Addis Ababa is a city of contrasts. There are new skyscrapers stand on dirt roads and international business conferences meet next to traditional markets. You will have rural customs are preserved.
The city is growing rapidly and tourism in Ethiopia is on the rise, but many travelers still see the capital as a mere stopover. This is normally as they are on the way to more remote areas of the country while on their Ethiopia safari tours.
The hectic city can be daunting, but “Addis”, as it is known to locals, is an exciting cultural hub with plenty to see and do – and excellent food.
Where is Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa is located at the foot of Mount Entoto, at an altitude of 2355 metres above sea level. This is is one of the highest capital cities in the world. It was from here that Menelik II, who founded it in 1889 gave it the name “New Flower”. He wanted to govern his kingdom from here, but today the strategic power of Addis (as the locals call it) is felt well beyond the borders of Ethiopia.
In fact, Addis Ababa is home to the headquarters of the African Union as well as the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and other international organisations, making it one of the most important cities in the entire continent.
What to do in Addis Ababa
A Cup of Coffee
Ethiopia is known as the birthplace of coffee. On nearly every block in Addis you’ll find roadside buna (coffee) stands with the traditional coffee ceremony setup. Incense burns as a woman roasts beans. A jebena coffee pot nestled in the coals. Small cups of the dark brew are served with sugar and a sprig of rue herb; 5 birr a cup. Pull up a short stool and sit for a while.
Traditional Dance
Traditional music and dance performances, called “cultural shows”, are held at several popular restaurants. However, music lovers won’t want to miss Fendika Azmari Bet. This is a small bar and cultural club in the hip Kazanchis area. Run by dancer Melaku Belay.
Fendika is often filled with an eclectic mix of music industry folks, in-the-know locals and travellers. With a cover charge of 50 birr (£1.36), shows range from intimate Ethiopian jazz nights to multi-act traditional song. Dance extravaganzas that culminate in jam sessions. Fridays are a good bet – call ahead to confirm schedule.
Check out the art gallery in the back and the small patio on the side, where plates of barbeque chicken and rice are often on offer.
Visit Lucy at the Museum
The partial skeleton of a female australopithecine, known as “Lucy”, was discovered in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia in 1974. The bone fossils of this human ancestor are over 3 million years old, now preserved in Addis at the National Museum of Ethiopia. The Lucy display is the star attraction of the small museum. Open 8.30am-5.30pm daily; entrance is 10 birr.
Make injera
A staple of Ethiopian cuisine, injera is a mildly sour, spongy flatbread made from fermented teff flour. They sometimes use additional flours, such as barley. Stewed main dishes are typically served atop injera and eaten by hand. You will be using more injera to scoop up mouthfuls of food.
The sacred city of Rastafarianism
Addis Ababa is linked in popular culture with Jamaica. Figures like singer Bob Marley to whom a large statue in the centre of Addis Ababa is dedicated, perhaps not everyone knows that the roots of Rastafarianism are in Ethiopia.
Not because the movement was particularly successful in the Horn of Africa but because of the prophecy of Jamaican writer Marcus Garvey in 1920s who predicted that a black king would be crowned in Africa and end colonialism, allowing the African people to return to the continent.
And so when Ras Tafari Maconnèn was named Emperor of Ethiopia (under the name Hailé Selassié) in 1930, many recognised him not only as the long-awaited emancipating king but as Jesus himself.
Today Hailé Selassié is buried in Holy Trinity Cathedral, making Addis Ababa the sacred city for Rastafarians all over the world.
Enjoy Art Beyond Tradition
Addis Ababa is, without doubt, the most cosmopolitan city in Ethiopia, home to 80 different nationalities and ethnic groups and increasingly open to the outside world. It is probably also for this reason that the art scene has been enjoying a period of great ferment in recent years, experimenting with modern and contemporary art but without forgetting its traditions.
So, for those that have time to spare after visiting the museums mentioned earlier, a trip to Zoma Contemporary Art Centre won’t disappoint. In fact, the zero impact building, constructed with mud and straw and curiously shaped like a large traditional African sculpture, is a work of art in itself.
As for the galleries, the Asni Art Gallery (one of the city’s first, opened in 1996) and LeLa Art Gallery are well worth a look.
Best Time to Visit Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa has a temperate and humid climate. Its proximity to the Equator means that temperatures are stable all year round. The altitude brings them down considerably with highs between 20 and 25°C and lows of between 8 and 12°C.
The summer months, between June and September, are characterised by heavy rain and so the best period to visit Ethiopia and discover Addis Ababa is between November and January. This is during the dry season, in which rain in any case remains a possibility.
Nightlife info
Don’t let the bureaucrats fool you – Africa’s political hub has some of the best nightlife in the world. Dance until the sun comes up with Ethiopian youngsters on Bole Road, catch some live Ethio-jazz in the Piazza or sit around drinking Obama Draft beer in Kazanchis.
Fendika Zewditu St., Kazanchis
Easily the best place for those after a glimpse of traditional Ethiopian culture. Pack yourself into the intimate, one-of-a-kind azmari-bet, where you might have to duck to avoid a dancer’s flailing foot. The show starts around 9pm when an azmari (poet-musician) weaves his way around the club, strumming his one-string masinqo. The star of the show is undoubtedly world-famous dancer Melaku Belay. Bursts at the seams every other Friday when local favourite Ethiocolor play. Arrive early, 10 birr ($0.50).
+251 (0)911 547 577
Jazzamba Lounge
@ Taitu Hotel, Mundy St., Piazza
Meaning ‘jazz fortress’ in Amharic, Jazzamba opened in June and has a huge capacity with decor straight out of the 1930s. Visitors with only one night in Addis would be smart to spend it here as a host of local artists perform and the atmosphere is experimental. Local promoters love Jazzamba because it is a melting pot of the city’s best talent, with Addis Acoustic and Ethiocolor both playing regularly. Serves decent western food from 60-90 birr. Cover charge depends on the concert.
www.jazzamba.net.
Club Alize Ring Road,
Opposite Bole Airport
Perfect for soaking up laid-back Ethio-jazz grooves. Packed on Thursday nights when citywide sensation Addis Acoustic performs an acoustic set featuring clarinet, accordion, guitar and mandolin accompanied by traditional drumming. It is also worth watching Express Band playing 1960s and 1970s Motown soul. Good choice for Saturday night entertainment as it is open late. Well worth the 25 birr cover charge. +251 (0)911 862 911
Guramayle Namibia Street
Come here on Monday nights to watch saxophonist Olaf Boelsen and the Jazzmaris put on well-chosen Ethio-jazz covers as well as some fresh cuts of their own. DJ Mitmitta supports most weeks. Excellent outdoor garden area and free entry. Owner and manger Yahu is the life of the party.
+251 (0)911 210 757
Woube Berhah
@ Edna Mall, Namibia Street
Those looking for rastas to party with will get a kick out of the live music at this club, which is popular with reggae fans and local university students. It’s convenient for movie goers as a cinema is upstairs. Drinks are expensive, but on the weekend it’s good fun and there is lots of space to sit down and talk with new friends. A great insight into middle-class Addis and a favourite of Shegger FM radio host Berhanu Digaffe. Cover charge 30 birr.
SUBA
in just another addition to the growing metropolitan life of the Ethiopian capital, Suba, an exotic bar with a combination of splendid music and popular drinks, has opened its door only recently. With its grabbing interior design and professional staff, it is a place worth visiting.
Liquid Lounge
Located in the heart of the Kazanchis business district, Liquid Lounge is an ideal escape from the ordinary in Addis Ababa. A contemporary and unique restaurant, bar and lounge, it has a bright and inviting space with a beautiful bar and design. Liquid Lounge is open daily for breakfast, lunch, dinner, happy hour and late night drinks. www.liquidloungeaddis.com.
Culture and history info
Entoto is one of a handful of sites put forward as a possible location for a medieval imperial capital known as Barara. This permanent fortified city was established during the early to mid 15th century, and it served as the main residence of several successive emperors up to the early 16th century reign of Lebna Dingel. The city was depicted standing between Mounts Zikwala and Menegasha on a map drawn by the Italian cartographer Fra Mauro in around 1450, and it was razed and plundered by Ahmed Gragn while the imperial army was trapped on the south of the Awash River in 1529, an event witnessed and documented two years later by the Yemeni writer Arab-Faqih. The suggestion that Barara was located on Mount Entoto is supported by the very recent discovery of a large medieval town overlooking Addis Ababa located between rock-hewn Washa Mikael and the more modern church of Entoto Maryam, founded in the late 19th century by Emperor Menelik. Dubed the Pentagon, the 30 hecatre site incorporates a castle with 12 towers, along with 520 meter of stone walls measuring up to 5 meter high.
The site of Addis Ababa was chosen by Empress Taytu Betul and the city was founded in 1886 by Emperor Menelik II. Menelik, as initially a King of the Shewa province, had found Mount Entoto a useful base for military operations in the south of his realm, and in 1879 he visited the reputed ruins of a medieval town, and an unfinished rock church that showed proof of the ancient Christian empire's presence in the area before the campaigns of Ahmad ibn Ibrihim. His interest in the area grew when his wife Taytu began work on a church on Mount Entoto, and Menelik endowed a second church in the area.
However, the immediate area did not encourage the founding of a town due to the lack of firewood and water, so settlement actually began in the valley south of the mountain in 1886. Initially, Taytu built a house for herself near the "Filwoha" hot mineral springs, where she and members of the Showan Royal Court liked to take mineral baths. Other nobility and their staff and households settled in the vicinity, and Menelik expanded his wife's house to become the Imperial Palace which remains the seat of government in Addis Ababa today. The name changed to Addis Ababa and became Ethiopia's capital when Menelik II became Emperor of Ethiopia. The town grew by leaps and bounds. One of Emperor Menelik's contributions that is still visible today is the planting of numerous eucalyptus trees along the city streets.
Following all the major engagements of their invasion, Italian troops from the colony of Eritrea entered Addis Ababa on 5 May 1936. Along with Dire Dawa, the city had been spared the aerial bombardment (including the use of chemical weapons such as mustard gas) practiced elsewhere and its railway to Djibouti remained intact. Under its Italian spelling Addis Abeba, the city served as the Duke of Aosta's capital for the unified colony of Italian East Africa until 1941, when it was abandoned in favor of Amba Alagi and other redoubts during the Second World War's East African Campaign. The city was liberated by Major Orde Wingate's Sudanese and Ethiopian Gideon Force in time to permit Emperor Haile Selassie's return on 5 May 1941, five years to the day after he had left.
Following reconstruction, Haile Selassie helped form the Organization of African Unity in 1963 and invited the new organization to keep its headquarters in the city. The OAU was dissolved in 2002 and replaced by the African Union (AU), also headquartered in Addis Ababa. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa also has its headquarters in Addis Ababa. Addis Ababa was also the site of the Council of the Oriental Orthodox Churches in 1965.
Ethiopia has often been called the original home of mankind due to various humanoid fossil discoveries like the Australopithecine Lucy. North eastern Africa, and the Afar region in particular was the central focus of these claims until recent DNA evidence suggested origins in south central Ethiopian regions like present-day Addis Ababa. After analyzing the DNA of almost 1,000 people around the world, geneticists and other scientists claimed people spread from what is now Addis Ababa 100,000 years ago. The research indicated that genetic diversity declines steadily the farther one's ancestors traveled from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
