Ok so after I arrived in Addis I had a 3 day wait until my travel buddy arrived. I’d promised Jamila that I would go and see any of the major sites without her. So I just chilled out and had a walk around the streets just trying all the different food. Ethiopian food has been one the major surprises of the trip so far. They have a dish called Tibs which is similar to Mexican Fajitas. Spicy is the name of the day everything has a kick to it!!! Tibs is served with bread called Injera, it’s like a cross between Crumpets and Roti. So finally Jamila arrived, and we got to see the sights of Addis. We firstly went to see the Holy Cathedral which is the also known as the Selassie Church. Selassie was a leader of Ethiopia in the 40’s, he was eventually made a saint and is hero in Ethiopia. He’s buried here and it was quite moving to see his tomb. There is a lot of Ethiopian that Ill have to explain firstly before Selassie importance makes sense. Ethiopia was the only African country that actually kept its independence. The Italians invaded briefly joining the Second World War but apparently this doesn’t count??? I’ve found in Ethiopia is that foreigners are treated very well and you get to go into places that locals aren’t allowed. We also went around the museum and the crowns and jewels that were there was a match for the Crown Jewels!! Really beautiful. I couldn’t believe how low security there was??There was alot to see in Addis, normally capitals are boring. So we next headed to the Red Terror Museum. Although the information on what happened when Ethiopia became a communist state the artefacts really brought home exactly how brutal the regime must have been. In a small room there was a massive pile of bones from victims of the bruatlity. Its quite shocking to see, but it really brings home the realitys of Africa.The main site in Addis is to see 'Lucy'!! She's 4.4 million years old and is the oldest remains of a human known in history. She must have only been 3ft tall. I did ask her if she knew Pat but she said her memory wasnt as good as it used to be. This museum was great, it told the story of how they think man came to be and its believe that the first humans lived in either Ethiopia or Uganda.Addis is a very safe and vibrant city, it has loads of great quirks like the blue Lada taxi and the largest market in Africa, the Martato!! It said in the guide book if you were going to get robbed in Ethoipia it will be here. They were so wrong, it was great people were really freindly and the market was mad, u could get anything here I swear!!

I learnt already that Ethiopia is probably top three in the most misundestood countries in the world. All everyone remember are the famine in the 80's and starving children. Ethiopia is a very green land, its like Scotland and it rains most of the time. One day it will be the most visited country in Africa I think, but for now it remains the jem of Africa!!!