A belated merry Christmas to our family, friends, and readers in the Americas and Europe (or should we say “Happy Boxing Day” 😜? Lack of internet access delayed this post, sorry)!

We spent the day in the warm and gloriously sunny city of Bishoftu. This is a beautiful little town that’s built on a volcano(!) and which boasts fully eleven lakes.

It’s as far from a white Christmas as you’re going to get, but we’re not complaining 😜.

Hello birdy!

We had lunch at the Asham Africa Hotel – a lovely place overlooking Lake Bishoftu. The service here is warm, and the menu has things both familiar and less familar. For example, we ordered a four topping thin crust pizza (where each topping took its own place on the pizza, fish stew, and fish goulash. All told, it was a great lunch.

Pizza with beef, chicken, mushrooms, and olives

Fish stew

Fish goulash

After lunch we wandered around the hotel, admiring the art and fauna. This hotel was pretty obviously appointed with great care – the paintings and statues came from artists spanning the whole of the African continent, and the flowers and plants made the whole place feel wonderfully organic and alive.

Portrait

We’ll definitely be back when we get the chance!

We next went to the Pyramid Hotel. This place is just down the road from the Asham Africa Hotel. Whereas the Asham is a more serene and naturalistic feeling hotel, the Pyramid is a more modern and bustling establishment. Beautiful scenery all the same!

We then moved on to the Kurifta Resort which overlooks Lake Kuriftu (where else, right?). Along the way we saw a lot of donkeys and animal-pulled carriages.

Horse drawn carriage, one among many!

Kuriftu has a lovely esthetic: All huts with thatched roofs. Tons of people were there, among which were at least five different coupled taking their wedding pictures against the resort’s scenic backdrop. There were also a lot of birds nesting and flying about. It was a great place from which to watch the sunset and end our day.

And with that, we want to wish you all the best! Season’s greetings, and peace on earth to one and all!