2024

SATURDAY MARKET AND SALT CARAVANS

Markets

Mékélé is a hub for salt from Danakil. If you're hoping to come across a caravan delivering salt, you have to travel to the Danakil desert on Lake Assalé, or get to the salt market in Agulae, 35 km from Mékélé, early in the morning. A 4/5 kg block of salt sells for between 20 and 25 birr. Once free, the market is now organized into small corrugated iron stalls, which have lost some of their charm. The permanent spice market is well worth a visit.

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 Mékélé
2024

CONSTRUCTION MARKET

Markets

Monday is the day of one of Ethiopia's best-known markets, which has given its name to a pentatonic scale and numerous songs. Bati is a magical name, evocative of a thousand scents, an immemorial meeting of very different peoples - Afar, Oromo or Amhara - from the lowlands where the Awash River meanders or from the high plateaus of Wollo and Choa. Bati is a Wenna Dega, i.e. a medium altitude, and the temperature is very mild. The market is actually made up of three very different markets: the cereal market (tef, barley, wheat, oats and others), the livestock market (sheep, goats, zebus as well as camels and donkeys) and the all-public market where you'll find extraordinary varieties of honey, very good butter, very cheap and natural incense, woven and embroidered cotton clothes, very beautiful colored loincloths, very beautiful handmade jewelry, knives chiselled on makeshift forges of very good quality with goatskin sheaths sometimes reaching impressive sizes, medicinal clays reserved for women, green tomatoes, red onions, wickerwork mesob with lids used to present dishes, baskets and different kinds of honey alcohol or kosso as well as all sorts of things and of course a heap of colorful chinoiseries piled up under canvas to protect from the sun.

Before 10 a.m., it's cooler and less crowded, as people sometimes walk more than 5 hours from their homes to reach the market. Nomads are asked to leave their Kalashnikovs at home - which they do. There's no security problem, but it's good to be accompanied by a local or a friendly translator, who can help you take photos, for example, or negotiate decent prices, even if it means buying more for less. When you've made a deal, shake hands with the merchant and say "Gezo". You'll find nickel jewelry, but also silver, such as the beautiful 18th-century coins bearing the effigy of Maria Theresa of Austria, which served as the local currency and were often worn as pendants around the necks of Oromo women.

At the end of the market, when the heat is overwhelming, you can see the men quenching their thirst with tella (traditional light beer)... and with a bit of luck, an azmari will come along accompanied by his wife and her instrument. It's also possible to buy a bundle of khat and offer it to Ethiopian friends.

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 Bati
2024

FISH MARKET

Markets

The Awassa fish market, 1 km south of the Lewi Resort, is held every morning from 6.30 am. In this auction port, fishermen negotiate their night's catch, mainly tilapia and catfish, fish that testify to the richness of the lake's waters. In addition to the buyers, the boats bring with them countless hungry birds, including the inevitable marabouts, always ready to collect their pittance without the slightest effort. Monday and Thursday are market days in town.

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 Awassa
2024

CAMEL MARKET

Markets
A huge, picturesque camel market open every Monday and Thursday morning, ... Read more
 Babillé