About us

School links

Projects

Gap

Score Ethiopia

Guide to Ethiopia

Get involved!

Donate

While Addis Ababa can look like any other African capital city as regards its cars, taxis, lorries and bustle, elsewhere in Ethiopia, private transport is much rarer.

The roads, largely unmetalled, are chiefly a thoroughfare for people's feet, with many country people walking many miles per day to attain the nearby town or village. Carrying abnormal loads are the myriad donkeys, peacefully and patiently treading the daily route between home and market.

Public motorised transport consists of somewhat ancient taxis and busy minibuses, all of which drive with care anywhere on the road where they can avoid the ubiquitous potholes as well as weaving between people, donkeys, dogs and cattle.

In some centres, such as Gondar, the gari is an important and inexpensive way of moving people and goods from place to place. These two-wheeled, horse-drawn carts are hardly sophisticated in their design or indeed condition, yet they have served their purpose for centuries and provide a very definite 'local colour'.

It must be said that the national carrier Ethiopian Airlines is one of the most efficient and comfortable on the African continent and Addis Ababa is a major hub of travel between African countries and out into the wider world.

---