After settling into Addis Ababa by spending a few hours at the National Museum, and the Ethnological Museum set within the former palace of Haile Selassie on the grounds of Addis Ababa University, we decided to head to the top of the Entoto mountains that surround the capital city.
The steep drive to the top of Mount Entoto at 3,200 metres above sea level takes some time in our little cab. We spend it chatting about the country, the government, life in general. The mountain is covered with trees that I do not recognize, yet the sweet smell from the forest is inviting and familiar. Our driver lets me know that the trees were brought from Australia in the 1800’s and planted along the mountainous countryside, but he can’t remember their name. With my ancestry from the land down under, I hazard a guess…
“Eucalyptus?”
“yes, yes…that is it!”
Women are carrying huge bundles of tree branches down the mountain to the city to be sold. Eucalyptus holds many healing properties in it’s leaves and bark, and I form a theory that the peacefulness of the city can be somewhat attributed to the constant smell of burning Eucalyptus trees from the cooking fires in the homes below.
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| Oldest Ecucalpytus tree in Addis Ababa. *****
As we arrive at the top, we find the holy St. Mary’s church and shrine to Abeto Menelik II, Emperor to Ethiopia, founder of Addis Ababa, and considered by many to be the most powerful black person in history.
The museum houses riches beyond measure, yet there is no State of the Art security system. The respect for the holiness of the artifacts is security enough it would seem.
We walk on the grounds, enter the rooms of the great Emperor that still remain.
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As we overlook the city below, I turn to see a woman worshipping next to a great tree below the church.
The sense of a great spiritual journey ahead was starting to form…
You certainly can sense some sort of spirit through your photos and video from this perch. I can just smell the eucalyptus now.