After a two hour flight from Zanzibar I now find myself in not only the capital of Ethiopia, but the capital of Africa. To be honest, I didn’t know there was such a thing as the African Union until I started researching this trip, but it’s based here in Addis, as are the embassies from all over the world. Addis is a huge city with a lot of people, I mean a LOT! There’s obviously a lot of poverty and a huge income divide. I have mixed feelings about the place. On the one hand, there’s a lot of history and some really cool sights to see here and people for the most part are very nice, but I’ve also experienced a fair amount of negativity. I’ve seen lots of dirty looks and snide comments directed my way, teenage boys intentionally bumping into me on the street (high school hallway kind of stuff), one guy even tried to pick a fight with me from across the street (at least that’s what it appeared like). Two kids even tried to pick pocket me, they were very brazen and obvious, not very good at it, and I had everything locked down, but they would not give up, until I tried to stomp on one of their feet, then they left me alone haha. The only other tourists I’ve seen here, though, were in vans driving by from one sight to another. In three days, I walked all over this city and everywhere I went, I was the only tourist walking the streets, seriously! Maybe that had something to do with it?

Understandably, there’s a lot of traffic in Addis too. The main mode of public transport are swarms of minivans all stuffed to the gills with people hanging out the windows and an army of Soviet made Ladas painted blue and serving as taxis. Ethiopian mechanics must be geniuses for keeping these things running for so long.

The highlights of my stay in Addis have been the Beata Maryam Church, the Trinity Cathedral, and the National Museum. Addis Ababa was founded by Emperor Menelik II in the late 19th century, a descendant of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. His tomb and that of his wife along with some other Ethiopian notables are to be found in the basement of the Beata Maryam Church. Aside from the tomb, which is super interesting by the way, the church is just beautiful! They even have a Michelangelo painting in there. Ethiopian Orthodox churches are usually made of stone with three successive chambers inside, the innermost of which only the priest is allowed to enter.

The nearby Trinity Cathedral is a more traditional construction and contains the sarcophagi of the much revered Emperor Haile Selassie and his wife, which I also got to visit. Haile Selassie is the man that inspired the whole Rastafarian movement. I was interested to learn that his birth name was Ras Tafari.

Some of you may recall the very famous hominid fossil named Lucy, discovered in 1974, that challenged everything we knew about human evolution. She proved that hominids were walking upright over three million years ago. There’s also a newer fossil discovery of a three year old hominid named Ardi that was walking upright about 200,000 years before that. It made quite a stir at the time. Well, they were both discovered in Ethiopia and they’re both at the National Museum. Lucy and Ardi were definitely the highlights for me, but the museum as a whole was very good. (below left: Lucy, below right: Ardi)

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I also made my way up to Entoto, the highest point in Addis and it’s where Menelik II’s palace is located. It’s pretty modest as far as palaces go, it’s made of mud and wood, but it was well worth the visit. The views of Addis from the mountain can’t be beat either (see the holy crap selfie above).

Now, my time in the capitol is up and it’s time to start exploring more of this very ancient corner of the world. More to come so stay tuned…

See all the pics of Addis Ababa here