
If you need a break from the buzz from Addis and its high rising buildings and construction sites, go to Zoma Museum in Mekanisa. It’s a very relaxing haven of interesting vernacular and ecological architecture, a garden and a restaurant all in one package.
When I visited the place there were a lot of men chiseling stone so it felt that we were in a sound piece, surrounded by false banana plants and ginger. These dizzying forms of housing made out of mud, cow dung, straw and other organic materials in very detaled patterns added to the lovely strangeness of the experience. There were even cows! Well, naturally.
Zoma Museum is open every day except Mondays and has a gallery, library, children’s center, “edible garden”, restaurand & café, elementary school, art and vernacular school, amphitheatre and a museum shop.