By Melanie Winter
"So are you feeling adventurous?"
Perfect opening line. Asking me if I'm feeling adventurous, is a bit like asking me if my skin burns in the sun (yes, yes it does): it's a no-brainer.
With my spirit of adventure securely intact, my guide, the constantly entertaining Matt Carter, led me into the bowels of the great city of Johannesburg. He had offered to pick me up as it was "a bit tricky" to explain the directions. Understatement. By the time we found a parking in a parking lot far enough below the ground to lose cell reception and we had dodged numerous taxi's and people carrying loads far too big for one person to be carrying, I was dizzy from going up enough one way streets to make me believe we were going round in circles (or more accurately, squares).
Now, it's been a long time dream of mine, ever since my dad started dealing in Ethiopian coffee beans, to visit the country. The dream is looking more and more like a reality as I journey further down this caffeinated career, but when Matt mentioned this little bit of Ethiopia in our own borders, I jumped at the chance for instant gratification.
Looking like a real tourist with my camera swinging round my neck, Matt gave a running commentary on the goods at the market stalls along the street. It was colourful and vibrant and messy and wonderful.
The rest of the journey is better told through the pictures I took...
Street art. This is big city life.
Hidden on a busy street corner, the rasta colours peek out.
As we walked up the stairs, you could feel the atmosphere change from South African to Ethiopian, the language, the people, the music.
This is the restaurant where we ate. Where friends meet.
Matt offered me a fruit juice. This is what arrived. That green layer in the middle? That's avocado. Surprisingly yummy.
No knives and forks allowed. The injera acts as both plate and utensils to scoop up the colourful array of delicious delicacies. We opted for the vegetarian platter.
Only the women are allowed to handle the jebena and serve the coffee. She was lovely. I wish I had got a clear picture of the interesting rosary tattoo along her jaw line, beautiful.
This is proof that Matthew Carter put sugar in his coffee.
And he's not even ashamed of it. To be fair, the bitter brew is traditionally served with a heck of a lot of added sweetness.
I bought a few little cups that we drank the coffee out of as a memento. The woman who sold them to me was horrified at any of the methods I mentioned for making my coffee at home.
"Come to my house on Sunday. I'll show you the proper way."
Green coffee beans are sold along with your other daily purchases, music, belts, deodorant, lentils. Surprisingly we saw sacks of Brazilian and Costa Rican beans rather than any Ethiopian.
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