Ethiopia is a country located on the Eastern-side of Africa. It’s arguably incorrect to say that Ethiopia is in East Africa, because East Africa (like Uganda, Kenya, etc.) is an actual region, and so Ethiopia is better-classified as being a part of the “Horn of Africa”. In fact, Ethiopia is kind of that one cool kid in high school that did its own thing. Here’s why I say that:
So yeah, crossing my fingers that these facts above will help me win a PBR at the next Trivia Night.
How I Got There
As usual whenever I travel, I either take a United flight or search for the cheapest flight on kayak.com. I wrote an article about how I stick to flying on United as much as possible to cash out big with my miles.
For this trip, I flew from Kilimanjaro to Addis Ababa on Ethiopian Airlines. (Yes, member of Star Alliance, just like United!)
Here are my top 3 favorite things to do in Ethiopia:
1. Addis Ababa
The capital. The largest city. The home base for Ethiopian Airlines, member of Star Alliance. That’s Addis Ababa.
Ok, two parts – this first is the National Museum of Ethiopia. I’m not a huge fan of museums, but better-understanding the history and the eventual split between Ethiopia and now Eritrea was very interesting.
National Museum of Ethiopia
The second part was making it up to the top of Mount Entoto. Along the way, we stopped by coffee stands. They actually do call them “coffee ceremonies”.
Mount Entono
Coffee Ceremonies
Being caffeinated at the top of Mount Entono wasn’t exactly perviously on my bucket list, but that surely deserved a 5-star Yelp review from Wilson Wei.
2. Chamo Lake
This was more of a specific tour to see the crocodiles – but we drove down from Addis Ababa and arrived in the southern town of Arba Minch.
Arba Minch Hotel
Not a bad view at breakfast at our hotel in Arba Minch. And sorry for saying it for the bajillionth time in this blog post, but the coffee was good.
After breakfast, we toured around Chamo Lake and saw clusters of crocodiles everywhere. Scary, I know.
Chamo Lake
Pictured left to right: Me, my friend Rahwa, the tour guide boat driver, and Mehowie (Rahwa’s sister)
Quick shoutout to my very good Ethiopian-American friend, Rahwa. She inspired me to stop by while she was visiting family and while I was in the middle of an Africa journey.
3. Eating Injera
Seriously.
What the heck is injera? Actually – I had already known what was injera, but it’s like when you eat Dim Sum in Hong Kong versus when you eat Dim Sum in San Francisco Chinatown, it’s just not the same.
A fork-less dish that you eat with your hands, injera made it to having it’s own section on this blog.
The “toppings” here are vegetarian. A lot of sautéed veggies, pickled veggies, and beans. This was so good.
Injera with Meat Sauce
How do you eat injera? Well you use your hands to rip off a piece of injera, then snag some beef using the injera like a blanket, then eat.
I ate injera everyday for a week and didn’t get tired of it. Not saying that 2nd week-Wilson in Ethiopia would say the same, but I guess we’ll never know. Stand by.
Beef Marinated in Sauce
Pork Recipe
Last one was my personal favorite. It looks kind of gross at first, but the pork and veggies were sautéed with garlic, and the brainy-looking red ball was another pork recipe. It was so delicious!
I love it when the food is a huge part of the culture. I have never seen a single, national dish that was so important to a country the way injera is to Ethiopia.
Where I Stayed
I took that tour in Chamo Lake and stayed at the hotel arranged by the tour group, but in Addis Ababa, I stayed in an Airbnb.
By the way, I wrote a separate article on How I Choose Where I Stay when I Travel.
If I Had More Time, I Would Have…
Closing Remarks
I’m really glad I stopped by for a quick visit to Ethiopia. Although the Instagram game for the country isn’t the most appealing, I was mostly impressed by the culture. Sure, hopping on a mini-bus in the country felt very similar to hopping on a mini-bus in Uganda or Egypt. But Ethiopia is just another world in the African continent.
For one, the language and the food are unique. You can’t find another country where the national dish is injera or where the national language is Amharic. Several aspects of the country are all one-of-a-kind, and that’s what I really liked about Ethiopia.
