Blogs from Addis Ababa Region, Ethiopia, Africa - page 2

So I grabbed two mini buses to a bigger bus station and found me a bus headed straight to Shashamane…This 500 acres is the sacred home for Rastafarians that His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I gave for all those who wish to repatriate. I don’t want to get into too much detail here because I could go on for daaaaays about the history of this religion and all the weird ties that make it seem pretty legit. Buuuuuut as most religions come to the same deep understanding in their own certain way, it was very interesting to see how super devout Rastas handled the “new Jerusalem.” I got off the bus with no idea of where to stay as the Lonely Planet chapters I purchased online did not include this town…and as it turns out, there ... read more

My visit to Ethiopia started in Addis Ababa, which means New Flower in Amharic. With more than 3 million people, it’s the capital and largest city of the only African country that wasn't colonized during the end of the 19th century and beginning of 20th century, when greedy European countries (F, GB, P, I, D, B, E) invaded most of Africa for their own benefit. The Italians tried to colonize the country by attacking in 1896 but were defeated by the Ethiopian army! This fact is a source of pride to many Ethiopians. In 1935 the (Sh-)Italians, under command of dictator Mussolini, attacked Ethiopia again by illegally using chemical weapons and took control of the country for about 5 years. Ethiopia uses a different calendar than we do. They just celebrated New Year 2008 (Enkutatash) last ... read more

Addis isn't quite terrible, for a capital in the developing world. Though it's loud, dusty, and generally filthy, it has its share of open spaces and entertaining sights, it's generally safe compared to other large east African cities, and it's fairly easy to get around. Probably the best advice I have is how to deal with Ethiopian Airlines. It seems safe enough, and once aboard, the service isn't too bad and the food is better than most. But trying to purchase tickets for internal flights at a reasonable price can be a chore. If you plan on taking some internal flights, consider booking your international flights with Ethiopian Air. If you save your ticket stub, you can present it at the offices (there are several in Addis, and one in each medium-sized city) and get a ... read more

10 June: Ethiopia Warning!! If you look at the photos for the post, please be aware there are skeletons. Once we were checked into our hotel, we went to ask the desk about things to do. They recommended for dinner to go to this local restaurant for traditional food and they also had the traditional dancing. They said to go around 8pm so we had about three hours to kill. Since we were already hungry we decided to have a munchies at the hotel. They lead us to the top floor where they had an open room with balcony to see out over the city. It was a great view. When then ordered fresh juice of strawberries and some French fries. We sat around for a while and enjoyed the view until the came up with ... read more

After 6 weeks in the Southern Africa region, it was an exciting prospect to be changing things up. Daniel, Phil and I were on our way to Ethiopia. Granted every country in Southern Africa was unique in several ways, but at the same time there was still a regional constant between them all. Aside from the fact that we were still in Africa, this constant was no more upon our arrival to Ethiopia. Daniel was the catalyst for this leg of the trip as his parents live in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, and his mother is the number-2 at the Swedish Embassy there. Graciously, Daniel and his parents invited Phil and I to stay in their home for a week and we gratefully obliged. Typically, Ethiopia wouldn’t be the luxurious stretch of one’s travels, ... read more