Mr. & Mrs. Vandebilt + kids

Addis is the home of Africa’s first and largest outdoor market. The entire market covers an area that’s probably the size of Charlottetown. You can find anything and everything there. It’s nearly impossible to find your way around and entirely probable that you will get lost and disoriented soon after entering.

While Markato is huge, it didn’t really have what I had expected it to have. The Chinese have had a major influence on Ethiopia since they’ve started developing here, and it seems they have taken over the market. Instead of being a traditional african market it now looks more like the dollar store. There are tons of cheap Chinese products, everything from cheap plastics to used motor parts.

The first time I was in Markato we went looking for traditional African fabric to make curtains with. We spent a couple of hours wandering around and still found nothing. It’s really quite sad that the market no longer offers African products.

The market is quite a shady part of Addis Ababa. There is quite a bit of homelessness around the area. It is also one of the prime locations for buying chat; the local way to get high. On almost every corner you can find people chewing on the leaves. It’s completely legal and available everywhere, but it’s quite prevalent in Markato.

Both times I went to Markato I had a local with me. I wouldn’t be at all comfortable in the market without one, since there is such a high concentration of poverty mixed with chat. The local is helpful to prevent us from getting pick pocketed, ripped off or just plain lost. Ethiopia like most developing countries has a local price and a foreigner price, unfortunately though the foreigner price here is about 8 times the local price.