Author Archives: alan hudson

It’s Christmas Eve here in Ethiopia. In this deeply religious country Christmas is a very big deal, but a big deal in a rather different way than in the UK.

I was pleased to manage to get out of Addis this morning, a little bit at least. Shimeles, one of the DFID drivers, picked me up at 9am and we drove north past Arat Kilo and Siddist Kilo through Shiro … Continue reading →

Work has begun to get busy this week, after last week’s easing in to things. Lots of interesting stuff. Other than work … thursday night I went out with a couple of folks from DFID and the Foreign Office in … Continue reading →

This video could have been produced by the Addis Ababa tourist board – in fact it might have been. It only shows one side of Addis, and Addis is clearly not representative of the reality of life in much of … Continue reading →

A couple of contrasting nights out this week. Wednesday night – at the request of one of the folks I was going out with – I found myself at the Sheraton, the poshest hotel in Addis by some considerable distance. … Continue reading →

I’ve had a great weekend. Yesterday I met a couple of (new) friends for lunch at the Lime Tree, one of the main Addis hang-outs for expats (ferengi) and – as the guidebook says – “trendy locals”. Then I went … Continue reading →

Since coming across Graham Hancock’s “Lords of Poverty” in the lobby of the Hilton the other day, I had had a nagging feeling – not just about staying at the Hilton, but about Graham Hancock. The name rang a bell … Continue reading →