Where True Beauty Has No Measure

is the suitably apt slogan of Kuriftu Resort and Spa, situated in Debre Zeyt, 64km (40 miles) south east of Addis Ababa.

A bad workman quarrels with his tools so is the fact that I can't find words in the English language that will adequately describe the Kuriftu experience, despite being a native English speaker, my problem (hey, I'm all for personal responsibility) or a problem with the English language?! I fancy myself as something of a wordsmith, when I'm suitably inspired, but if I resort to using words like indescribable, magical, unbelievable then I'm leaving a lot to the reader's imagination, but then again what one reads is subject to one's own interpretation. A skilled writer is one who transports their readers so get ready.

Kuriftu was built on the banks of Lake Kuriftu, a crater lake that owes its existence to volcanic activity. When I woke up this morning and drew back the drapes in my Top Lake View Room, I was immediately struck by the tranquility of the surroundings (granted it was 7am on a Sunday morning, but still). There's a stillness about Kuriftu that is soothing, it's almost as if time stands still.

Accompanied by one of the resort staff, I went for a ride on a mountain bike and after about 20 minutes of pedalling across varying terrain, we decided to let it all hang out (a slight exaggeration as my companion kept imploring me to deploy my brakes) as we made our descent down to Lake Hora (another crater lake). On the bank of Lake Hora is a fig tree that is regarded as sacred by the Oromo and even at that early hour, there were people venerating it. The tree stands across the lake from what used to be one of Emperor Haile Selassie's palaces and which is now a hotel.

The ascent from Lake Hora was markedly slower - we pushed the bikes back up the hill and as I had manicure/pedicure appointment at 8am (or so I thought), we used a shortcut to get back to Kuriftu. There was time for me to have my first round of breakfast on the landing overlooking Lake Kuriftu before I headed off to the spa where I discovered that my appointment wasn't until 8:30am. I then proceeded to have a second round of breakfast from a higher vantage point than before, but still overlooking the lake. After the pampering of my hands and feet, it was time for round three of breakfast (I think the air quality may have had something to do with my hearty appetite or maybe it was the earlier bike ride) and then it was off to enjoy the steam room and sauna by the pool.

The staff provide an excellent, unobtrusive service and have this knack of materialising as if on cue.

And so in summary, I will resort (pardon the pun!!) to describing Kuriftu as UN-FLIPPIN-BELIEVABLE!! Or to put it more eloquently, a place where beauty has no measure and where quality is infinitely unquantifiable. Experience Kuriftu and the paradox that is magical realism becomes evident.

I hope you were transported.

Did the reservation system just go into meltdown?!