Addis to Cape Town: a short introductionIn the beginning of this year I decided that I really wanted to graduate my Master's that I had put on hold two years ago to work and live in Nairobi. This meant that I needed to take time to lock myself up in the library and write my thesis, and I figured that I would go back to the Netherlands for the summer to do that, so I could also attend the wedding of one of my closest uni friends, spend some proper time with my family etc. So I talked to my managers and decided I would not renew my contract after April. And if you know me, I have become a pro at time management and decided I had some room in April to make a trip. So where should I go? I wanted to try and see two countries, since I had on my bucketlist to visit at least three new countries in 2018. I started looking for flights, and one place that had been on my mind for ages was Ethiopia. First things first, I love Ethiopian food. I can eat shiroo and some shekle tibs at any time of day! But besides that, Ethiopia's capital Addis Abeba is not far from Nairobi plus Ethiopian Airlines has some affordable tickets, especially with two destinations combined. I was doubting between Ethiopia & Oman, when another destination came up: Cape Town, South Africa. Eventually the universe (or maybe Ethiopian Airlines) decided for me when the tickets for Oman got more expensive a few days later and I decided on Cape Town. For some reason South-Africa had never been very high on my list, I think a combination of having been on safari's already, it seems very touristic and maybe even some uncomfortable feeling of South-Africa's past that played a role. But anyway, as soon as I mentioned to some people I was going to Cape Town everyone told me I was gonna have a great time. But you can read about that in another blog that you can find here. But let's start where I began the trip: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Addis Ababa 101 (AIRBNB)Addis is just a short flight away from Nairobi. I had booked an Airbnb close to the airport in advance and got a contact for a taxi driver, that came to pick me up that afternoon. Eden the Airbnb host is awesome, and so is the house + room. They have a nice appartment with a view over the city. The room is very big, the bed is comfortable and has it's own bathroom. In addition, there were little details that really made the stay even better: shampoo, bottles of drinking water, towels etc.
Unfortunately I couldn't get my phone 'activated' according to the Ethiopian Telecom dude it's because my dear Oppo [Chinese brand phone I got in Kenya] is a fake... Anyway we had Orthodox Easter (that they had celebrated the day before) leftovers for lunch: home-made dorowot & injera, YESSS it was so good, you could taste the love that was put in to it. After lunch chilled at the house for a bit. Then Eden and I went for sundowners at Effous, a pizza place turned hostel & rooftop bar with an almost 360 view over the city. I tried out the local beers and then we headed to Vendika, which is the place to be on a Monday as I was told. There was a live Jazz jam session which was really really good. The place was packed with a crowd of creatives, musicians, youngsters and expats and we enjoyed the live music with some honey wine, such a good time! (And so lucky to have a cool host like that!) Before we left Vendika had some late night tibs, but we couldn't make it too late because the next day I was taking an internal flight to the South of Ethiopia (see next blog!). Injera count on day 1: #2 Link to Eden and Shawn's Airbnb close to the airport in Addis: https://www.airbnb.nl/rooms/23889404
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