italian occupation in the world wars, they perfected it. Just one more good reason to revisit Ethiopia.