Addis Ababa - Post Report Question and Answers
How do you send and receive your letters and package mail? Are local postal facilities adequate?
We have access to embassy DPO. Life is much easier for us than many other expats. I don't know anything about local postal facilities. - Dec 2023
Diplomatic mail. - Aug 2023
DPO. - Aug 2023
Do not plan on the mail system work for you. - Aug 2022
I haven’t tried to mail yet - Jul 2022
I use pouch. - May 2022
I use only USG mail. - Jun 2021
Pouch. - Feb 2021
Pouch - Aug 2020
Post just went to DPO. Can’t comment on how the change went. Everything is shut down with COVID at the moment. - Mar 2020
We arrived to a pouch post, but DPO is starting this week. That said, remember to ship your liquids in consumables. Just because you can send them via DPO doesn't mean you should. If they break, they damage the entire bag they are in. Angering your colleagues isn't worth the risk. Limited local postal facilities. I've seen DHL. - Feb 2020
We use mail services through the embassy. - Feb 2019
Sending mail or packages is not a problem, post office works quite well. We received mail at work, since they didn't deliver to individual houses. PO boxes exist. - Oct 2018
Embassy mail. They recently started charging to send outbound packages on top of the fee to ship from Virginia to wherever it is going. Many people seemed disappointed to see that. - Aug 2018
Through diplomatic pouch. You can also receive your packages and letters to your business or organization's office. You can send your packages and letters through local post offices. When you send a package, do not seal it. Postal workers have to check the content of your package. The main office near Churchill street is very crowded, so go to the ones in the city. - Jul 2018
Through the US embassy. - Jan 2018
Pouch. DPO is still "coming soon," but don't hold your breath. Plan for about two weeks from order to arrival, though sometimes you can get stuff in a week if you're lucky. - Sep 2017
Pouch. Allegedly, DPO "...is coming soon" but I've heard that for the last 12 months. Not holding my breath. I sent a set of important documents (was selling my house in the US) by DHL and it made it to DC within three working days. I was pleasantly surprised. - Aug 2016
We have pouch service. We were told prior to arrival that DPO was in process. A year later, the answer is the same. Don't hold your breath. It may never actually happen. - Aug 2016
Pouch, but the embassy is in the process of becoming a DPO (should be complete sometime in 2016) - Feb 2016
Through embassy pouch. - May 2014
We use the Embassy pouch. - Jan 2014
We are fortunate to have use of the diplomatic pouch. Customs will heavily tax things through other carriers. - Nov 2013
I use the pouch. The mail is reliable, though. - Jun 2010
You can use the Ethiopian postal service. It's pretty good about sending things out, but not so good about getting packages to the recipients in Ethiopia. Don't send any packages from the U.S. to Ethiopia unless you use DHL or FedEx or UPS. - Mar 2008
