coronavirus restrictions in the us. he said state governors would be allowed to tailor their approach to meet their local conditions. the process would be carried out in three phases, which would be reached sooner in some states than others. however, the british government has extended its national lockdown for at least three more weeks. i really want to get to the rift the foreign secretary dominic raab said any relaxation at this point valley and visit some of the lakes. would risk undoing the progress already made. the announcement came on a day i've explored quite a bit of addis when the uk recorded another and i think it is time to move on 861 coronavirus deaths. and explore a bit more of this wonderful, fascinating country that is ethiopia. i really want to try to get to the rift valley brazil's president, jair bolsonaro, and try and visit some of the lakes, has sacked his health minister after the two men openly a bit more of the nature clashed over how to tackle and natural ambience. the spread of coronavirus. really get off the beaten track. luiz henrique mandetta had been we're going to the an advocate of a lockdown — village and the lake. a measure rejected by the president it's roughly two or three hours south of addis ababa. — who called for brazilians to go it's one of the fresh back to work. rift valley la kes. apparently it has lots of birdlife and hippopotami. this way? now on bbc news — the travel show.

thank you. what's your name? my name is arlo. hi. my name's tony. i'm from england. my my name is tony giles and i am totally blind. now we are moving. yeah. they can feel the wind in my hair. i've spent the last 21 years travelling, i've visited over 120 i can hear something. a tractor? a helicopter? a motorbike. countries. every continent in the motorbike, yeah. motorbike. world, including antarctica. my mission is to visit every country in the world. i've started off in the lake is in this direction? december planning this trip. they yeah. decided to start in egypt, the top of north africa, and work my way the biggest problem for me through several countries to get to is i've got no direction because it's just an open field, there's nothing to follow. and the wind is giving me problems. ethiopia. 0k, got some fish. i am 110w ethiopia. 0k, got some fish. i am now feeding the birds. it's my passion, it's what i'd do. it is we're trying to follow

the sound of the cow what makes me happy. it is the but the wind is taking biggest challenge eye can get. i away from my hearing aids. this is one of the biggest problems for me when i'm travelling just want to be normal! i've got to is the wind. because if i can't follow something on the ground, be strong all the time. it's the i've got to try to follow sounds only way i can travel. the only way like traffic or other noises. ican 00:02:12,933 --> 2147483051:37:51,181 only way i can travel. the only way 2147483051:37:51,181 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 i can cope. i've got the cow's tail! there he goes. i managed to grab his tail, but it decided to run off and drag me with it. so that was fun. i hear there are some local kids around, giving fish to the marabou stork. i've got some fish, so i'm now i'm feeding the birds. ohh! one of the main reasons i come travelling is to get off the beaten track, get away from the tourist crowd, and this lake is idealfor me because it's peaceful, away from tourists, just locals, very natural. it's perfect.

yeah, natural, yeah. from some of the research i'd done about haile selassie and ethiopia and hearing a bit about the rastafarian culture, it's the idea that haile selassie had designated a bit of land, so that former african slaves, descendants could come back to africa. that sounded interesting, so i thought i'd head to a town called shashamane, where it's home to a rastafarian culture. lots of people out, this feels very lively, very rural, traditional. i like it. hello, salaam! the driver and i are now looking for my accommodation, a rastafarian—run lodge.

alex, i am alex. i am the owner of the place. hello. welcome! come in. wow, you're tall. like a lot of western european tourists who think a rastafarian culture, lifestyle, i have my sort of stereotypical idea of dreadlocks and just laying about, listening to reggae all day. i do realise it was probably not all like that. but i still had some. when i got there, i met alex and his wife, and very quickly, they changed that whole perception that i had. welcome to our house, of ancient ethiopian people. thank you. wow.

i became a rasta man as a teenager, you know, when i saw bob, bob marley, in france, i was so amazed. you know? by his performance on stage. sure. he touched me, and changed my life. touched you inside, in the heart? yeah. i discovered who i was, you know? he gave me a sense of dignity. what's a real rasta man? a real rasta man is a faithful servant of the almighty, jah. jah, 0k. someone who tries his best to live a righteous life. jah is god, yeah? to love his next. his neighbour? to fulfil the will of god on earth. so, it's not about smoking ganja and listening to bob marley? no, no. we are not a smoker, to tell you the truth. it's not all rasta will smoke ganja. you have rasta who don't smoke.

singing one of my biggest loves is music. i've always loved music because i can connect with it. i don't need to see, i don't need to hear with music. i can connect with the rhythm. music's beautiful because it crosses all boundaries. it doesn't matter what skin colour, what disability. it doesn't matter. i said, "i play drums." he said, "i play drums." he started playing and i started following. we just sat there, the two of us, drumming, jamming. # no woman, no cry... sharing energy and positive vibes and connecting. a really beautiful moment. wooo! ahh, that was awesome, amazing!

do you still feel excluded at times? we have no rights. we're not ethiopian citizens. we're foreigners. but we decided to live permanently and forever in ethiopia. but we don't really get reconditioned after so many years. we just got, the other day, a card to stay legally, you know, forfive years. a lot of conditions. don't. .. it's not so easy to live as rasta people in ethiopia. so you're still considered as foreigners? yeah. we are now in a bajaj, a local tricycle. you have a favourite football team?

i like liverpool. mo salah. mo salah! yeah! cool are you 0k? my mum is pretty special. very special, amazing. she is the most important person in my life. she supports my travels. she encourages me, she helps me with my maps, she helps me research. i can do most things on the internet with a speech software. the one thing i can't do is book flights. the websites are impossible for all our companies. so she books flights for me. she is my rock that i stand on. she is the reason i can do this. without her, i would be nothing.

we havejust landed in lalibela, one of the major cities — tourist cities in the north of the dob. i knew that when i came to ethiopia that one of the places i had to visit was lalibela. rock churches, you know what these mean to the people. i thought, ijust had to come here. when i landed in lalibela airport it was a bit confusing. normally i have the assistance, to take me through the airport. a guy who works there took me through the airport outside, handed me onto another guide.

at first i thought he was a couch surfer. i started walking with him, he wasn't saying much. i started to get a little bit concerned. a couch surfer, yeah? and i started asking questions, like, are you my couch surfer? he took me to the bus and he said, get on. i take your luggage. yeah, that's fine. i was going to ask the bus driver to call the number i had. and then abedi showed up. ok, welcome, tony. nice to see you, yes. it all got sort of cleared up. so it was a bit concerning. almost kidnapped, not quite. would have been a better story if i had been. we are almost near lalibela.

just minutes to arrive at my home. it's all rocky, really rocky. i like this, this is great. really steep. quite difficult to walk along. if this is what lalibela is all like, this is going to be great. ok, this is my house. the place i'm staying tonight, for me, it's perfect. it's as rough as you can get, as off the beaten track as you can get, as basic as you can get. it is real africa, for me. and it wakes up all my senses. ok, this is the toilet? yes. bit of a walk, if you get caught short. it is nothing new for me.

just a bit more difficult with the steps. ijust got to be a bit slower and take my time. if i get stuck ijust shout, there are people around here, they will come and help me. it's not a problem for me. i can smell it! i love it. part of the adventure. i'm skyping my girlfriend. happy birthday! # happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, # happy birthday darling—beautiful—lovely. .. # happy birthday to you. i miss you. all right, be good.

bye. if i want to visit places that are quite tricky i try and find a guide, a personal guide, to show me around. hello. my name's zamed. hi zamed. yeah, i'm a local guide in lalibela. 0k. yeah, today's plan is we will explore the churches for you. ok, thank you. 11 churches. the churches divided into three groups. the first group churches, there are six church. yep. and the second group churches, there are four church. 0k. and the third group church there are only one churches.

when were they made? what year? sorry? how old are they? 1,000 years old. 0k. more than, yeah. the church is in front of me? chanting in background. it's pretty rough, big steps. the guide was — probably not guided a blind person before, so they didn't really tell me anything about the steps or the terrain, started telling me information when i sort of started asking her. i don't think she could really understand me, and i couldn't understand her at all. this church is one of the biggest in ethiopia. the biggest? the biggest. outside, inside, total 72 pillars. sorry? 72 pillars. seven pillars? yeah, 72. yep. outside, 3a, inside 38, total is 72 pillars. is it this way? yes. what does it look like?

just big doors, the main gate, a little bit of windows to get in light on the priestess. and do the windows have glass? no glass. they're open? rock. just rock windows. yeah, yeah, rock windows. so now where are we heading? around there we get inside. is this the entrance, yeah? yeah. so we went in the first church and walked around it and could hear chanting. chanting. i tried to explain, but it was very difficult to understand her. this all origanlly rocks. sorry? this originally pillars. right. not collapsed. soa column? yeah, this very cold. 0k. where's your arm? this way. tony sighs. very frustrated, a bit upset.

unsure how handle it, how to extricate myself from the guide without being rude and also getting another guide to continue, i probably can't do this by myself. i could probably have a go and follow tourists, but, the terrain‘s pretty, pretty rough. i just want to be normal. she is a nice person but, ah. rrgh! i'm not very good expressing my emotions. i've got to be strong all the time. it's the only way i can travel. it's the only way i can cope. i am guiding you now. 0k. 0k? i will be on your left because the wall is on your right. and then, one step, tiny step,

and then keep forward and then a big one. yes. well done. another one, that is good. you can feel it either side if you stretch your hands. all right! we got a different guide organised overnight and gently got out of the situation without offending. i felt more confident with him, ifelt more secure, i got the information i wanted. it was all explained in great detail, it was very personable with me, he gave me what i needed. this is a moment for you to take a picture, tony. yep. down there is bete giyorgis, it is a shape of a cross. yep. it is made of one rock, completely detached from the surrounding rock. it's one monolith? yes, one monolith. inside there is a tunnel to get to the church. so it's like a fortress, isn't it? exactly. a few steps forward, we are literally in the centre of the church. so we're at the transept? yeah, exactly.

the pillars are part of the structure, so it is supporting itself. right, yep. but the space is very peaceful and very calming. 0k. lots of echo because of the shape, obviously. yeah. chanting. a big step, like a big slope. yeah. a few more steps and we will get there and we shall see the beautiful ceremony. yep, ok. ready? 0k. let's go. so this morning in lalibela i went to this amazing service up at one of the rock churches. it was almost like being transported back in time. keep coming. always hundreds of thousands of people around me, it's quite calming, ifeel quite emotional.

i didn't expect to feel that. the energy here is... quite overwhelming. the last thing we sort of did was light a candle, that's when it hit me, really. a very spiritual saying just sort of got to me and i let the emotions go. i thought about the people i love and the people i've lost recently. i love you, brother. just said goodbye to some people. not leaving them behind, ijust — sending them on their way, releasing all the pent—up grief, i guess. that was good.

good, i'm glad. i had to give the impression that i was ok and it was good and, you know, i couldn't get my mum worried. you can show it's ok to let it go, ok to show weakness. it's been an awesome week, an emotional week, i visited some amazing places. so ow become a better person. i think we made a heck of a documentary, in it. i think it will show people that a disabled person, a blind or deaf person can do incredible things. and so can other people. and hopefully it will make them realise that i had to let them — anything stop them from living their dreams.

hello once again. while some areas saw a really glorious end to thursday, the cloud began to fill in across some parts of the british isles, especially in the south. signs of a change, to the extent that there is in the forecast a little bit of rain on the way for some areas. and, for many of you, that will be really quite welcome after a really dry start to april.

now, a waft of cloud was all that we really got from this major area of low pressure, throwing belts of weather ever further towards the north. but this is the direction that we're looking in over the next few days to see these areas of cloud, bringing perhaps a little bit more in the way of significant rainfall to some as we get through friday, and indeed on into the weekend. first signs of that change really getting into the south—western counties of england quite early on friday morning. elsewhere, it's a dry enough and a fine enough start. you'll see that this rain around about lunchtime and the early afternoon gets into the south and central parts of wales, but it struggles to get north of the m4 corridor. and elsewhere, away from the north—eastern shores of england, where again there's a fair amount of cloud and an onshore breeze, and still that onshore breeze into the eastern side of scotland, well, there's dry and bright weather to be had to western scotland, northern ireland and the north—west of england. and here, we'll see the temperatures come into the teens. on the east coast, though, eight or nine degrees only. through the course of friday

evening, that rain again begins to make a little bit of progress into the northern parts of wales. there are odd heavier, thundery bursts perhaps just trying to get across the channel into the southern counties of england. saturday not a great deal of difference, just that we'll see further pulses of showery rain just trying to work their way that little bit further north. so it's saturday where we may well see the odd showery burst of rain just trying to get into the north of england, maybe flirting with northern ireland, but the bulk will be found across the midlands and towards wales as well. not a great deal changing in the overall setup, so again the temperatures on the east coast around about eight or nine degrees. but inland, we'll be looking at somewhere comfortably into the teens. come sunday, it looks as though we're in for essentially a dry day. perhaps more cloud just coming up through the irish sea into northern ireland, with the chance of a burst of rain here, but elsewhere it's dry and fine. and by this stage, at last, at last, we can talk about double—figure temperatures on the east coast.

this is bbc news. i'm simon pusey, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. president trump sets out his plan to re—open the american economy. our team of experts now agrees we can begin the next front in our war, which we're calling ‘opening up america again‘. the lockdown in the uk is extended by at least three more weeks, but we're told there is light at the end of the tunnel. in brazil, president bolsonaro fires his health minister over calls for a national anti—virus lockdown.

plus, the 99—year—old british army veteran who's completed a charity walk in his garden — raising millions for health service workers.