Ethiopia Experience

13 Months of Sunshine

Advantages: Travel on the cheap!
Disadvantages: Sometimes things just don't work.

Ethiopia is one of Africa's most fascinating countries to visit. The tourist posters for Ethiopia often use the slogan, "Ethiopia: Thirteen Months of Sunshine". How does Ethiopia get that extra month of sunshine each year? It's easy! They still use an ancient calendar in Ethiopia which requires an extra "short month" each year to synchronize with the actual solar cycle. So, the western (foreigner's) calendar is ahead of the Ethiopian calendar by ...
...problems go to Ethiopia. According to the Ethiopian calendar we are just beginning the year 1997). Ethiopia has more than just an interesting calendar; in the north of Ethiopia-between the towns of Axum and Mekele are 20 very ancient Christian churches (about 120 in the entire region) carved out of solid mountains of granite. Axum is said to the be the actual resting place of the ancient Ark of the Covenant of Old Testament fame. Not only does Ethiopia ...

grape_nehi 27.10.2005 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of General: Ethiopia

Addis Ababa as a travel destination

Advantages: Not touristy, inexpensive, interesting history, safe
Disadvantages: Poverty

...history. When we arrived in Addis Ababa I got the shakes from the altitude (over 2,000 metres) but soon acclimatised. The altitude gives the capital city a very mild climate. The hotel we stayed in was called the Gedera and was surprisingly comfortable for the $15US a night we paid. The room was tidy with hot water and cable tv, and breakfast was included. Staff were friendly and helpful. There are a number of other hotels in the same price range, ...
...Its easy to get around Addis Abeba. We had a taxi for the whole day at $2US per hour. He took us to the some of the main tourist attractions. Although there is a significant Muslim presence in the capital, people are mainly Ethiopian Orthodox, and St Georges church is a busy place of worship. There is an interesting museum attached to it, containing many items from the coronation of Haile Selassie which took place in the church. It holds precious ...

floss 18.02.2001 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Addis Abeba (Ethiopia)