"Land of the Lions" a Ethiopia Travel Page by zuhur

I visited Addis Ababa & was told that Addis is NOT representative of Ethiopia. Also, I did not have time to be much of a tourist on this trip.
Still keeping my notes, in case I have the chance to return.

One amazing note: the return flight was FULL of babies and toddlers being adopted. Apparently the wait time is fast, or restrictions easy. You can say whatever you like about the long-term repercussions of this, if they avoid the fate of the street-children, which seems miserable, then fine.

Heard of a fashion show at the Sheraton in Addis while we were there, so it seems a current trend. Suddenly there was one at the Jupiter, the next day. We paid 100 birr (why when we were already guests?), entered, and then were trapped in the back, could not move, leave, or see much as the photographers were blocking us. It seemed to be a competition - the girls announced by name, and first came out in diverse regional dress. Gorgeous young ladies - all of them, but varying degrees of grace. Next, they appeared in the local dress-up gowns, full skirts, fitted tops of a silk-rayon. After that, talents, and then more modern outfits including shorts. In between, a male rap-dance group, singers and many speeches at the outset which we did not understand.

Had read on this site about people being ripped off after attending restaurants with cultural shows. We went to one - Habashah, which was right next door to a Turkish restaurant. No rip-off, that is no cover charge for the show, but we did order dinner. Our dinner was a mix of dishes, spicy-hot and not hot, lamb, minced beef. The show consisted of three musicians playing something that looks like a simsara (Red Sea/Nile harp-mandolin), a type of rabab and drums. A male singer came out in costume. Then three young male dancers and three female dancers, who performed in different styles and costumes -- very cute, animated, precise. Finally, a female singer with a nice contralto.

As for shopping - Ethiopia has a big textile industry -and we bought different styles of traditional dresses and also material to make the more modern dress-up dresses. If one had more time, the tailors fit the top for you. Also scarves and bags, all in an area where the shops are marked iwth numbers - that is not in the big open market. We wanted to buy jewelry but the stores were closed due to national holiday on 28 May. A few stores were open - I saw rings with the design of a lion, nice silver earrings, many Ethiopian crosses. A friend found a great large chunky necklace - but we saw nothing like this anywhere. We visited a gold store too, but I saw nothing special.