Addis Ababa- Finally made it down to sub-Saharan Africa after a completely sketchy 24 hour excursion to Bahrain to get a first-hand glimpse into the repression there-story forthcoming. The internet connectivity situation here in Addis does not seem so great and I came to the Sheraton just to use the wifi. I spent the first night in the Taitu Hotel, a classic old clap trap in a bit of a dodgy area and quickly switched to the Ras whose claim to fame is that Nelson Mandela once stayed there while on the run from South African authorities way back when. My first impression of Ethiopia is a place with a magnificent history and immense poverty in the present, though it has obviously come a long way since the dreadful images of the Derg era from my childhood. I suppose Ethiopia is sort of sub-Saharan Africa for beginners the way Cairo is a soft introduction to the Arab world for the uninitiated (in terms of safety, accessibility, tourism etc).