Blogs from Addis Ababa Region, Ethiopia, Africa

Addis Ababa The flight was late arriving at Bole Airport in Addis Ababa and by the time I’d got through immigration, change some money and jumped into a taxi it was nearly midnight. The streets of Addis were quiet apart from taxis most of them parked up and a surprisingly large number of working girls who seemed to be on every street we drove along. “We don’t take bookings on the internet, sometimes over the phone but not the internet.” The gateman at Ambassador Pension told my taxi driver. I had booked and paid for 2 nights at the Ambassador through a third party website who I had had my doubts about all along. The pension was now full so the taxi driver drove me around the corner where I checked out another place that had ... read more

We are now in the busines class Lounge in the Ethiopian Airport in Addis Ababa. It crowded even though it’s 10pm. We take off at 1:30am for London where I’m hoping to take a shower at their lounge. There is a buffet here with a lot of Ethiopian dishes and I might sample them later if I get brave. Our flight here was on a new Dreamliner and was very comfortable. I hope the next one is the same so I can sleep. Until London.... read more

1 mars L'avion de Lufthansa dans lequel je somnole se pose sur la piste de l'aéroport de Bole à Addis Ababa, capitale de l'Éthiopie. Il était 21h45 lorsque les pneus cognèrent le tarmac effacé par la nuit, bang, d'un heurt appréhendé mais brusque comme un coup de feu, nous faisant tous sursauter dans l'aéronef. Il n'y avait que le cockpit qui connaissait le moment exact de l'impact: nous, passagers, venions de vivre notre atterrissage à l'invisible. Assis dans l'allée centrale, je n'ai eu aucun accès aux hublots de tout le vol Franckfort-Addis Ababa. Par dessus l'épaule des passagers, j'avais pu entrevoir quelques points lumineux dans la noirceur en approchant la capitale, mais c'était tout. Aucune idée donc de l'étendu de la ville, ni même dans quel décor je m'injecte. La nuit, tous les chats sont gris. ... read more

For once it’s obvious which title I should use for my blog entry. Perhaps the standout attraction of Addis Ababa is the Ethiopia National Museum which houses the skeleton of Lucy, a well preserved 3.2m year old fossil, considered to be an early ancestor of man. It was discovered in 1974 in the Afar region of Ethiopia and has been described as simply one of the most important fossils ever discovered. At the team campsite after the skeleton was discovered the lead scientist played a Beatles cassette and the track “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” came on. They already thought that the skeleton was female so the name seemed appropriate and stuck. The real Lucy skeleton is securely locked away in a vault, but if you didn’t know that you wouldn’t realise. There is also ... read more

Most of us are so fortunate, either already retired (like us), or working in a good job. But have you ever stopped to think about people in poor countries? Take a look at these: The average income in the world is about $10,300 per year, per person. But can you believe there are many countries where the per capita income is less? Let's see if I have visited any of them (two only). Tanzania has a per capita income of only $900. But it does have domestic and political stability. My visit there was primarily focused on two safaris, one in the Ngorongoro Crater, and the other on the Serengeti. At Ngoro, we stayed in a better than average safari resort, and on the Serengeti, in luxury tent cabins. Though gold is their top export, they ... read more