Mythical delights

Ethiopia isn’t just about starving people and famine-struck villages. It boasts of museums, vibrant tribal life and historic tales. Aditi Krishnan provides a different perspective of the country.

One running gag goes, ‘How do you save an Ethiopian from drowning?’ The answer — ‘You throw him a polo.’ Think Ethiopia and most people will probably still conjure up in their mind’s eye, stark images of famine. A profusion of pictures went out to the world in an attempt to bring about aid to famine-struck Ethiopia in 1983-1984. Brazilian photographer Sebastio Salgado is credited for being instrumental in shocking the Western world into action with his photographs of famished Ethiopians. His moving montages compelled even musicians to rally around, culminating in the Live Aid phenomenon. Unfortunately, however, as one Ethiopian friend put it, “In the long run, these images have done more damage than good to the country’s image. People still think of Ethiopia as a starving nation.”

Ethiopia seems to be stuck with the image problem. It still has to reckon with famine and needs a hand with food aid but the lingering image is hugely unfair. The country is breathtakingly beautiful.  Myth and reality sit easily together in Ethiopia’s history, and in the minds of its people.

Ethiopia has so much to offer. In many parts, orthodox Christianity meets Islam at unexpected crossroads and is fascinating to observe. In the south, its tribes of south Omo are famous for its women who wear lip plates of varying sizes as a sign of beauty. The north and northwest, with its historical cities, is home to the fabled queen of Sheeba, who is supposed to have hailed from the ancient civilisation of Axum. The whole of Ethiopia is rife with tales of Biblical Solomon and Sheeba.  The southeast has given to the world an astounding number of paleontological discoveries including several early hominids.

While the south-eastern plains are supposedly searing hot, most of Ethiopia, in spite of being close to the equator, enjoys clement weather throughout the year. Some of the world’s oldest civilisations began in this ancient part of the world. This historical Ethiopian empire is often referred to as Abyssinia. It’s an old and fascinating land that is absolutely a budget traveller’s/backpacker’s dream in an otherwise expensive Africa. To go anywhere in Ethiopia, an excellent base would be Addis Ababa, its capital city. It is the perfect place to get acquainted with all things Ethiopian.

A good place to start for an overview we thought would be the National Historical Museum. We jumped into a taxi and asked to be taken there. Our affable taxi driver chatted with us incessantly and beamed, “So you come to see our Lucy.” The pride in his voice was unmistakable. The confusion in ours, equally apparent, and not a little shameful. Having just arrived, we had little time to skim through our guidebook assuming we’d figure things out as we went along perhaps, with the help of a guide.

Ethiopia’s National Museum attracts innumerable tourists who come here to get a glimpse of the world’s best-known hominid Lucy (also called Dinkenesh in Ethiopia’s official language, Amharic, meaning ‘you are amazing’), who is estimated to have lived 3.2 million years ago. Although, in later years, hominds from even earlier eras were discovered, Lucy’s early find in Hadar in the year 1974 had caused great excitement in the paleontological circles and the world in general. Hadar lies in the Great Rift Valley, a geographic trench that runs from Syria in the Middle East to Mozambique in Central Africa, is said to have spawned the beginning of civilisation. The valley cuts through Ethiopia and it is now widely acknowledged to be the cradle of civilisation.

The National Museum’s archive is now Lucy’s final resting place. Visitors, however, only get to see a replica. Divided into three floors, the museum attempts to run through most of Ethiopia’s history — beginning at the basement that gives one a thorough grounding on evolution from early hominids to modern homo sapiens to the third floor that attempts a representation through art, present day Ethiopia.

The second floor houses mostly replicas and some originals of artefacts from its various civilisations. It has a special corner room with paintings and crown jewels of its royal line, believed to have been direct descendents of Queen Sheeba. Our guide enthusiastically recounted tales of famine and the routing of the last king who is held  in general contempt for having thrown a lavish party while the rest of the country languished. Haile Selassie I, Ethiopia’s 20th century benevolent emperor’s endless virtues were extolled. More tales of Ethiopia’s numerous regents followed, making our heads spin, trying to keep track.

All the traipsing around and the information overload had made us peckish and more than a little thirsty. Flipping through our guide, after tipping our rather bashful guide and bidding him farewell, we realised that the watering hole we were pining for was in the same compound as the museum. Popping into the museum’s much-recommended restaurant, aptly named Lucy, was the work of an instant. The waitress smilingly recommended Ethiopia’s famous, gold-coloured honey wine or tej. Though unfamiliar to the palate and slightly grassy to taste, it quickly grew on us and we quaffed quite a few to quench our parched throats. We then decided to whet our appetite by ordering for what appears to be Ethiopia’s staple, injera. It is a sort of pancake or slightly sour dosa that is served during Lent with different vegetables or lentil-based curries. At other times, it has a variety of meat and vegetable servings.

And since Ethiopia also gave the world coffee or qawah, we decided to round off the meal with a traditional cuppa. In an aside, coffee ceremonies are elaborate communal affairs usually held during the evenings. Visitors are frequently invited to ceremonies, often by complete strangers, who willingly welcome you into their homes.

Satiated, next on our must-see list was the Ethnological Museum, which is a two-minute matatu (shared taxi) ride away from the National Museum and housed within the campus of Addis Ababa University, in what used to be a palace. The Ethnological Museum is excellent value for money. It gives you a fascinating insight into the history and current lifestyle of various tribes. Videos of coming- of -age rituals where young men have to run across without falling over a dozen oxen; jewellery displays such as the lip plates worn by the south Omo women and other artefacts, accompanied by titbits of interesting information, can keep one hooked for a couple of hours at least.

A peek into the zoo across the street that houses the much talked about Abbysinian lions was next on the itinerary. We dropped in out of sheer curiosity — we were told by many Ethiopians that the lions’ manes change colour with age from brown-orange to grey to black. We did see lions with orange and grey manes though we were far from thrilled. It was a dismal sight watching those majestic beasts prancing disconsolately in cramped cages with half of Addis’s weekend crowds gawking at them.

Mercato or New Market is another sight that should absolutely not be missed. The Addis Mercato is the world’s largest open-air market. The one big market mostly sells agricultural produce and also contains smaller markets, each of which sells a variety of items that include spices, traditional clothing, baskets, coffee and coffee pots, amongst many others.

The market area is huge, housing over 7,000 traders or shopkeepers. It is easy to get lost in this dirty yet fascinating area. It also just as easy to get mugged. To avoid such mishaps, it is recommended you take a reliable local along if you wish to explore its myriad exciting gullies. Laden with shopping bags, we headed late in the afternoon to Entoto Hill to watch the sunset. We ended the day with a beautiful bird’s-eye-view of the whole of Addis.
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