Iconographic Addis Ababa

Spent the day in Addis Ababa's Holy Trinity cathedral, the National Museum (to see Lucy, the oldest hominid skeleton ever found)  and the Ethnological museum - both of which appear, at least form the outside to be past their prime and not that interesting.

Holy Trinity was OK, as was the national Museum,  but the Ethnological Museum was by far the best experience - stuffed with artifacts relating to the lives of Ethiopians from different regions of the country. 

The cool thing is that you can take photos in the museum (although flash is not permitted) so we all had a grand time snapping away at the exhibits.  No flash? Easy with high ISO - most were shooting at 800, 1600 and even ISO 3200 to get sharp results in some of the darker corners of the museum. 

As you can see from these images, my absolute favourites were the religious icons. These are quite primitive compared to what you might expect to see from Russia and other Eastern Bloc countries, but nevertheless they have a cuteness about them that I found very endearing.

Very graphic images of what might happen if you don't toe the line...