Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Merkato
( 6am-7pm Mon-Sat)
Wading into the market chaos known as Merkato, just west of the
centre, can be as rewarding as it is exasperating. You may find the most eloquent aroma
wafting from precious incense. You may also find that your wallet has been stolen and
that you've got stinky excrement on your shoe.
Some people say it's the largest market in Africa, but as its exact boundaries are as
shady as some of its characters, this is a little hard to verify. What should be noted,
however, is that this isn't one of those nicely photogenic markets with goods laid out on
the ground or in little stalls. Most vendors now have permanent tin shacks in which to
house their wares, so in many eyes this changes the market from a scene of exotica to just
a slum.
The mass of stalls, produce and people may seem impenetrable, but on closer inspec-
tion the market reveals a careful organisation with different sections for different products.
You can spend your birr on pungent spices, silver jewellery or anything else that takes
your fancy. There's even a 'recycling market', where sandals (made out of old tyres), cof-
fee pots (old Italian olive tins) and other interesting paraphernalia can be found.
MARKET
Natural History Museum
Offline map
( 0111-119496; Queen Elizabeth II St; admission Birr20; 9-11.45am &
1.30-4.30pm Tue-Sun)
Go eye to eye with a bloated leopard and other wildlife wonders of
Ethiopia in this natural history museum. Sometimes the stuffers just don't know when to
stop stuffing!
MUSEUM
Addis Ababa Museum
(Meskal Sq; admission Birr10; 8.30am-12.30pm & 1.30-5.30pm Tue-Fri,
8.30-11.30am Sat)
Despite only being founded on the centenary of the city in 1986, the
Addis Ababa Museum is the town's scruffiest museum. That said, perusing candid por-
traits of the redoubtable Empress Taitu, rakish Lij Iyasu and the very beautiful Empress
Zewditu, along with pictures of the capital in its infancy, is still worth an hour or so. It's
unbelievable that the raucous city outside was nothing more than tents on a hill just over a
century ago.
There's also a 'first-in-Ethiopia' room, with a picture of the first telephone in Ethiopia
(which was brought from Italy by Ras Makonnen in 1890; it's said that local priests, when
MUSEUM
