Our students got to visit the Castel Winery in Ziway in January to learn about growing of grapes and wine making. They were accompanied by our volunteer Iga, who captured the trip in photographs and words:

Have you ever thought of Ethiopia as a wine producer? Neither had I until one sunny Friday when we visited the Castel Winery.

We left Addis early in the morning and after a three hour ride we arrived in the town of Ziway, 160km south of the capital where the winery is located.

At the beginning, Yetebark, a member of the Castel team and our tour guide took us to the vineyard. Castel brought grapes of Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay from Bordeaux and planted 750.000 vines over 125 hectares. Later, Yetebark explained the process of wine making. All of our students were curiously listening and taking notes. Some of the girls even got a chance to see the inside of the factory. In the meantime, we were enjoying the beautiful surroundings and chatting about our favorite wines.
On the way back, we stopped by Heile Resort justin time for lunch. The students were observing the waiters and paying attention to their every move. After filling our stomachs with injera, we moved onto exploring the resort. The staff were very friendly and let us take a look at their rooms and lodges. At the end, we took a relaxing stroll by theLake Ziway and got in touch with nature.

Coming back took us a bit longer than getting there. We kept on stopping the bus to get some fruits and veggies because apparently those were the freshest and juiciest papayas and tomatoes in this region. The girls made our journey more enjoyable by singing to traditional Amharic songs.

We got back to Addis pretty late, shared the wine bottles we bought at the winery and said goodnight.
Written by Iga Kaliska