The land of big hair beauties!

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In case you’re wondering, dear reader, I can report from Addis Ababa that Ethiopian women are beautiful indeed. The local ladies are famed throughout the world for their otherworldly beauty, and strolling through the streets of the capital leaves one in no doubt the ladies are stunning! It seems having your hair done is an absolute must before venturing out onto the streets of Addis, and every day elegant big hair beauties with stunning facial features grace the sidewalks.

Let’s bring you briefly up to speed, where the journal left off in Kigali at the end of an excellent fortnight in Rwanda. I took a midnight taxi to the airport, and we had to pull over during the trip as the President roared past in his Mercedes with a blaring police escort. The Ethiopian airlines flight took off at 1:30am via Entebbe, and we arrived in Addis in the early morning. There’s nothing that can prepare a visitor for a first visit to the Ethiopian capital, even as I’m coming to the end of three months travelling on the African continent. Realistically one's first impression of Addis is not the beautiful women, it's being confronted by genuine poverty; with filth, squalor, and alarming numbers of homeless people and beggars assailing the senses. I’ve seen some incredible things while in Addis, but always keep in mind that people are people all around the world. They are just getting on with their lives as best they can with the cards they’ve been dealt. Ethiopia is a desperately poor country by world standards, but the vast majority of locals live their lives with pride and dignity.

The street hustlers around Piazza are something else too, and mysteriously appear in stride to offer their dodgy greetings. My approach when randomly approached by a street hustler is to blow them off as politely as possible, but these characters follow up with quite sophisticated psychological techniques to turn you around. OK then, after a day of this no-win game in Addis, I decided that instead of being out analysed by the local sharks, it was best to re-embrace the silent walker routine used to such good effect recently in North Africa. The shysters always tend to give the game away eventually, if there's no response to their constant urgings.

Of course it’s an absurd proposition to judge a country on first impressions, and Ethiopia has so much to offer I'm finding the country more and more intriguing. Ethiopia was the only African country to avoid colonisation at the hands of greedy western powers in the previous century, so the pride and love of country ingrained in the local people is easy to understand. Beneath a quiet and reserved demeanor I find Ethiopian people will do anything for you, and it’s really appreciated. Also, right here in Addis is the only place on earth where the mother of mankind resides, and the recently discovered Lucy is currently chilling at the National museum after gracing the planet for several million years.

The fabulous Wutma hotel is right near Piazza and less than thirty minutes from the town centre, and I’m having a brilliant time of it. It’s amazing how you adjust to changed circumstances in life, and I’ve grown used to only periodic water supplies for the last week. Apparently there is a water line broken around Piazza, and the water is only flowing for a couple of hours per day for all of us in this part of town. But there always seems to be a bucket around somewhere, and you just get on with it. Squatting and splashing around with a bucket of soap and water makes a traveller just as clean as a steaming hot shower in a five star hotel, it’s all just a matter of perspective. After a week in the capital the small hardships of the locals have become my hardships too, and we just make do as best we can.

I visited the lion zoo park in Addis after a recommendation from a local. I’m mad for the big cats, and perhaps naively figured it would be a good experience, after the wonderful East African safaris I enjoyed earlier in my trip. I can vouch for the fact the lions at the park are well fed and massive. Several of the lions are more than twenty years old, but visiting this miserable little park, with it's tiny cages and rubbish strewn everywhere, and the locals throwing stones at the carnivores to get their attention was a pretty unedifying experience. A visit to a zoo anywhere simply can’t compare with exploring the famous game parks of East Africa, where we are privileged to witness these magnificent animals hunting in their natural environment. Perhaps there’s a message for us to contemplate, regarding man’s ongoing commitment to wildlife conservation. We need to ensure the king of the beasts doesn’t end up acting out a role in a crummy little zoo cage, as part of some obscene freak show.

The restaurant downstairs is brilliant, and the staff seem to have taken a bit of a shine to me. They ask me what I’m up to, and tell me to take care when going out at night. The nightlife itself here in Addis is heaps of fun, and I can just sit enthralled as the locals have a great time dancing to Ethiopian music, which is very distinctive and unlike music from other parts of East Africa. Of course I’ve also been up on the dance floor for a spot of tea bagging, and I think the ladies enjoy watching a white man dance to local music. When back at the hotel I’m slowly going through the menu while enjoying incredibly cheap meals. You can get a full meal for three dollars here, and a jambo beer for fifty cents.

Addis Ababa is a regional centre for embassies, and I’ve had to do a lot of running around going to embassies, and waiting for visa documents to be processed. The taxi drivers have been a great help and offer to wait while I visit embassies, in fact they’ve been so helpful and friendly I’d be lost without them. Of course the drivers are rewarded appropriately when we arrive back at the hotel. I’ve had an excellent introduction to the proud and reserved people of Ethiopia here in the capital Addis Ababa. Ethiopians make visitors feel welcome in their great country, basically all of you should be here now!

When two people are under the influence of the most violent, most insane, most delusive, and most transient of passions, they are required to swear they will remain in that excited, abnormal, and exhausting condition until death do them part." G.B. Shaw

As I continue my travels, until next time it’s signing off for now

Tom

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