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Published: November 2nd 2009
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Sevastapol
At breakfast on Sunday we are joined by 2 more members of the tour group who have just arrived from the airport. Matt has not slept in over 24 hours but still decides to join us for a stroll around Addis Ababa. Jane votes for sleep.
Nick and I have both read Philip Marsden's book, "The Barefoot Emperor" about
Emperor Tewderos. We are both very keen to find the replica of
Sevastapol - this is the cannon he built and then had transported (by building all the necessary roads) to his mountain fortress at
Maqdala. We think that the cannon itself is still at Maqdala because no-one has ever tried to move it but there is a replica on a traffic island somewhere on Churchill Avenue.
Unfortunately the rest of the group don't know me very well and make the mistake of trusting my map-reading skills! We spend about 2 hours walking through the heat and altitude, seeing the parts of Addis Ababa that other tourists don't, looking for something that other tourists don't want to see. We do eventually find it, much to our delight and much to the bemusement of everybody walking past who have probably
never noticed the cannon before!
The Derg
Nearby is the monument to the
Derg, the group of Marxist army officers who seized control of the country in 1974. What little bit of money was left after bankrupting the country, they seem to have spent on building a monument to themselves. It must be one of the few bits of Stalinist architecture in Africa.
Walking around Addis Ababa is quite relaxed. A lot of kids want to say hello to us, we meet a few people who think we are going to give them money but we expect that and they aren't too pushy and give up quite easily. We also meet a few people who are just happy to say hello and talk to us for a bit. And we also meet one group of potential pickpockets in the Churchill Avenue area, but they weren't very good.
Lucy
We take a taxi to the
National Museum, have some lunch, and then look around the museum. We see our first signs of how religious a country Ethiopia is when we go past a church and our taxi driver takes both hands off the
With Lucy
I know she's 3.2 million years older than me but does age really matter? wheel to elaborately cross himself. The main attraction at the museum is "
Lucy", the fosilized skeleton of a hominid thought to be 3.2 million years old. Entrance to the museum is 50p for tourists and 10p for Ethiopians {I approve of charging tourists extra to make the museum more accessible to Ethiopians.} and is well worth it! There's quite a few more interesting exhibits in the museum, particularly relating to the recent emperors.
Big Night Out
By the time we get back to the hotel some more of our tour group have arrived - there are now 11 of us. After a brief meeting with our tour guide,
Baty, a group of us head out to a local restaurant. Although the restaurant, the
Zebra Grill, seems quite up-market, when we share the bill at the end of the evening the total cost for food and drink for all of us averages out at £5 per head. I'm beginning to think I changed way too much money at the airport! Nick and I share a bottle of Ethiopian red wine (£3.25 restaurant price). I'm a little bit concerned that the waitress has to vigorously shake the bottle
Ethiopian Red Wine
Hmmm... on the dry side and rather tannic wouldn't you say? before she will open it - a little bit different from my recent experiences in Burgundy! - but it doesn't stop us from finishing the bottle.
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Robert
non-member comment
I'm following your trip, Steve
Hey Steve, I'm enjoying your blog on Ethiopia. You've got a good sense of humor about the place........ Keep up the good work, Robert