Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Loads of Addis Ababa

When we got off the plane, the differences between the city of Addis compared to other cities I have lived in were stark. However, time passes and the astounding becomes the normal. 

In thinking of ideas to blog about, I tried to relook at these streets through my American eyes and one thing that these crowded roadways do not lack is some ingenious transporting. 

This post is dedicated to recognizing the masterminds behind these loads. Though not always safe, and an American would maybe choose to take it in five loads, it takes some serious genius to move so much at one time.

Photo quality isn’t great as most of them were taken from my phone through vehicle windows.

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Typical to Isuzu style, usually stuffed beyond all possibility and accompanied by a man or two to keep the load safe.

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Taking this picture from inside our van, you miss at least the top 1/3 of this load. This is a mini bus and as most people travel by public transport, the loads that don’t fit inside are piled on the top.

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Many sodas and also much produce is transported through the city and delivered from the beds of small pick up trucks.

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This is doubled over rebar. From what I can tell, it seems secured in by one rope at the top and one near the bottom. Probably best not to follow along too closely behind this truck.

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This little treat we think was a converted minivan, redesigned with a flat bed.

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"Oh no, I have to taxi somewhere with two large tractor tires." No problem.

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Four men rode atop this load. I don’t know where they came from but I hope it wasn’t through the mountains.

But my favorite loads to see in the city, are hands down from the converted Toyota trucks. They are merkato (largest open air market in Africa happens to be located in Addis Ababa) vehicles.

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The beds haul an extremely high volume of passengers with all their market wares on top. 

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Get a good look at that vehicle remodel. I’m relatively certain that only a Toyota could handle the modifications.

While I believe all Merkato trucks get honorable mention...

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This, is my grand prize winner.

 

Stay tuned for the loads carried without engine power.

 

7 comments:

Todd ~ Teresa said...

These are hilarious! We agrea, the last picture is the prize winner. There's even people inside the bed of the truck. The safety of the men on top of loads is sure questionable. Also....on a side note, your family photo in your last post is really cute. Your hair looks nice...your bangs have grown out!

leah said...

hahaha, i love this! :)

Christen Leigh said...

So crazy!! :)

Anonymous said...

woah!! incredible how they can stack everything on top and keep on stacking and stacking some more. I had to wonder, do you ever see where a vehicle tipped over or the load came off the top from being stacked so high? My, how they do things! Never a dull moment, thats for sure, right??!!

Thanks for the pictures!! love ya, heidi

Mindy said...

Too funny! Brings back so many memories of Addis!

Anonymous said...

Looks just like Haiti, but I never remember to take pictures!!! Thanks for yours.............Lisa

Anonymous said...

The traffic police are there to watch birds, they don't have time for this kind of stuff. If I was the city administrator I would fire them all.