Connecting African Culture Through the Seas
The Amazing Journey of Bill Pinkney Imagine leaving your life and the familiar touch of soil beneath your feet to sail across treacherous seas around the globe with only a …
About Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa — or just Addis to locals — is the capital of a country with a history that reads like a fairy tale filled with saints and sinners, emperors and phantoms, treasures and calamities. It is one of the most interesting cities in Africa. Its streets are home to some of the best museums, galleries and cultural and historical sites of any African city, but partnering up with this history is a happening nightlife and restaurant scene, a booming economy and a pleasant, perpetually spring-like climate. All up, the Ethiopian capital is a fast rising, enjoyable city with a buzz of optimism for tomorrow.
Like many sub-Saharan African capitals, Addis, which was founded in 1886, is a young city, but it’s grown up fast and it’s now a huge and sprawling city of well over 3 million people. The heart of the city is the old Piazza area, which is today full of budget accommodation and numerous cafes and bars, and the city centre proper which centres on Churchill Avenue and Gambia Street. This is where the train station can be found and most government buildings. To the southeast is the Bole Road area (which leads to the airport). This is increasingly the new centre for middle class Addis, and is where most of the best restaurants, coffee houses and hotels are located as well as flash shopping malls. The university and Menelik II Avenue, which is the area where many of the museums can be found, is to the north and east of the Piazza. To the west is the Merkato district, home to what some call the biggest market district in Africa, though others just call it a slum.
Addis is currently undergoing a major regeneration project with new roads being laid and a light railway being built, as well as numerous new shopping centres, business districts and hotels. Although this sounds great (and probably will be), what it actually amounts to at present is that large parts of the city look like a construction site, and the many closed roads are leading to severe traffic congestion.
Safety: All the usual urban risks can be found in Addis: Muggers, crazy drivers, and dishonest salesmen among them. Don’t walk alone if you can help it, stay out of sketchy neighborhoods, look both ways before crossing the street, and if a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.
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Where To Get Great Ethiopian Coffee In Addis Ababa
Since Ethiopia is the ancient birthplace of coffee, it makes sense that coffee culture is a big aspect of life in the capital, Addis Ababa. There are all types of coffee shops …
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