Getting around Addis
This page was last updated on: May 24, 2008
Getting around Addis is easy once you know the options. I'll try to get a map to put here for you to download but in the meantime, I'm sure you can find one online somewhere (if you do find a good one, email me so I can try to link to it here).
General Orientation
Addis doesn't have one defined city centre area - there's Meskel Square, Kazanchis, Arat Kilo, Piassa and Bole Road which could all claim to be centres. There's lots of new buildings under construction (like Dublin a few years ago, just not so many big cranes on the skyline!).
The airport is Bole International Airport. We live in Haya Hulet, which is an area not far from Bole airport and also not far from Meskel Square.
Contract Taxi
The city's taxi fleet consists of lots of old Ladas and similar old cars, in blue and white. There are clusters of taxis waiting at various points and you can hail them down as they pass.
There's no meters so you have to negotiate a price for your trip before you get in. As a visitor, it's hard to know the going rate for a given journey; recent fuel price increases don't help with this either. Most taxi drivers will give a higher price to tourists and even locals almost always don't accept the first price offered.
We can give you a rough idea of prices at the time of the wedding. For now (May 2008), as a guide - we'd pay about B25 to get from Haya Hulet to Meskel Square or about B40 from Haya Hulet to Arat Kilo.
A good idea is to strike up a relationship with a particular taxi-driver who hangs around outside where you're staying - then they'll give you a good price if you're using them all the time. You can also use a taxi for the day and agree a price up front, which could be something like B200 for the day.
Line-Taxi
The line-taxis are mini-buses - like converted Hiaces or similar. They are also blue & white. They cover fixed routes, a bit like buses, but they pickup and drop off anywhere along the route. They usually don't overcrowd as the traffic police are on the lookout. The fares are cheap and fixed depending on how far you are going. For example, currently the fare from Haya Hulet to Meskel Square is B1.35 (they increase from time to time to account for fuel increases).
The drawback of these is that you need to know the routes and how to get to where you're going - you listen out for the guy leaning out of the taxi calling the destination!
However, if you're staying around Haya Hulet (where we live), it's not too hard to listen for certain calls - 'Mexico Stadium' if you want to go to Meskel Square, 'Arat Kilo Piassa' if you want to get to Arat Kilo or Piassa.
If you're in a group of up to 12 people or so going somewhere, you can 'contract' a line-taxi for the journey, agreeing a price with the driver - this would be cheaper than taking a few car taxis.