Founded by Emperor Menelik in 1887, Addis Ababa translates as "New Flower", an epithet even its most ardent admirers would raise an eyebrow at today.

Beautiful, Addis Ababa is not. Intriguing - yes. Bemusing - definitely. Chaotic - of course. The city blends traditional with modern. It has been described by the Ethiopian government as "a surprising mixture of the Near East, the Mediterranean and the Wild West".

For many visitors, the first surprise about Addis Ababa is the climate. At 2400m, it is reputedly the world's second-highest capital city and the breezy highland weather (soggy, even, during the wet season) is far removed from most people's stereotypical images of Ethiopia.

As the capital of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and the regional headquarters of the United Nations , Addis Ababa might be expected to represent an archetype of bland African urban planning. Instead, any familiar elements in its make-up are sublimated by the idiosyncratic and self-absorbed nature of Ethiopian highland culture. The city is also steeped in a brand of Christianity as eccentric as it is antiquated, while the cuisine, music, language and script - you name it - it's all unique.

Streetwise
Addis Ababa rewards whimsical exploration, taking occasional respite in the superb coffee and pastry shops that beckon from every other street corner. The city centre has less character perhaps than the Piazza, where trendy clothes shops and restaurants rub shoulders with myriad seedy but welcoming bars and grimly downmarket guesthouses. The labyrinthine Mercato, reputedly Africa's largest open-air market, is a great place to buy handicrafts, local music cassettes - and bushels of mildly narcotic khat leaf, chewed with admirable dedication by the country's Muslim population.
North-east of the Piazza, the National Museum displays a fantastic collection of indigenous treasures, ranging from a pre-Christian statue of a medusa-like goddess from Yeha to a replica of the 3.5 million-year-old hominid skull of Lucy. Equally absorbing, the Ethnographic Museum at Siddist Kilo is housed in a former palace of Emperor Haile Selassie - within roaring distance of the caged descendants of the imperial lion pride.

Excursions
Addis Ababa lacks the pedigree of more ancient Ethiopian capitals such as Axum and Lalibela, but there is some worthwhile historical sightseeing to be done in the area. An excellent day trip south of the capital would combine a visit to the monolithic rock-hewn church of Adadi Maryam (excavated in the 12th century and still in active use today) with a field of roughly contemporaneous pagan stelae at nearby Tiya.
For nature lovers, the Gefersa Reservoir, 20km west of Addis Ababa, hosts several bird species endemic to the Ethiopian Highlands, notably the blue-winged goose and Rouget's rail. Nearby, the underrated Menegasha Forest supports numerous rare forest birds, the jet-black Menelik's bushbuck and the magnificent black-and-white colobus monkey. A 90-minute drive north of the capital, the Muga River Gorge provides a taster of the immense scenery of the northern highlands, with a good chance of encountering the endemic gelada - a spectacular grass-eating proto-baboon with a red chest-patch and flowing leonine mane.