Addis Ababa, one of the fastest growing cities in Ethiopia. It is also the biggest city in all of the landlocked countries in the world. Addis Ababa is also the capital in Ethiopia. How is it to be living with locals in Addis Ababa? How can it be, read this honest report and find out!
Where is Ethiopia located?
Ethiopia is a country in Africa, which is located in the horn of Africa, so in the east of the continent. It is a landlocked country and shares borders with South Sudan, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia and
Kenya. The Nile River is also flowing through the country.
It is one of the fastest growing countries in the world, when it comes to population. Also it is a country which was not colonized by any European country, about which they are really proud.
Addis Ababa, the capital is situated on an elevation over 2000m and the most important city of the country. The city is basically located in the center of the country.
Where did I stay?
During my stay in Ethiopia, or better in Addis Ababa, I was staying with a local person. This was possible, due to Couchsurfing. The host was living not too far from the center away, so it was able to also walk this way.
The apartment was located in a multiple family apartment. From the street, it was needed to walk in a side street, to reach the place.
How was the stay in the apartment?
To be honest, it was the worst place I was staying in. Now it was already over 100 different places. The apartment had a couch and a bedroom, so I was sleeping in the living room, where the couch was located.
The apartment had no kitchen and no bathroom, the bathroom was shared with other families and in the time I was there, it was not cleaned once. I am coming from the cleaning business and besides the fact that it was a squatting toilet. It was not able to go on it, due to a high disgusting level. I was searching a toilet in the city
How was my host?
My host was in general a nice person, who was well known in the neighborhood. In general he had many experiences through the application, still I think that he uses it to benefit from it.
He owned a shop, where he was selling illegal copied movies, series and games. Also in his shop, there were many people, playing some games for little money. The shop was near busy areas.
He went out with me a few times, but always wanted me to pay for everything, Couchsurfing is not about that. I personally don’t have a problem inviting my host, but I don’t like, when they push me to do so.
It was an overall good experience, when it is only about the host itself and not the living conditions, because they were sadly quite terrible.
What are things to do?
The probably biggest thing to do is visiting Addis Mercato, it is the biggest open air market in Africa. Even if you don’t plan to buy something, it is interesting to visit and look around it. People who are carrying impressive amounts of goods and just seeing the size of the market are worth visiting.
In the capital there it is possible, finding many churches and museums is possible. Probably the most famous is the national museum and the Medhane Alem Cathedral.
Trying out local dishes and drinking some Ethiopian coffee, which is for many people the best coffee in the world. For me personally, it was the only coffee I was ever liking, it is because I am not a coffee person.
What not to do?
A big tip from me is clear! BE CAREFUL WITH THE STREETFOOD.
I personally make this mistake way too often and I have already suffered four times with food poisoning.The first of the four, was in Ethiopia. There were many possibilities of how it might be happening.
I ate street food, made with oil, street food which was too long in the sun and food with creamy sauces. All of these could have been causing the food poisoning. In general it is possible, due to not high hygiene and because Addis Ababa is a dirty city, which is not making it better.
I would also not recommend, even when locals do it, to eat the raw meat. The meat is waiting the whole day in the sun, to be eaten.
The beauty of the country will not be found in Addis Ababa. For this you need to travel a bit outside of the capital region, to find them. Not spending too much time, when not available, in the capital would be ideal.
How was my experience?
I did not have much time in Ethiopia, because of my work and just a week of vacation. It was also because the host was not really motivated to do that much stuff.
Basically was wandering around the city and tried to be able, catching up as much things from the culture, as possible.
The locals I met were really nice and super chill, so they stayed good in my memory. Addis Ababa, in general, is in my opinion not a beautiful city, too much suffering is everywhere. The city is full of traffic and people, who don’t care about keeping it clean.
The smell of the city, while walking through, was honestly very bad and not great to have it in your nose.
Summary
Ethiopia, a country which I visited for a short amount of time, a few weeks before the pandemic was changing the world and also gave this country way more problems.
I personally don’t think that I was using my time wisely, when thinking about traveling and exploring a country. I was living with locals and was spending the whole time with locals, without really doing anything touristic. In addition to that, I can say that I saw the country in a very local way, just not really exploring anything. This is going to happen in the future.
Addis Ababa is a city, which is great for good flight connections in that region, but not really worth visiting. There are many cities, which are worth more, when it comes to being a city to visit. Even in Ethiopia, there are many places, which are worth more to visit.
In the capital, you are able to see people basically dying on the streets and a lot of trash as well. Also important to know, that for Ethiopia, a week is for sure not enough. When you want to experience the country in a good way.
I don’t want to talk about Addis Ababa too badly, because the city has stuff to visit, just my experience was not the best and also it was more likely the surrounding as well. With having a lot of trash and a stressful city in general, it is not easy to completely dive into it and enjoy it at its fullest.
I would love to hear your experiences about this place, or questions. Share it with me in the comments.
Ethiopia Stories: Living with Locals – Addis Ababa
