Museums

While we didn't spend a whole lot of time sightseeing in Addis (as we preferred to spend any extra time we had visiting our boys), we did have the opportunity to visit a couple of museums. The first museum we visited was the University Museum located on the campus of Addis Ababa University. The building housing the museum, as well as the University's Institute of Ethiopian Studies, was formerly Emperor Haile Selassie's royal palace. Here we learned a lot about Ethiopian history and the background of various regions and people groups.

The second museum that we visited was the National Museum of Ethiopia. This museum is famously displays "Lucy", one of the oldest human fossils. Known as "Dinkenesh" in Ethiopia, this partial skeleton was found in the Afar region of eastern Ethiopia in 1974. The name Lucy was reportedly given to her as the Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" was played loudly and repeatedly on a tape recorder at the archaeologists' camp the night they celebrated her discovery. The museum also houses various art and artifacts from throughout the country.

Another place we visited was Lion Zoo Park. This is a small zoo in central Addis Ababa. It was established in 1948 with a couple of lion cubs donated by Emperor Haile Selassie. The park also exhibits baboons, lesser kudu, tortoises, monkeys, rabbits, ducks, and some fish, but of course the main attractions are the 23 lions.