File:Our Guards, Semien Mountains National Park, Ethiopia (2462861589).jpg

I'm interested in hearing from anyone with local knowledge on who, exactly, these guards were protecting us from in Ethiopia's Simien Mountains National Park. Local bandits? Insurgents? Separatists? Eritreans? All of the above? We can rule out big game and lions; none there. Or was it just play acting to give the tourists a thrill and something to email home about?

Here's the background:

After a long but scenic drive, we stopped at the last town before the entrance to the Simien Mountains National Park.

There, we stretched our legs, used the loo, had some refreshments, and paid our admission.

And we took on three armed men who sat in the back of our bus and accompanied us on our stops inside the park.

Our tour leader explained this was a way we tourists could contribute to the local economy.

Nobody questioned that, but I am sure everyone felt there might be a little more to the story than that.

The last time I had armed guards on a vacation was 1991, in Panama, shortly after the US ousted whichever thug had finally lost his "suck" with the folks in DC, as we would have said at my posh New England prep school.

One interesting anecdote: our last stop before returning to Gondar was the Simien Lodge, where we were to have lunch. Not far from the lodge, we heard a loud "bang"! Then the bus driver slowed and stopped. Of course, my instinct in this situation would be to floor the gas and get out of the scene ASAP.

Good news!!! We weren't under attack! Yaay! We'd just blown one of the twin tires on the rear axle. In hindsight, I'd like to think the driver's decision to stop the bus was based on local knowledge, and he knew that an attack, if one were to occur, wouldn't happen within a stone's throw of the Simien Lodge. But why did my mind turn to thoughts of an attack on such a beautiful, sunny day high in the mountains of Ethiopia? Because we had three armed men sitting in the back seat, two with automatic weapons.

It turned out to be a learning experience, too. From listening to the guards and the local guide, who said "blah blah blah GOMA blah blah blah," I learned that "goma" means "tire" in Amharic. Since I grew up speaking Spanish, I knew that goma means rubber in Spanish! For all I know, it may have the same meaning in Italian or Portugese. So, it's amazing how words get around.