On my way home from Mada, I used airline miles to build in stops in Addis and Nairobi. I wasn’t sure when I’d be back to the African continent, and wanted to see as much as I could while I was there. I’d heard less than stellar things about Addis (vs the rest of Ethiopia which is meant to be lovely) – I didn’t have enough time to venture outside the city and I’m so glad I couldn’t because I loved Addis!

I hired a guide for a full day tour and it was wonderful. To start, I can’t really recommend my guide enough. I felt totally comfortable with him one on one all day long, it never felt awkward which I was a bit worried about. He was an official tour guide, but using the money he earned to fund opening a health clinic in his home village, and he had his MPH, the same degree I’m working on getting.

Itinerary

First we went to the National Museum, which is the home of Lucy, a 3.2 million-year-old skeleton that is the most complete skeleton of an early human ancestor ever discovered. When Obama visited Ethiopia they brought her skeleton to the palace so he could meet her.

From there we went to the Ethnological Museum, which I loved. The artwork displayed, the different exhibits – we spent more time here than the National Museum. This museum is also part of Addis Ababa University, and I loved seeing the course postings and students milling about.

Next was Mount Entoto, the highest peak of the Entoto Mountains which overlook the city. The views were incredible (I think it looks a bit like LA actually!) and the whole area was woodsy and green.

Then we had a next level delicious lunch at the Taitu Hotel. This was the first hotel in the city and still functions as one today. Every lunch they have a huge vegetarian buffet and it was top notch delicious. I’ve heard less than stellar things about the actual hotel rooms, so while I’d def come back to eat maybe not to stay.

From there we went to Tomoca Coffee. I don’t drink coffee so I ordered a tea like a dummy. My guide convinced me to just try a sip of his and it was AMAZING. I immediately ordered one and then drank all the Ethiopian coffee I could for the remainder of my trip. It was so good. The only coffee I’ve ever truly enjoyed and I think this would be the first stop on any return trip to the city.

Then we hit Addis Mercato, the largest open air market in Africa. The tour guide said he only added this because people kept asking to go, but as I’d spent the last six months shopping at an open air market I knew it wasn’t the place to get nice, hand crafted items but instead would be a bustling, chaotic free for all. We drove through and that was definitely enough!

Last on the tour was St George’s Cathedral, one of the country’s oldest monasteries and known for its distinctive octagonal shape.

After that I went back to my hotel for one last Injera dinner before trying to sleep before my flight to Nairobi the next morning. It was a bit stressful because four days before the same flight I was taking had crashed (it was the second Boeing 737 Max crash, and at this point the Max series hadn’t been grounded yet). I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous to fly as I was during the four flights it took me to get back to London from Madagascar, but luckily it at went smoothly!