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The Kremt Rains arrived – but it’s not winter.

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Foggy morning – Goom – in Addis

For those of us in Addis the change in the weather has been noticeable in the last week. One of my favourite descriptive words in Amharic is ‘goom’  – ጉም – which describes the low cloud/ foggy weather which has started now. Along with a lot of rain over the last week, there is this colder wetter feel to the weather.  It is now Kremt season and a sure sign the the ITCZ: Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, has moved north bringing monsoon rain to Ethiopia. This same phenomenon brings rain to India and even south east Oman’s Dhofar mountains going green as a result. For more background on the Kremt check out this post from 2022.

But it is not winter! Yes it’s colder and wetter, but this is the growing season, over

Rain in Gurage’s green landscape

the coming months the landscape in Ethiopia will be transformed into an emerald carpet, with clouds of yellow from the Meskal daisies (Adey Abeba).  Winter is something that occurs in temperate and polar regions of the world. Here, of course the days get short, and with that temperatures are generally much lower, and often there will be an increase in rainfall. Plants will die off, become dormant, die back (loosing their leaves) or stop growing until spring.

But a rainy season, like the Indian monsoon and the Ethiopia Kremt, is the time of growth for plants. Crops are sown to grow during the rainy season.

How long does the Kremt last:

Rain storm in Wollo

It varies across the country, and as you go north it tends to be weaker and start later, and even end earlier, whereas in Addis it’s longer. The date I found in the church calendar for the start of the Kremt as Senay 26 (3rd July) but in Addis it does seem to begin in mid June. Some years even earlier.  The heaviest rain would be expected through the 2nd half of July and through August, with the rains getting less through September. By Meskal (27 September) they will almost be over, with perhaps a week or som of intermittent rain. Again the church calendar has the end of the Kremt as Meskerem 25 which is 5th October. From then on the weather should change dramatically to clear skies and very dry conditions – often with a wind that can be quite cool off the mountains.

What trips are good in the Kremt:

Rainbow comes out over the mountains in Tigray

As I mentioned as you travel north the rains become less, so it’s a good time to visit Tigray, where you will get a good deal more sun and drier conditions. On the Tesfa trek in the Agame mountains much of the ground is sandy so the rains soaks away more and it does not get muddy. The same is true in Gheralta. Often the rain comes in late afternoon and at night and you can be in a guesthouse or perhaps watch the cloud and lightening play out in the distance.  There is a special holiday in Tigray, celebrated in the countryside called Ashendiye on 22 August when women dress up with grass skirts and there is a lot of dancing, which would be great to see. And the  delicious beles fruit is ripe – the prickly pear – and is best from the Agame mountains.

Also you can head south. As you go to lower altitudes it gets warmer and although there is more rain in this season it’s a great break from Addis. Staying at a lodge on Lake Langano or in Bishoftu is a nice break. Or you can go further south to Hawassa or Arba Minch where you will get some good weather and storms running through, but with that tropical feel.

And talking of lower altitudes and warmth – how about a weekend at Doho Lodge in Awash, with its beautiful spring fed pools, overlooking an oasis like lagoon! A great place to escape too for a couple of days.

As the waterfalls get more dramatic – checking the weather forecast – you could take advantage of a drier day and head to Debre Libanos to see the falls there (but this would be a last minute thing).

In late September you should pack your travel bags for more adventurous places. Tesfa, with Ride the Rift, are running a Meskal trip to Gurage at the end of September. While there is a focus of mountain biking we take hikers and runners too, and will try to include a half day rafting on the Wabe River (which the upper river for the Omo). But what makes this tip unique is the cultural experiences, joining in the Meskal celebrations that are so much part of the Gurage culture.

 

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Rain storm approaches in mountains of Tigray

Kremt Season – The Ethiopian Monsoon

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Rain storm approaches in mountains of Tigray

Rain storm approaches in mountains of Tigray

When is the Kremt?

The Ethiopian highlands get drenched each year from late June through September. In Addis the rains are heavy and start early and end late finally finishing at the start of October. But by mid to late September the rain becomes noticeably lighter and less frequent. Further north they might not kick in till mid July and tend to fizzle out a bit earlier in September.

Visiting Ethiopia during the Kremt

People ask about visiting Ethiopia during this Kremt season. For people living in Addis Ababa, looking for an escape from the cold and wet weather the best advice is to go to somewhere lower in

Kremt Rain Addis

Kremt rains in Addis  

altitude. Take a break from Addis by visiting Bahir Dar or Arba Minch. Or just head into the Rift Valley, as even the 50km drive to Bishoftu gives you a change in climate. Yes it’s still rains, but the rain storms are shorter lived with more blue sky between, and temperatures are a good deal higher than in Addis.

If the Kremt is your time to visit Ethiopia, don’t worry most places are still good to visit. You just need to be prepared that a rainstorm might track through and you will be sitting in a cafe, chatting to people waiting for the weather to clear. So don’t try to pack too much into one day but give yourself a little bit of extra time. And of course do pack the right clothes (it will be cooler and rain jackets are  needed – and maybe an umbrella!).  Of course the high mountains with moorland at around 4,000 meters altitude are perhaps not the best places to go. Particularly in the

Blue Nile Falls

Blue Nile Falls

Simien mountains where you could be in cloud and driving rain for very long periods of time. But it may still be worth spending a night at the lodge for the probability of clear skies early in the morning and amazing views. Some of our community treks are not advisable at this time and we close at a number of guest houses. However Lalibela, Gondar and Bahir Dar are well worth visiting at this time. Indeed by August the Blue Nile Falls – locally known as Tissisat are really pumping. Harar to the east, and many places in the south are also great to see in the rainy season. In fact in the far southwest, in the

Meket Shepherd boy with whip

Meket Shepherd boy with whip

Omo Valley July and August are not even rainy season.

Festivals in the Kremt 

There are also some key festivals to look out for in August. The Buhe/Ashenda festival time comes in late August. Buhe is celebrated in Addis on 19 August with the Debre Tabor holiday marking Jesus’ Transfiguration. Special bread is baked, and there is singing and dancing around campfires. A few days later, Ashenda is celebrated as the two week long Filsetta Fast ends. This is mostly a women’s day where they dress up often with skirts of grass and dance and sing, but in some areas such as around Lalibela and Meket, boys will have a contest to see who can make the loudest whip crack.

What is the Kremt?

Trading routes used by dhows in the Indian Ocean and the monsoon

Trading routes used by dhows and the monsoon

So is the Kremt season really a monsoon? Technically yes, this rain is driven by the same global patterns that drive India’s monsoon. There is a kind of climatic equator where the Southern and Northern Hemisphere’s meet called the Inter-

Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) . This was the phenomenon that causes the doldrums sailors used to fear. In July-September this band moves north, far north into Asia and it also moves north of the Horn of Africa. Behind it it pulls up winds that blow broadly north from the Indian Ocean, and these moisture ladened winds soak the Ethiopian highlands with life giving rains.

This monsoon even has an effect on Oman’s east coast with the Dhofar mountains getting a good soaking in the same period, before returning to the usual dry arid climate. Along Africa’s east coast trading Dhows used this shift in winds to sail north the July-Sept and as the ITCZ shifts south from October, so the winds would switch allowing sailors to take their shows as far south as Madagascar. Zanzibar was off course a key port and trading centre in this international traffic, with its fabled spices. It was in fact part of the Sultanate of Oman.

The Kremt and the Origin of Ethiopia’s Calendar

Nile flood waters at Giza

Nile flood waters at Giza

Ethiopia’s Kremt rains have also had a huge effect on Egypt. Ancient Egyptians relied upon the Nile’s floodwaters to reinvigorate the lands beside the Nile and so allow them to plant a crop as the floodwaters receded. For them the flood was a renewal. The ancient Egyptian New Year started when the Nile began to flood. And it is no surprise that this flood was due to the deluge in the highlands of Ethiopia, most of the water from which makes its way into the Nile basin. And in an ironic exchange Ethiopia has taken the basic timeframe of the Egyptian calendar for itself. The Ethiopian New Year which is currently on the 11th of September each year is derived from the ancient Egyptian New Year. Over the many thousands of years the date has slipped back from mid August when the flooding starts.

So whether you live in Ethiopia and are wondering if you have to endure endless weeks of rain in Addis, or you are considering to visit Ethiopia and are wondering if the rainy season is an OK time to see this marvellous country, please talk to us as Tesfa Tours and we can ensure you see some blue skies, get some sunshine and experience the best of Ethiopia.

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Ashenda Girls Singing

In August there are celebrations in the countryside

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Tigray offers great walking with wonderful views, even in the rainy season.

Yesterday was the 1st of the Ethiopian month of Nehassy – 1.12.10 in the Ethiopian calendar (7.8.18 for much of the rest of the world) and it signals the beginning of the final fast of the year – Filseta – a 3 week fast which commemorates the ascension of the Virgin Mary to heaven.

This is a really lovely time to be trekking in the mountains of Tigray. There is much less rain and more sun there than in Addis. The soil being sandy does not turn to mud, and there are colourful celebrations – Buhe and Ashenda to enjoy.  You can also enjoy the prickly pear fruit – Beles, which is in full season now.

Stick Dancing in Meket

Buhe is celebrated throughout Orthodox parts of Ethiopia on 19th August and commemorates the transfiguration of Jesus on mount (Debre) Tabor.

 

Young boys go around the neighbourhood singing outside homes in return the families will give them specially baked ‘ Buhe’ bread. People light bonfires with chibo – bundles of dried sticks and sing the Hoya Hoya song.
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Ashenda- girls singing in traditional dress

Ashenda is celebrated in certain parts northern Ethiopia (especially Tigray and Agaw areas) at the end of the Filseta fasting on or around 22nd August. Beautifully dressed girls with special hairstyles, and maybe skirts made from the grass that gives the festival its name traditionally gather to sing songs and play drums, with a few young men watching over them to be sure they are safe. You will also see them in Addis and will be expected to make a small donation.

 

So why not escape the cold and wet of Addis and soak up some sun and enjoy the local culture on a community trek?

 

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The Ethiopian New Year & the month Meskeram

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Meskal flowers in Meket, North Wollo

September is a wonderful time in Ethiopia and particularly the Ethiopian month of Meskerem that runs from 11th September -10th October marking the beginning of the Ethiopian year. The countryside is lit up with the masses of bright yellow ‘Meskal’ daisies and more sunshine flickering through the rain clouds, and it brings with it all the promise of the new year.

However 2009 ends with that Ethiopian peculiarity, the 13th month or Pagumay. It is generally 5 days long, but on leap years it is 6 days. It works as a fill in with all other months being 30 days and 12 x 30 being 360, so it adds up the year to 365 days. There is one very special day in Pagume– St Rufael’s day which is on 3rd day of the month (8th Sept). If it rains on this day the rain is holy and blesses those it falls on.  A great day for dancing in the rain! St Rufael for those that did not know (and I had to look it up!) is an archangel coming 3rd in rank after St Michael and St Gabriel.

The Demara – the flames of the Meskal fire.

So what are the celebrations for New Year? It is of course not only a national holiday but a feast day and families will celebrate the New year together on the 11th – Enkutetash as the day is called. They will visit and be visited by close friends and relatives.
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It is closely followed by Meskal which his celebrated across the country but most especially in parts of the south such as Gurage, Wolaita, and in the north in the town of Adigrat. Across the country bonfires – demara -are erected around a central pole that holds a cross and are decorated with the Meskal flowers. In Addis they are lit on the night before Meskal 26 Sep or Meskeram 16.  The big demara will be in Meskal Square but they are in every neighbourhood, roundabout and street corner. The fire is lit and goes up with much dancing and wielding of sticks and the direction which the cross falls is said to predict the success of that years harvest. Meskal day itself – the 27th is another public holiday, and families will again celebrate with a feast at home.

Stick Dancing in Meket

Meskal (itself means cross) is a ceremony that commemorates the Finding of the True Cross. Legend has it that in 326 AD, Queen Eleni (Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great) was guided by a dream to light a fire and follow the smoke to find the True Cross. The smoke rose high in the sky and descended at the point where she found the Cross. Many think that Meskal marks the end of the rainy season, well not quite, but its true the rains get less frequent, the flowers are in full bloom and the promise of a new harvest is seen around the country. But don’t put away your rain clothes, for the end of the rainy season – as per the old time calendar – is Meskeram 25th, or 5th October.

If you want to know in advance of the holidays coming up and the workings of the Ethiopian calendar then why not pick up a Tesfa Calendar from Tesfa Tours. It starts on 1st Sep 2017 and runs til 31stAug 2018. it has Saints days, fasts, Ethiopian dates and a wealth of other information set into the western calendar, with wonderful photographs from the Tesfa Village treks across the country – which will make you want to get out of Addis and explore this beautiful country.  Please contact calendars@tesfatours.com or tel 011 124 5178 to get your copy.

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Rufael and Pagume

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Today is the big annual Rufael (Raphael) day -one of the archangels and the protector of pregnant women in the Ethiopian Church! The rain that fell heavily this morning is taken as a blessed and holy rain – and it is a well received blessing.

The pages for each month - showing all the holidays and both dates

September with Pagume shown

Rufael falls on the 3rd day of Pagume which is the 13th month or more properly the period of added days that adds the extra days (5 or 6 in a leap year) needed if the 12 months are all 30 days (as are the Ethiopian months). This year is a leap year with the extra 6th day in Pagume as you can see on the Tesfa Tours calendar shown below. And off course the next day is Enkutatash. One of the biggest holidays – New Years Day.
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Let pray for plenty more rain from now into the first part of the New Year in Ethiopia.

Rain clouds in Addis

Rain clouds in Addis

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The rainy season in Addis

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Rain in Tigray“A veritable monsoon!” Is how I often describe it, and it is. Its cause is the same weather patterns that cause the monsoon to sweep up through India – monsoon is the Indian word for their rainy season and kremt is the Amharic word.

And rather like the monsoon in India it does not rain all day, but rather heavy downpours roll through, skies darken, the wind picks up and torrential rain, often with hail follows. Later on or next morning the skies are clear and the sun shines brightly for some hours.  Its not a bad time to be in Addis or in Ethiopia. Pack an umbrella, put on the some boots, and head off to explore. If your visiting, just be ready to dive into a coffee shop and sit out the rain.

This year in Addis the Kremt is giving us a lot of sun and glorious weather, with much of the rain in the night. This is worrying, as the rain that comes to Addis is far more than the rain that goes to many other regions of Ethiopia, all of which depend on the Kremt to start off their crops, allow the meadows to grow hay, refill the water table so springs are replenished, refill reservoirs to generate electricity. If the rains intensify now that would be good, and they need to be strong through into late September. The official date for the end of the Kremt is Meskerem 25th which this year falls on 6th October, but already by the Meskal holiday (Meskerem 17 or 28th September) the rains will usually become far less frequent and the signs will be there that the dry season is coming.
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A reminder for anyone looking to do some trekking. Tigray is fantastic for walking at this time of year. It does not rain much there, mostly at night, and the sun will be out in the morning. Let us know if you would like to make a trek and we can organise it.

 

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Should I visit Ethiopia while there is a drought?

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As various agencies are reporting a drought in Ethiopia and the horn of Africa, with million Ethiopians in need of emergency assistance, I thought it could be useful to answer some of the questions people frequently ask us.

Is there drought all over Ethiopia?

No it is mainly in areas to the east of the country – lowland pastoralist areas for the most part.

Is there food available in Ethiopia?

YES. Ethiopia produces grows many crops and has a vast number of livestock. Food is available.

The real hardship is caused by the economic effect of drought. Those suffering from the loss of agricultural production and loss of livestock are unable to afford to buy food from the market. It may well be that there is food around in the country, but it has to be paid for and those with nothing to sell have no means to buy anything.

What will it be like in the Tesfa Trekking areas?

In Tigray and North Wollo there has been good rain this year. Some of the trekking areas plant a crop with a rain called the Belge (or short rains)t hat typically falls between February and April. This year the Belge was good (it is intermittent rain over the months). The main rains – called the Kremt have started across the north of the country (including the areas around Addis) and predictions seem quite good, although there are predictions of floods.
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How can one part of Ethiopia suffer drought and another receive rains?

Ethiopia is a vast country with a high plateau in the north west with Africa’s highest agricultural lands, and lowlands to the north east reaching below sea level. The south east is continuous with Somalia and has the Somali climate not the highland Ethiopian one, and the south west runs into northern Kenya and South Sudan and has a more similar climate to those countries near the Ethiopian border, although the highlands continue far to the west and in parts to the south.

If some parts of Ethiopia have a good harvest can food be transferred to areas of drought?

In fact this is done by a number of agencies. They buy food from surplus areas for distribution in areas facing a shortage. However help is still needed to do this. The food is bought from poor farmers (through market networks) who need to receive payment. The Ethiopian government can not underwrite these costs so foreign support is needed – hence the appeals that are made by the World Food Programme and others.

Should I still come and visit Ethiopia?

YES! You will have a wonderful trip in the north, and you will be spending your money with local Ethiopians, supporting them and their families. Your trip is important to the country’s economy and to the well-being of the communities with whom you spend your time. You will not be faced with images of famine and drought, but in fact of a thriving rural economy in highland Ethiopia.

I hope this helps put the tragic news of suffering in perspective. It is not meant to belittle the problems in the south and east of Ethiopia, but to help people understand the size and complexity of Ethiopia, and to realise that coming here will be a positive move for the visitor and the host.

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