Skip to content

Joey Goes Global

ESL and Travel Blog of Joey Tafuro

Menu
  • Mission
  • Photos
  • Social Media
  • Past Trips
  • Contact
  • Videos
Menu

The Merkato

Posted on January 13, 2011 by admin

I recall Anthony Bourdain saying that the first place a person should go when arriving into a new town is the local market. It is in the market that you get a feel for the people. Addis Ababa is home to the Merkato, Africa’s largest open air market. It was one of two things I told myself I must do before leaving Addis this time. The other is to check out the night life. I meant to see the merkato my first time through in 2007 but I ended up passing on it.

Before leaving I had been warned by fellow blogger Adrienne-is that the merkato was nothing special and that she didn’t care for it. I told her that I’ll go ahead and see for myself and let her know. Well, after spending the morning wandering through its many streets of import knock-offs, textiles, spices and animal carcasses, I decided for myself that this could have been skipped once again and I wouldn’t have missed much. The merkato is a mess of people and very uninteresting in terms of a market. The size is about the only thing it has. I’ve been more impressed with the souqs of Marrakesh, which may not be as big as the merkato but pack a much greater cultural punch.

After about 2 hours I was spent from the dust, dirt and odor of Addis Ababa’s heart. I didn’t carry much with me since I’ve been warned of pick pockets and scammers in the merkato. I did bring my camera but was reluctant to take it out for fear of drawing attention. It was bad enough having to say no to thank you to every self employed tour guide in the market.

2 thoughts on “The Merkato”

  1. Adrienne says:
    January 13, 2011 at 6:33 am

    Visiting Merkato is more about what you find there and not about what you can see. It is not pleasing to the eye, but if you need something in particular you can surely get it. While I don’t like Mekato, there are some excellent items to bring back. I love the necklace I had made.

    Get in touch with my friend Mika before you leave. His website with email contact is ethiopianwinetrek.com. Tell him you are a friend of mine.

    Reply
  2. Lisa Heuer says:
    January 13, 2011 at 8:01 pm

    What? No animal carcasses for your friends back home?!? Truly, one can never have enough.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Learn English: Present Continuous
  • Warm-up Activity using For & Since
  • 5 Years Later: Joey Goes Global on ABC News!
  • Survival (teaching the infinitive)
  • ESL Lesson Plan: Relative Pronouns (no preparation)

Recent Comments

  • jtafuro on Wake up Mr. Joe, time to write!
  • Holly on Wake up Mr. Joe, time to write!
  • Eka Nasution on Why tourists are wrong about Medan
  • Hargeisa, Somaliland: getting there and away | Laila On The Road on From Harar to Hargeisa: The Border Crossing
  • Soso on Are you a Muslim or Christian?

Archives

  • April 2016
  • February 2016
  • February 2014
  • March 2013
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • January 2007
  • March 2005

Categories

  • Africa and SE Asia 2007
  • Colombia 2009
  • Food in Medan
  • Horn of Africa 2010
  • Indonesia
  • Learning Bahasa Indonesia
  • Middle East 2011
  • Morocco 2005
  • Random Thoughts
  • Savings Tips
  • School
  • South East Asia 2011
  • teaching
  • TEFL Related
  • Travel Inspiration
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
© 2023 Joey Goes Global | Powered by Superbs Personal Blog theme