Orthodox priest, Holy Trinity Cathedral, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 7 Feb 2014
Model of Lucy, National Museum, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 7 Feb 2014
Mercato market scene #2, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 7 Feb 2014
Mercato market scene #1, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 7 Feb 2014
Haile Selassie's throne, National Museum, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 7 Feb 2014
Eucalyptus plantation, Mount Entoto, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 7 Feb 2014
Ethiopian students, National Museum, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 7 Feb 2014
Friday 7th February 2014 Addis Ababa.
The whole day was spent sight seeing in and around Addis Ababa the present day capital of Ethiopia.
Addis is at an altitude of 2400 m (the world’s third highest capital city) and has a population of around three million. The altitude results in a temperate climate and today the overcast skies resulted in a maximum temperature in the mid-twenties. As is typical at his time of the year there was a short but torrential downpour in the late afternoon.
Our first visit of the day was to the Holy Trinity Cathedral which is the most imposing and significant Orthodox Church in Ethiopia. Its other claim to fame is that it holds the tombs of the Emperor Haile Selassie and his wife. As is the case for other Ethiopian Orthodox churches, this cathedral claims to have (hidden) a replica of the Ark of the Covenant used by Moses to bring the Ten Commandments to the Jewish people.
We then visited the National Museum that amongst other objects houses the remains of the 1974 discovered hominid skeleton now referred to as “Lucy”. This almost complete skeleton is estimated to be 3.5 million years old and has been assigned the genus/species Australopithecus afarensis or what is considered the ‘missing link’ to the genus Homo. The Rift Valley of Ethiopia has become an archeological treasure trove for fossil hunters and these recent discoveries suggest that this may well be where human beings and their hominid ancestors evolved making it the ‘cradle of humankind’.
We then ventured into Mercato, the main market area of Addis Ababa. This huge market occupies several kilometres of roads, alleys and buildings and is quite overwhelming in terms of the number of people and the high density of stalls and their diversity. The area is one frequented by pick-pockets so we were advised not to venture into the markets alone. Amongst the market stalls one sees cripples, beggars, taxi drivers and hawkers all clamouring for money and attention. Young children are seen hard at work carrying heavy sacks weaving in between carts, donkeys and the never ending jam of cars and buses.
After a lunch break we drove nearly to the summit of Mt. Entoto which is at about 3000 m. The view over Addis was severely affected by smog but we could still get and idea of the vast size of this sprawling city. The mountain slopes are densely wooded with imported eucalypts and women collect sticks and leaves from the forest area for sale as firewood. The women carry large bundles of firewood on their backs down to the city for selling. We then went to the Ethnological Museum which is housed in Emperor Haile Selassie’s former palace.
The final visit for the day was to St George Cathedral where we saw interesting religious paintings as well as mosaics and other ecclesiastical paraphernalia.
A visit to two supermarkets for tonic and other drinks was followed by a very pleasant evening meal and then we headed back to our hotel to prepare for tomorrow 450 km drive into Southern Ethiopia.