ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
Addis Ababa is the capital of Ethiopia. It is undergoing rapid development, with numerous new modern buildings. It is also at an elevation of 7500-8000 feet above sea level, so like many other highland areas of Ethiopia, it has a year-round mild climate.

First of all, an example of the new development with many buildings under construction...



Addis Ababa had just started a couple of (mostly elevated) light rail lines, though (so far) trains were infrequent and crowded.



A newer neighborhood (about 4 miles from the city center)...



Nearby in a more typical suburban neighborhood...



An upper-class (with each yard/house gated) neighborhood, yet with someone transporting sheep on foot...



Here's a house in an upper class neighborhood...



Nearby in this neighborhood is the North Korean embassy (something that doesn't exist in the US)...



There was a small display in front...



Here is a large Ethiopian Orthodox church in Addis Ababa...







Note some jacarandas blooming in the background here...



View away from the church (with the statue, plants and (probably) part-time fountain...



One of the interesting things about Ethiopia is the dates and times. The dates differ from the US because the use the Julian versus Gregorian calendar, so their calendars reflect a date about 7 1/2 years earlier than most other countries. Therefore, it was still 2008 in Ethiopia (instead of early 2016)! Note below, the "2008" with the Amharic script but "2016" with the English script.



Regarding the times, they are offset 6 hours, so that days begin and end at 12:00 (same with the nights--and at their latitude, days are approximately 12 hours all of the year). Here's a street parking sign in Amharic and English reflecting the differences in the times between the two scripts...



One thing that's common in Ethiopia is the use of khat, a stimulant which is considered to be mildly narcotic. The leaves of the khat tree are sold in stores (usually wrapped up in banana leaves to be better preserved), including this one in Addis Ababa...



There was an interesting museum in Addis Ababa which had information about the "Red Terror" regime that lasted from 1976 until 1991. They included skulls from people killed with pictures and possessions of the people from when they were still alive.



A common and native tree in Addis Ababa, the large-leafed dragon tree (Dracaena steudneri)...



Another common and native tree, the East African cordia (Cordia africana)...







All of the above pictures on this page were taken in March 2016 by Brandt Maxwell.

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