The artistic tower spiralling more than 100 feet above the ground, mounted by a large ball, is visible through much of Mekelle. This is the centrepiece of the large war memorial. Entranceways to the memorial are surprisingly stark, but the memorial itself is wonderfully new and engrossing.

As you enter the central portion on top of the pink cut stone, the memorial stretches on both sides from the central tower. On each side are larger than life figures, representing the victims and victors of the war. Appropriately black and stick like, the figures include mothers and children trekking out from the famine, several of them not making it. With them are the hardy Tigrayan fighters, machine guns over their backs and trusty donkeys in tow. These peasant fighters overcame the Soviet backed might of the Derg military regime.

Appropriately enough, one of the tanks left over from the war lies just beside the monument, and is a somewhat dubious playground for children. My children showed no hesitation in crawling all over and into the tank, with the unbounded curiosity about war items which affects many of us!

Massive lights flood the monument at night, an eerie reminder of the recent war. Mekelle was only captured from the Derg in 1989, yet the monument is the only visible reminder of the devastation of the time.

The monument is a short walk from the hilltop Castle hotel. To the west of the monument you can see the recently constructed buildings of the attractive Mekelle University, appropriately dedicated to dryland agriculture.