Our Trip Part 2: Museums

We visited a few museums in Addis Ababa, and they provided a good overview of the country’s history and culture. We had a guide at each museum, and they made the tours much more interesting. You tip them at the end for their services. We usually gave 100-200 Birr, but I know some people gave more.

Ethnological Museum – This museum was housed in Emperor Salassie’s former palace on the grounds of Addis Ababa University. The museum highlighted various aspects of Ethiopian life and culture. In addition, it had a nice collection of religious art. Our guide was a great college student.

National Museum – This was our first outing in Ethiopia. The National Museum is the museum that houses Lucy. The basement is dedicated to paleontology, and our guide was very thorough in this area. The rest of the museum contains Ethiopian art and artifacts. By the time we made it out of the basement, my jetlag had hit and I was more focused on staying awake than on what our guide was saying.

Museum at Entoto Mountain (not the actual name) – A small museum set on the grounds of Emperor Menelik's palace. Again we had a very friendly guide.