ADDIS ABABA

Addis Ababa means “New Flower” in Amaharic language. It is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia, lies about 330 km west of the East African Rift and has an average altitude of 2355 masl. Addis Ababa hosts the headquarters of the African Union, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and various other continental and international organizations. For that reason, Addis Ababa is often referred to as “the political capital of Africa”.

Addis (in short) is a modern, mainly commercial city. Worth visiting are the National Ethnographic Museum, the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity and the Mercato. The Mercato is the biggest open air market in Africa and covers varios square kilometers. An estimated 13000 people work at the more than 7000 small local businesses. Mercato has a section for just about everything you can imagine. If you love markets and don’t mind a little bit of chaos, this is the place to go!