At about 2,350 metres, Addis Ababa is one of the highest capitals on Earth, and you feel it in the first hour: the sun is strong, the air is thin and cool, and a flight of stairs is a small event. The city sits in a bowl of eucalyptus-covered hills, founded in the 1880s by Emperor Menelik II and his wife Taytu, whose name for it, the new flower, stuck. It is a sprawling, restless, cheerful place, and the pace of building is astonishing.
Traffic is the main thing to understand. Blue minibus taxis stop wherever they like, pedestrians cross in streams, goats and donkeys appear, and lane markings are advisory. Ride defensively, keep your distance and use the horn like a language. The Ring Road is quicker but tough, and the new light rail and expressways are changing the map every year. The rainy season runs roughly from June to September, with heavy afternoon downpours that turn gutters into streams, while October to February is dry, bright and ideal.
Do not miss the National Museum, which holds the skeleton of Lucy, the famous 3.2-million-year-old hominin found in the Afar region in 1974, known locally as Dinkinesh, meaning you are marvellous. The Merkato, said to be among the largest open-air markets in Africa, is a maze to enter only with a guide. Then take the road up Entoto, the hill behind the city, where eucalyptus smoke hangs in the air and women carry impossible loads of firewood down the slopes, and where the old churches and the view over the city repay the climb.
Fuel is available throughout the city, but outside it, queues and shortages can occur, so fill up whenever you can. Coffee is a point of pride, since the plant is native to Ethiopia, and a traditional ceremony, with the beans roasted in front of you and served in three rounds, is an hour well spent. Pair it with injera and a plate of tibs, and the ride that begins here is already worth it.