Ethiopia

Ethiopia [1] is a country situated in the Horn of Africa. It is the 2nd-most populous nation in Africa, bordered by Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Kenya to the south, and Sudan to the west. Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa, and the second-oldest official Christian nation in the world after Armenia.

Regions

Administrative divisions - 9 ethnically-based states:

• Afar
• Amhara
• Benishangul-Gumaz
• Gambela
• Harari
• Oromia
• Somali
• Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region
• Tigray

Cities

• Addis Ababa - Capital of Ethiopia

• Adama - Capital of Oromiya region and popular weekend destination; also known as Nazareth (Nazret)
• Axum - home of ancient tombs and stelea fields, near Eritrea
• Bahir Dar - Near the source of the Blue Nile
• Dire-Dawa -The second largest city of Ethiopia
• Gondar - Some of East Africa's only castles
• Harar - Ancient walled city
• Lalibela - Home to 11 rock-hewn churches
• Mekele - a town in the Tigrayan Highlands.
• Moyale - Border town for trucks going to Kenya

Other destinations

Ethiopia is placed among African countries of Kenya, South-Africa, Tanzania and Zambia for preserving and well maintaining national parks for tourist attraction. The southern and south-western part of the country has a stunning natural beauty with a huge potential of becoming a unique resort.

• Abijatta Shalla Lakes National Park
• Awash National Park
• Bale Mountains National Park
• Mago National Park
• Neshisar National Park
• Omo National Park
• Simien National Park
• Sodere - Spa resort
• Wolo Highlands
• Yangudi National Park

See also African National Parks

Culture and History

History

Ethiopia has long been an intersection between the civilizations of North Africa, the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa. Unique among African countries, Ethiopia was never colonised, maintaining its independence throughout the Scramble for Africa onward, except for a five-year period (1936-41) when it was under Italian occupation. There was no Italian colonization of Ethiopia during this period, however, as the Italians occupied only a few key cities and major routes. The Italian period is thus considered an "occupation" and not colonial rule. In addition, Ethiopia has long been a member of international organisations: it became a member of the League of Nations, signed the Declaration by United Nations in 1942, founded the UN headquarters in Africa, was one of the 51 original members of the United Nations, and is the headquarters for and one of the founding members of the former OAU and current AU.

Ethiopia was also historically called Abyssinia, derived from the Arabic form of the Ethiosemitic name "ḤBŚT," modern Habesha. In some countries, Ethiopia is still called by names cognate with "Abyssinia," e.g. Turkish Habesistan, meaning land of the Habesha people. The English name "Ethiopia" is thought to be derived from the Greek word Αἰθιοπία Aithiopia, from Αἰθίοψ Aithiops ‘an Ethiopian’, derived from Greek terms meaning "of burnt (αιθ-) visage (ὄψ)".[1] However, this etymology is disputed, since the Book of Aksum, a Ge'ez chronicle first composed in the 15th century, states that the name is derived from "'Ityopp'is", a son (unmentioned in the Bible) of Cush, son of Ham who according to legend founded the city of Axum.

Climate

Tropical monsoon with wide topographic-induced variation. The weather can be chilly in Addis and other areas where the elevation is high.

Terrain

High plateau with central mountain range divided by Great Rift Valley

Time and calendar

Ethiopia uses the Ethiopian calendar, which dates back to the Coptic calendar 25 BC and never adopted the Julian or Gregorian reforms. One Ethiopian year consists of twelve months, each lasting thirty days, plus a thirteenth month of five or six days (hence the "Thirteen Months of Sunshine" tourism slogan). The Ethiopian new year begins on September 10 or 11 (in the Gregorian calendar), and has accumulated 7-8 years lag behind the Gregorian calendar: thus, for the first nine months of 2007, the year will be 1999 according to the Ethiopian calendar. On September 11, 2007, Ethiopia will celebrate New Year's Day (Enkutatesh) for 2000.

In Ethiopia, the 12-hour clock cycles do not begin at midnight and noon, but instead are offset six hours. Thus, Ethiopians refer to midnight (or noon) as 6 o'clock.

Note: Airline timetables are based on the 24-hour clock and use the Gregorian calendar.

Travel to Ethiopia, visa requirements

All visitors to Ethiopia (except for Kenyan and Djiboutian nationals) are required to obtain an entry visa. Since 2002, tourists from 33 countries (listed here) are able to obtain entry visas upon their arrival at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, and at the airport in Dire Dawa.

Flights to Ethiopia, airtickets

Ethiopian Airlines is one of the most successful and reputable airlines in Africa and, indeed in the world. Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa is the main hub for Ethiopian Airlines and also hosts Lufthansa, Sudan Airways, British Airways, KLM, Turkish Airways and Emirates. A new runway and international terminal, which was said to be the largest in Africa, opened in 2003.

CAUTION Arriving in the country without a major currency such as Euros or American dollars is not recommended, especially if one has not obtained a visa prior to arrival. Travellers cheques can be exchanged at the airport.

• If you have a prior arrangement, many hotels will send a vehicle to pick up pre-booked guests from the airport.

• There is also another international airport in Dire Dawa

By train

A railroad links Addis Ababa with Djibouti. According to the U.S. State Department, "travel in Ethiopia via rail is strongly discouraged due to episodes of derailment, sabotage, and bombings as recently as February 2003."

By car

One way to get in from Sudan is via the border village of Metema. One way to get in from Kenya is via the border town of Moyale. The road from Kenya to Ethiopia through the town of Moyale is much better and well maintained than the road from Sudan to Ethiopia through Metema. On the Kenyan side of Moyale the road is horrible and is known for banditry so be careful and make sure you have plenty of time, at least 24 hours, to travel from Moyale to Nairobi

Buses to Ethiopia

• Public transportation brings you to the border. To/from Sudan or Kenya you just walk to the other side. If you arrive to the border towns late at night, try not to cross the border in the dark. Wait in the town and do your traveling in the morning.

• Busses that cover some distance start in early morning. This implies that if you arrive during the day you would be stuck at least until the next morning.

• From Gedaref (Sudan) catch a bumpy bus or truck (700 SDnr) to the border. The Sudanese side is consisted of several small villages and a tiny town. In Ethiopia you could find better, but basic accommodation.

By boat

Ethiopia is landlocked and currently uses the seaport in Djibouti.

Get around

Flights to Ethiopia, airtickets

Ethiopian Airlines is reasonably priced and has fairly comprehensive domestic services.

By train

There is a (slow) train between Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa.

Buses to Ethiopia

There is a comprehensive network of cheap buses along the major roads, although these are slow and basic. Buses generally leave whenever they have filled up with passengers (in practice, these means once an hour or so). Buses do not travel at night; they will stop before sundown in a town or village with accommodation for the passengers. Between some cities (e.g. Adama and Addis Ababa), minibuses will run after the larger buses have stopped for the night.

By car

A good way to tour Ethiopia is by car. You can take small airplanes to expedite your tour, but you will take in more of scenery if you travel by car. Two reasonable touring companies are NTO and Focus Tours Ethiopia. They can take you off the beaten track so you can see the beauty and attractions of Ethiopia.

By bicycle

Road conditions vary considerably around Ethiopia; some roads are smoothly sealed while others consist mostly of large stones. Accommodation is cheap and available in almost every village (although these "hotels" usually double as bars and brothels). Food and drink are also easily available. You will attract considerable attention (it is not uncommon for whole schools to empty out as the children chase you).

Talk

Amharic is the official language of Ethiopia. The language is a Semitic language related to Hebrew and Arabic, and if you know either one you'll recognize some loanwords. In all parts of the country everyone speaks Amharic to some extent, no matter what their first language may be. The language is written in the Ge'ez script, which (like Arabic and Hebrew) is based on writing consonants only.

In big cities, most people under 40 somewhat speak English. (English is a primary foreign language taught in schools). In rural areas, find local school children to translate for you for a fee that could be next to nothing. (Ethiopians have a distinct way of speaking English. Because it is heavily accented, it might be a bit difficult to understand it at the beginning. However, when you get used to the way they pronounce some English words, it will become fairly understandable)

Up north in Tigray, Tigrinya is the primary language, and it's also written in Ge'ez. However, Amharic is widely understood.

In the south, Oromo is widely spoken. Oromo language uses a Latin alphabet.

Shopping, Ethiopia souvenirs

The official currency is the Ethiopian Birr (ETB). You are only supposed to import and export 100 birr. Often, hotel and car rental bills must be paid in cash.

Good restaurants and cheap meals

Injera is Ethiopia's national dish. Injera is a spongy, tangy tasting bread made from the grain teff, which grows in the highlands of Ethiopia. It is eaten with wot (or wat), the traditional stews made with spices and meat or legumes. Some popular wats: Doro (chicken) wat, Key (lamb) wat and Asa (fish) wat. Another popular dish is Tibbs, spicy beef fried in butter. It can be either really bad (burnt to a crisp and resembling petrified wood) or juicy and delicious in more fancy restaurants. (The Holiday Hotel in Addis serves delicious Tibbs).

The injera sits directly on a large round plate or tray and is covered with wat placed symmetrically around a central item. The various wats are eaten with other pieces of injera, which are served on a side plate. Injera is eaten with the right hand - rip a large piece of injera from the side plate and use it to pick up one of the various flavors of wat on the main platter. Do not eat with your left hand! In Ethiopia food is a respected gift from God and eating with your left hand is a sign of disrespect.

Another popular injera dish is firfir: fried,shredded injera. It can be served with or without meat or with all sorts of veggies.

If you prefer vegetarian foods, try the 'shiro wat' which is a vegetable stew served with injera, most of the times you have to specifically ask for it as it doesn't come with most of the combinations as ethiopians prefer meat.

Kitfo is minced meat, spiced with chilli. You can have it raw (the locally preferred way, but there's a risk of getting the tape worm), 'leb-leb' (lightly cooked) or fully cooked. It comes with a local cheese 'ayeb' and a spinach.

For the pickier traveler, almost every place in Ethiopia also serves spaghetti (thanks to the short lived and unsuccessful Italian occupation.) In nice restaurants in Addis you can find excellent spaghetti (Try the Blue Tops or Top View restaurants), and in the more peripheral places you will usually find it overcooked with bland tomato paste as sauce.

Ethiopia nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs.

The coffee ceremony involves drinking a minimum of three cups of coffee and eating popcorn. It is a special honour, or mark of respect to be invited into somebody's home for the coffee ceremony.

In preparation for the ceremony the coffee beans are roasted in a flat pan over charcoal. The beans are then ground using pestle and mortar. The coffee is brewed with water in a clay coffee pot and is considered ready when it starts to boil. Coffee in Ethiopia is served black with sugar.

Tej is a honey wine, similar to mead, that is frequently drunk in bars (in particular, in a tejbeit)

Hotels, youth hostels, lodging

There is a wide range of accommodation in Ethiopia. There is a luxurious Sheraton hotel in Addis Ababa. At the same time, you can find a "hotel" nothing more than a small room with a tiny bed, and no running water in the border town of Moyale.

Staying in tourist areas generally results in a broader range of choices, but watch out for tourist prices. It is acceptable to bargain with the hotel owner, for they usually tend to charge you "faranji" (foreigner) prices at first. However, you won't be able to bargain down to local prices (close to nothing) but you can bargain down a lot. This is NOT true at the government run "Ghion" chain, and the fancier private chains as well. (Bekale Mola, for example).

Addis: Addis is full of cheap hotels. Most tourists stay in the piazza area, where there are many hotels ranging from very cheap (2-3 USD) to moderately cheap ($12USD). Except for the cheapest most of them have running hot water, and fairly clean. Park Hotel starts at 20 Birr a single and 30 Birr a double. Two big ones are Taitu hotel and Wutma hotel.

The two biggest hotels in Addis are the Sheration, referred to by expats as "The Sheza", and the Hilton. Both are enormous and really lovely from a western point of view. They are also very expensive and charge over 100 USD a night. Both have swimming pools, good restaurants, souvenir shops and bakeries: the rooms are comfortable. If you cannot afford these two hotels, visit them and chat up the expats (especially at lunch time when they take their break by the pool) and if your accommodation needs to be improved, they might be able to help out. You also could have a glimpse of a rich or famous celebrity or high powered world politician, who are in Addis to do some charity work or to deal with some sort of African politics. (For example, Bono, Bob Gildof....)

Outside Addis: up north, in every one of the cities (Axum, Lalibella, Bahir Dar, Gondar) one can find hotels ranging from the overpriced 50 USD a night government run Ghion chain hotels to cheaper hotels ranging from 3-20 USD. Even as low as 2 for a double in some places. But also in smaller places on the major roads offer cheap places if you do not mind the most basic rooms. A tourist town like Debark that serves for trekking the Simien Mountains also offers a range of rooms, with the most popular being the Simien Park Hotel (25/30 Birr), where you could also pitch a tent for 20. It meets the normal standards for food, electricity, water, cleanliness and hygiene.

In the south, all of the cities (Shashemane, Wondo Genet, Awasa, Arba Minch, Jinka...) have decent, cheap hotels. The most basic rooms start at 15 Birr for a single and 20 Birr for a double. Many of them don't have hot water and electricity all hours of the day, so you should schedule time for a shower in advance. There are also three (fairly expensive) resort hotels on the shore of Lake Langano. In the smaller villages in and around the Omo valley (Weyto, Turmi, Key Afar, Dimeka, Konso, etc.) there are usually few (very basic) or no hotels, but if you are travelling through the valley to see the tribes, there is always a campground or a restaurant that offers beds. If you camp out at one of these villages, you should hire a guard to watch over your stuff overnight.

Learn

These are some colleges and Universities in Ethiopia. (Major universities in bold)

• Adama University
• Addis Ababa University
• Alemaya University
• Alfa College of Distance Education (Harar)
• Ambo College of Agriculture
• Arba Minch University
• Awasa Adventist College (Awasa) (Foreign (USA Adventist church) affiliated)
• Bahir Dar University
• Commercial College of Addis Ababa
• Debub University
• Hawasa University
• Gondar University (One of the two Medical colleges of the country)
• Jimma University
• Kotoebe Teachers' Education College
• Mekelle University
• People to People College (Harar)
• Theological College of the Holy Trinity
• Unity College (Private)
• Graduate School of Telecommunications and Information Technology (GSTIT)

Work

The country's economy is based on agriculture. 80% of the people lead an agrarian lifestyle. However, in the big cities, especially in Addis-Ababa,

• There is a high demand of IT professionals.
• Many start-up companies search for individuals with computer networking and consulting backgrounds.
• Addis-Ababa has the highest number of NGO's in Africa, and possibly among all third world countries. They are reputed for providing generous salaries to their employees.

CAUTION:- The unemployment rate in Addis is extremely high, especially among the unskilled young men and women.

• Many expatriates work in NGOs and small start-up IT companies.
• Compared with other African cities, Addis-Ababa has a high number of big, medium and small sized computer training schools, and governmental and private learning institutions. Many students who attend hope to obtain an IT or consulting job, in the very scarce job market of the city.

Stay safe

• For the most part, the country is safe. Avoid travelling to the eastern part of the country beyond the city of Harar. The Somali separatist groups occasionally launch a guerilla attack. Most expats who go there are US military personnel actively training the Ethiopian army's anti-terrorism unit. Many others are Chinese, Indian or Malaysian representatives of oil companies.

• Organized crime and gang violence are very unusual in most parts of the country. However, in the border areas of Sudan (Gambella Region) and Kenya, there are some reports indicating occurences of banditry. Avoid these areas.

• Though Ethiopia has a secular government, the Ethiopian people are very religious. The two dominant religions (the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Islam) strongly influence people's day-to-day life. Therefore, according to their influence the government implements certain rules and laws that could appear unsettling to westerners. For example, homosexuality is illegal, and any perceived indication of gay behaviour will not be tolerated.

• Be mindful of expressing dissenting views to followers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church or Islamic religions. You may get a violent response if you criticise these beliefs, so proceed with tact and understanding during such conversations.

Stay healthy

Be careful of the food you eat, and don't stay in the sun too long. If you get sick, contact your embassy for advice. Ethiopian doctors are expensive. However, the very expensive hospitals, especially in Addis-Ababa, are clean and well maintained.

Respect

• Ethiopians are very proud of their culture, identity, and country. Avoid criticizing their cultural lifestyle, especially their brand of Christianity (Oriental Orthodox). Avoid all contentious religious discussion, or you may risk all good will and hospitality you could have been afforded. Rather than argue about the merits of Orthodoxy or Islam, it's best to ask friends to explain their customs, festivals and beliefs and to listen with respect.

• Because they have no history of colonization (except the brief Italian wartime occupation of 1936-1941), the Ethiopians' relationship with the westerners is free of racial animosity or old grudges. Therefore they show sincere respect, as long as they receive the same in return. However, condescending behavior is not acceptable or tolerated. Ethiopians can be short-fused if they feel they are not treated as equals.

• If a woman is with a man, ask the man's permission to talk to her beforehand. For a man to avoid eye contact with a woman is considered a sign of respect. If you're a foreign woman and are in public with a man, don't be upset if Ethiopian men address all questions to him. He will do this not to slight you but to show respect. This will be the case on public transport, in restaurants, etc. Likewise, if you are a foreign man, maintaining a formal distance from women will be seen as good manners.

Contact

Telephone

The country code for calling Ethiopia is 251. The Ethiopian dialing plan changed on September 17, 2005, such that the two-digit city code changed to three digits (or, from outside the country, one to two digits) and six-digit telephone numbers changed to seven digits. The city code for Addis Ababa, as of Sept. 17, 2005, is 011 (or 11 from outside Ethiopia). An on-line telephone number converter, which will convert an old number to the new number, is available here.

Internet

There are numerous internet cafes in Addis Ababa and other cities. Within Addis Ababa, connection speeds are more than adequate for performing tasks such as checking one's e-mail. A typical internet cafe will have a dozen computers using one broadband connection. Anyway it will be very slow, but you can check E-Mail having enough patience. Most of the computers have USB, so maybe you'll interest in using a portable e-mail program (like thunderbird portable) from an usb-stick.

Mail

Surprisingly, Ethiopia has one of the most efficient postal services in Africa. Many attribute this success to the extensive network of Ethiopian Airlines. However, mail does not get delivered to your address. You are required to buy a post office box. Once you get a post office box, the flow of your mail will be consistent.

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