Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, is itself an exciting and unique place to explore.

The city was founded by the Emperor Menelik II in 1887 and gave it the name Addis Ababa which means "New Flower". The Entoto hills that surround Addis Ababa have long been a center of Shoa.

There is also a legend that the rulers of Axum fled to Entoto during the purgative reign of Queen Yodit. Medieval links between Entoto and the Zagwe capital of Lalibela are confirmed by two 12th or 13th century rock-hewn churches within 10 km of the city center, one of which is barely 2km from the site Menelik chose for an Entoto capital a few years before he moved in to the valley which is now Addis Ababa.

In addition to the rock-hewn churches, there are several museums in Addis, most notably the National Museum. The museum exhibits a copy of the skeletons of 'Lucy' or Dinqinesh a hominid women of the species Australopithecus afaransis who had lived in Hadar in Eastern Ethiopia about 3.5 million years ago. The museum also contains wonderful artifacts dating to the South Arabian period of the so- called pre-Axumite civilazation.

From the National Museum, a five-minute walk brings you to the Loin House where it can be certain of seeing the Abyssinian lion. The Institute of Ethiopian Studies and the Ethnological Museum are found in the former palace of H.I.M. Haile Selassie I, which is now the main campus of Addis Ababa University. There is also the Menelik Mausoleum built in 1911 and the Trinity cathedral in 1941 that both serve as tombs of emperors, princes and martyrs. The liberty monument, built to commemorate Ethiopia's liberation from the five years of Italian occupation stands between the Ministry of Education and the Science Faculty of Addis Ababa University.

Martyr's square, erected to commemorate the thousands who died in the hands of the fascists in the retaliation for a bomb thrown by two Ethiopians, is found about 2 kilometers from the Liberty Monument. Addis Ababa has also many restaurants and side cafes and Merkato is also of great interest because it is the biggest open-air market in Africa where there are many shops kiosks where it can be found anything.

Addis Ababa is also host to many international organizations like the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Organization of Africa Unity (OAU).

Five main roads leave the city and each of them has its own distinctive character and its own point of interest. Both the northern routes lead through pastoral highlands to the beginning of the great gorges so characteristic of the central plateau. The road due west is very similar but to the south west the road winds through lush green coffee country towards the rainforests of the tropical highlands; to the south through acacia woodlands and between volcanic lakes of the great rift valley, forking east-wards, the road descends to the warmer climate of sugar plantations and citrus groves, through savannah bush and eventually to the great expanse of desert.