Which country is better - Ethiopia or Kenya?

Men - ethiopia

Variety- Kenya

Night Life- Kenya

Wealth/Civilisation-Kenya

Good Looking Women- Ethiopia( By far)

Military Might- Ethiopia

Education System-Kenya( One of the best in Africa)

Cities-Kenya( Nairobi is 2nd largest behind Cairo in africa

Running(Women Overall )- Ethiopia

Running(Men Overall)-Kenya

Scenary-Kenya(Indian ocean,Rift valley,Lakes,mountains)

Culture-Ethiopia(Othordox church history,rastafarrah)

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Both are blessed countries each in their own way.

Did you know that The KALENJIN originated from Ethiopia Highlands?

Umm... ever heard of Lornah Kiplagat, Pamela Jelimo, Catherine Ndereba?

Yes they are awesome ,but i have also heard of Bekele and haile G who are peerless on the men's side yet overall i will give the men's performance to kenya and the women's to Ethiopia.This is not about patriotism,it is about fairness.So examine things in a fair manner.

.... The people I named are to the women's running part...

Ethiopia has better looking men.

I know and i perfectly understood your logic.But i named the two Ethiopian top male to iulstrate to you that i was not talking about individual stars but i was analyzing the overall performances.If anything Ethiopia also has female stars i.e Defar,Dibaba,Tune etc.But as i said overall:-

Men-kenya

Women-Ethiopia.

I Love both countries and have alot of connections in both.

Ethiopia is probably the Bentley of running - fewer runners than Kenya but by far superior runners breaking unfathomable WRs in distance running - men and women.

Kenya is the Toyota..good, durable runners in numbers.

Kenya too has superior athletes:

Asbel Kiprop

Sammy Wanjiru

Vivian Cheruiyot

Micah Kogo

etc

Obviously you are an Ethiopian and understandebly rooting for your country

holeintheground wrote:

food - injera beats ugali...

WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'INJERA BEATS UGALI'?

What is your opinion on the topic Native Son?

Lets hear from a kenyan wrote:

What is your opinion on the topic Native Son?

I have never been to Ethiopia but from the little I know about the country, I'll give it a try. I'll be as objective as I can possibly be.

Here we go.

I'll use holeintheground and Neutral's benchmarks.

steeplechase - kenya

800m- kenya

5000 & 10,000 - ethiopia

marathon - kenya

400m and down - kenya

women - ( I am assuming that you are talking about running here ).

3,5 and 10K Ethiopia.

Marathon -Probably a tie. This is hard.

Overall-Ethiopia.

food - I have had Injera once- at an Ethiopian restaurant in Washington, DC. It is basically pancake like bread.

In Kenya, we have the Indian Chapati equivalent which in my opinion, is better than Injera. That said, Ugali is better - to me-than Chapati. This is just a personal opinion and an issue of taste. It's all about what one is accustomed to.

beautiful landscape -

I don't know much about Ethiopian topography other than the Ehtiopian highlands and th eRift Valley.

I'll digress a little bit here and talk about tourism attraction centres/sites. Kenya's flora and Fauna is known the world over. I'll go with Kenya.

nightlife - I don't know about Ethiopia's nightlife. That said, I haven't heard much about nightlife in Addis Ababa but I have also met hordes of Ethiopians here in the US who have lived in Nairobi and just love the place.

Since they love Nairobi a lot, but hate our cops, I'll go with Kenya.

As for Neutral's benchmarks, here we go.

Variety- [Please expound on this]

Night Life- Kenya

Wealth/Civilisation-Kenya has more wealth (GDP) but Ethiopia is the cradle of mankind and has more to offer in terms of civilisation.Ethiopia is the home of the Rastafarian faith.

Ethiopia has very rich history I hope i understood the question.

Good Looking Women- Ethiopia( Ethiopia has some very nice looking women).

Military Might- I have no clue. I don't even know about our military might. We've been relatively at peace with our neighbours except when we hack each other to death (tribal garbage).

Education System-Kenya( One of the best in Africa) Very true.

Cities-Kenya Whereas Cairo is the largest city in Africa, with Lagos second, Nairobi is 13th and bigger than Addis.

Running(Women Overall )- Ethiopia (Agreed).

Running(Men Overall)-Kenya (agreed).

Scenery-Kenya(Indian ocean,Rift valley,Lakes,mountains)Agreed.

Culture-Ethiopia(Othordox church history,rastafari....) Ethiopia has a rich culture. (Agreed).

To this I would add;

Democratic space and freedom of expression-Kenya.

Media freedom and vibrance-Kenya.

I can't even get to know the progress of the Olympics for example from an Ethiopian Newspaper (The Ethiopian Herald).

INfrastructure-Kenya.

Kenya is a hub of economic activity with more air traffic than its neighbours, better infrastructure e.t.c.

NIghtlife in Nairobi is just out of this world.

I have spent the last two christmas holidays at home and this beats anyhthing i've seen in the US.

For those who've been to Nairobi, you know about the Carnivore restaurant.

That said, sometimes security in Nairobi can be a challenge and a big risk.

Had to dig this up after visiting both countries for the first time.

Kenya and Ethiopia are just not on the same level.

Kenya is freakin' awesome. The landscape, scenery, people, and National Geographic cannot prepare you for the spectacular wildlife. I visited, Nairobi, Mombasa (very nice beaches), Lamu Island, two Rift Valley national parks (Maasai Mara and Lake Nakuru), Mt Kenya (the thing is smack on the equator but has snow and glaciers on top), Lake Naivasha, did some rock climbing at Hell's gate, bungee jumping at river sagana, and even got to party at the Carnivore in Nairobi. Sick.

Ethiopian women tend to be prettier, but that's where it ends. They can't seem to carry a decent conversation. Kenyans are well educated even by American standards,much more cosmopolitan, fun and crazy people who love life. Kenyan food is better; Ugali may be an acquired taste, but I loved Chapati, Pilau, Biriani and especially nyama choma with kachumbari . Tusker Lager is the best beer I've tasted, anywhere in the world(Kenyans love their beer). And the nightlife in Nairobi is crazy wild. Also, a westerner living in Nairobi/Kenya won't get so homesick, its multiracial (lots of Indians, whites and Arabs), regular malls, shopping and services you'd expect back home, and you can get by on English because most all Kenyans speak/understand it.

Both people are nice and hospitable but in different ways. Ethiopians will quietly welcome you with a great cup of coffee. Kenyans will lift your spirits; "What's up with this muzungu boy? Did he bring these clouds with him from America? Mary, get my American friend another Tusker and nyama choma on me, then blast that music so he can learn to dance and party the Kenyan way." This from people you've known for less than an hour.

Ethiopia also has alot of catching up to do as far as infrastructure and modernization goes.

Ethiopia is a hell of a lot safer than Kenya. Guys like Tom Nyraki have been seriously injured in the process of a robbery or carjacking, something that does not happen to Ethiopians of similar standing.

I also think Ethiopian food is much, much more flavorful than Kenyan food. The diaspora obviously has a lot to do with this, but I've seen Ethiopian restaurants in most every major city in the world. Not so much with Kenyan restaurants.

I have stayed in both Ethiopia and Kenya.

In Kenya I stayed in Eldoret and Iten, both safe towns, where you can walk around at all times and not have problems.

Injera does not do it for me - they usually serve it cold and I find it unappetizing. But that is my opinion. In Kenya, I find the food better than Ethiopia. In Ethiopia, everytime I ordered a dish, they would add small french fries to the dish, even though I never requested fries. This happened in Assela.

Nairobi can be dangerous for assaults at night, but other Kenyan towns are much safer. Addis Abeba has less assaults, but much more harrasment issues from young guys who want money. In Nairobi, the assaults happen only at night, but in Kenya you will very rarely if ever hassled for money. In Ethiopia whites are targetted all the time.

In Ethiopia stayed in Addis Abeba and the city of Assela where Haile G. comes from. Addis might not have people who shoot you, but as a white, you will be pestered constantly for money there - something which does not happen in Kenya where people in general are much more courteous.

In Assela I was the only foreigner staying there, despite the fact that it is the region where all the best Ethiopian runners come from, a few km's from Bekoji, the home of Kenny B. and other top runners.

Ghost in Saudi,

www.kfupm.edu.sa

, apply today

on the runs wrote:

I also think Ethiopian food is much, much more flavorful than Kenyan food. The diaspora obviously has a lot to do with this, but I've seen Ethiopian restaurants in most every major city in the world. Not so much with Kenyan restaurants.

The reason you haven't seen Kenyan restaurants anywhere is because Kenyans tend not to emigrate en masse like other Africans because many like living in their country just fine. Tons and tons of Ethiopians live in the US. There are sizable Ethiopian communities in every city,Little Ethiopias, Little Nigerias, a Petit Senegal in New York but you'll never find a big enough Kenyan immigrant community to start a Kenya town in the US or Europe because relatively few tend to settle abroad. Most every Kenyan at my school returned home after graduation.

Nairobi does have a crime problem at night but the police are cracking down big time, much like New York did in the 90s. The number of carjacks has reduced drastically. The rest of the country is much safer than US cities. I could walk from clubs at 3am in complete safety.

PS. I'd like to buy property on the Kenyan coast but rich Europeans have horded most of it and driven prices unrealistically high.

Which is better? There are huge Ethiopian communities, with their restaraunts, businesses, churches etc, who've made Kenya their permanent home. The Nairobi neighbourhoods of Hurlingham and Eastleigh have been completely taken over by Ethiopians and Somalis. But you'd be hard-pressed to find a single Kenyan living in Addis or Ethiopia. That should tell you all you need to know.

My girlfriend is Ethiopian and her entire family live here. No plans to return. Soon, I might have to learn Amharic.

Running (men and women): Ethiopia

People (looks): Ethiopia

Food: Ethiopia!!!!!!

Marathoning: Kenya

Landscape: Kenya

I mentioned the diaspora, which is largely because of the Derg.

I'm going on record to say I enjoy Ethiopian food. I'm known by name at quite a few of the Ethio restaurants in Hurlingham. But nothing beats good old Kenyan Ugali and Nyamachoma washed down with a cold Tusker malt.