Wheels of Addis

Having had a swift and strange breakfast (croissants, dumplings and broccoli), Jean-Pierre and I headed off for the first drum performance of the morning. It was early, the sun and mist were rising. It was also cold.

The drum performance was high up in a tower overlooking the city.

It happens at regular intervals throughout the day and has done so for years. The drums large and full of portent can be heard from afar and were used in the past to mark time - announcing the daily opening and closing of the city gates.

This particular morning, we were the only spectators and watched on in awe as the drum beats resonated through our cores; the drummers lit by the rising sun behind them.

It was a precarious climb back down the tower and we headed back to our hotel to meet our cousins Isabel and Michael Crook (mother and son).