Having almost a full day in Addis Ababa while in transit on the way to Kenya was enough to have a look in the city and check some of its sightseeing spots.
The best thing was that Ethiopian Airlines sent me to a hotel where I could have some food, a shower and a nap before getting into town. Great service!
I basically negotiated the price for a city tournwith a taxi driver/city guide organized by the hotel. He drove me around and took me to the Trinity Church, Ethiopian National Museum and Ethnological Museum.
Religion plays a very important role on the Ethiophians life's. Daniel, my guide, said that in Addis Ababa there must be at least one church at every 3 km.
I learned today that the majority of the Ethiopian population are Orthodoxes, Muslims and Catholics, and the impression I got was that they manage to live peacefully in this religious diversity.
The ancient Ethiopian Emperors have been strongly connected to the church as well. The "Lion of Judah," a symbol of this relationship between power and religion, can be seen everywhere as an ornament, in the palaces, churches, museums and in the ancient Ethiopian flags.
The Ethiopian ethnical diversity reminded me of what I've learned about the tribes in Kenya: many groups, different traditions, languages and beliefs. Many aspects of the different cultures can be seen in both, the Ethiopian National Museum and the Ethnological Museum.
Hint: I strongly recommend to hire an guide in all the museums. They are many, well informed, enthusiastic and really doing a good work. Important: they work for tips.
Daniel even explained me the story behind the name of the capital, Addis Ababa: while walking on the palaces garden the Empress Taytu Betul, wife of the Emperor Menelik II, found a flower she's never seen before, and baptized the city as Addis Ababa, meaning "new flower."
I was pretty surprised as a got to know the the Ethiopian have been under Italian occupation during two short periods and managed to get rid of them both times.
The greatest historical hero for the Ethiopian population has been the Emperor Haile Selassie, which brought the country through a significantly cultural revolution and reigned for more than 40 years. He died in 1974.
Even though the time was pretty short I'm glad I managed to see something of the city, talk to some locals and learn a bit about the Ethiopian people.
I may come back to Ethiopia later to see the stone churches of Lalibela up north. Yep!
Cheers everyone!
