Current Rock of Residence:
Dominican Republic
Island Girl Since:
2005
Originally Hails From:
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Lebawit Lily Girma is an award-winning travel writer, photographer, and guidebook author focusing on the Caribbean region. Her work has appeared in major travel publications, including Delta Sky, CNN Travel, Lonely Planet, BBC, Travel Channel, and New York Times Magazine, among others.
Born in Ethiopia, raised in Côte d’Ivoire, and also schooled in the US and England, she fell in love with the Caribbean on her first solo trip to St. Lucia in 2005. Four years later, Lily left behind her prestigious legal career and took a leap into travel photography, followed by writing — focusing on culture, adventure, and sustainable travel.
Thanks to her work, which includes Belize and the DR guidebooks for Moon Guides, she’s made island living a reality since 2011, from Jamaica to Grenada, Belize, and currently, the Dominican Republic.
You can follow her adventures on her travel and photography blog, Sunshine and Stilettos.
Explore posts by this writer:
First World Island Problems with Basil and Zucchini
This year was my first year in Turks and Caicos during Christmas. And every Christmas I make "sort of" homemade lasagna. I also make a yummy zucchini/truffle salad to go with it. This year was different. We were now in Turks and Caicos away from the friends we usually...
Reflections of A Former Island Celebrity
When I was a child growing up in Maryland during the 1950’s and 1960’s, I had dreams of becoming a mega stage and screen star. Back then, Mom worked for a former dancer who opened a dance studio. So from the ages of 5-7, I trained as a ballerina. Then, seeing that...
THE COFFEE QUEST….
“ There is an awful lot of coffee in Brazil……”The Coffee Song of 1976" by Osibisa (YouTube) springs to mind as I am in the starting blocks of my latest story. Yes, after 2 wonderful, freshly brewed, cups of coffee. Beans from…..no, now I need to back up…. We, my...
Never Trust A Price
So, I had to buy a bottle of rum today. Not a rare occurrence, pretty typical actually. "Why is it $38 Theresa? It was $29.99 last week?" "Oh, Meez Vic, it's because itz de last bottle of dat rum on da shelf" "Are you planning on ordering more?" "Oh yez, Meez Vic"...
“SIMPLE JOYS OF POST STORM LIFE”
Seems as if recent climatic events and other disasters seen on TV news reports, have triggered a multitude of residual emotions in me which I thought I had gotten rid of during Irma/Maria Recovery. The following is an excerpt from my published Hurricane journal “TWO...
The Gift
When my husband and I decided to uproot our family from Kentucky- from the only place, people, and life we have ever known- and move to a tiny island in the Caribbean, it was of course met with so many remarks to the tune of "Oh My Gosh, THAT'S AMAZING!", "You are...
