Must See Ethiopia - Addis Ababa

Of the 5 million people who live here, 3 million have arrived since the 1991 revolution. Founded in 1887, the city was almost abandoned due to lack of fuel until eucalypts were introduced to the area. A huge, sprawling place, it has very few street signs beyond the main strip, Churchill Ave.

The Ethnographic Museum is an ideal place to start learning about Ethiopia's rich ethnic diversity. The National Museum is much smaller, but it does have the fossils of 3.5-million-year-old 'Lucy', perhaps our earliest ancestor. It is ranked among the most important sub-Saharan museums in Africa.

Africa Hall, designed as a monument to African independence, is the HQ for the United Nations Ecomonic Commission for Africa. Its huge, richly coloured stained-glass windows, by Ethiopian artist Afewerk Tekle, portray the history and diversity of Africa's peoples. Addis Ababa's Mercato is the largest market in East Africa. It's a sprawling mess of open-air stalls, where you can buy everything from vegetables to gold jewellery - keep an eye out for pickpockets.