Asosa, Ethiopia
Before the Most Traveled People summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a few of us decided to take side trips in the country. Upon arrival in Addis after flying in from Juba, we spent the night in the Jupiter hotel near the airport. Then, bright and early at 5:30 we met to head back to the airport for our flight to Asosa in the state of Benishangul-Gumaz in the far west of the country.
This is one of the lesser visited states of Ethiopia, which is of course why I wanted to visit. Upon arrival, our guide took us to the village of Abramo where we were able to see the homes as well as listen to the local music. Normally I hate interactions like this because they are very staged and feel a bit like a human zoo. However, with this being a much less touristy area, it felt slightly more authentic. In some places in Ethiopia you have to pay after each picture.
After the village we visited the house of the traditional local leader, a building which doubles as the courthouse since part of the leader’s role is settling disputes and trying criminals.
Then we headed to a restaurant to have a coffee, and some people decided to eat a bit. There are many NGOs operating in this state, and at the restaurant we saw a delegation from the German Red Cross.
After lunch the Asosa Renaissance Museum was open. The building is quite imposing, designed after the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam that has recently been constructed in the state near the start of the Blue Nile River. The museum is still under construction, but there are already exhibits with local art and tools as well as information about the dam. There also seems to be a cultural village being constructed in the back.
We learned that the primary economic drivers of the area are gold mining, bamboo, and granite.
After the museum, we headed up the hill outside of town to get a view of the city. There is also a military base out here so we had to be a bit careful about the photos. The views were quite pleasant.
Afterwards we headed back to the airport, a bit early because one of our group mates was missing his bag and others needed to get paper boarding passes.
All around, I had a very pleasant day in the vicinity of Asosa. The area does not have any particularly large draws for tourism. However, sometimes it’s nice to visit these places for its untouched beauty and friendly locals. Nonetheless it was a very