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Things to do in Addis Ababa

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Timkat is a religious festival celebrated by the Orthodox Christians  in Ethiopia, on 19th or 20th January in a leap year.  Timkat means Baptism and is a celebration of the baptism of Jesus in river Jordan by John the Baptist, the celebration of Epiphany. The festival occurs all over Ethiopia thus you can enjoy it in any town you may be in. I had the honour to attend the festival while in Addis Ababa and what an emotional  roller coaster it was. During the festival,  models of the Ark of the Covenant otherwise known as the Tabot, are removed from the Orthodox churches and carried to a designate water body by a select priest. A Tabot represents the Tablets given to Moses by God, that had the Ten Commandments inscribed on them. Every Orthodox church has one in safe keeping and it is not available for public viewing unless on…

I grew up learning about Ethiopia, previously known as Abyssinia, as it is a neighbour to Kenya. We learnt of how Ethiopians had managed to defend their borders from being colonized during the Scramble for Africa, how it was ruled by Emperors with one of the popular ones being Haile Selassie, that it has over 80 ethnic groups and how deeply cultural they are. It is for these reasons and more that led to my actual arrival into Ethiopia years later, with my first stop being Addis Ababa, the capital city. Highlights of my trip:  1) Witnessing a Coffee Ceremony: Whenever Ethiopians have a guest, they are honoured by sharing the “Coffee Ceremony”. They prepare a cup of coffee from scratch, the traditional way. The coffee beans which already have their husks removed are sorted and washed thoroughly. I didn’t  know they are almost cream in colour yet we grow…