BULLDOZED! Buffet De La Gare. Alas, it is no more!

BULLDOZED! Buffet De La Gare. Alas, it is no more!


BULLDOZED! Buffet De La Gare. Alas, it is no more!

It used to be the hangout for the ultra-hip of Addis. The place to see and be seen. Afework Tekele described it as “a small international café with all the trimmings that you find in such similar places, be it in Hong Kong, Paris or New York…You meet all kinds of people from all spectrum[s] of life. I think it is a kind of melting pot.” It was the centre of city life and “the hipster place of Addis Abeba in the 1970s and 80s.” Buffet De La Gare. Alas, it is no more!  A casualty of development, it was bulldozed yesterday to make way for the La Gare Eagle Hills development.


In-Picture

DIMMING FLASHBACKS

A retired red BMW and a well-worn sofa still in use sit side-by-side around CMC. Relics of past journeys, their faded forms rich with memories, now they sit as outdoor junk. Addis Abeba generates approximately 750,000tns of municipal solid waste annually with an average per capita household waste of 0.45kg a day. Most of it is dumped in landfills, although illegal open dumping and burning remain widespread practices. Landfills and neighborhoods are increasingly burdened by plastic waste and used...


In-Picture

BACK TO THE FUTURE

A man walks his donkeys around Abrehot Library, Arat Kilo, Addis Abeba's newly upgraded neighbourhood, where sleek asphalt and modern architecture meet the timeless pace of animal transport. With nearly 10 million donkeys, Ethiopia ranks number one in the world for its donkey population, a testament to their enduring role in the nation's economy. Modern corridor developments in Addis Abeba, intended for swift motorized transportation, stand in stark contrast to the continued reliance on donkeys...


In-Picture

FLAT LINES

A man is pouring water on the evenly queued Jerry cans, in the streets of Adey Abeba, around Saris. The city's 5.2 million residents require a staggering 1.3 million cubic meters of water daily. However, supplies stand at around 800,000 cubic meters. This has young men race door-to-door, selling jerry cans for around  40 Br.  While this fills immediate needs, it's just a quick fix to the city's deeper water crisis. Recent road development has resulted in water supply interruptions due to pipel...