High and Dry in Hargeisa; A Djibouti Post
Our flight to Djibouti ghosted us. No email, no call, not even a text. We had planned to get there by 12, then be at the hotel resort pool with cocktail in hand by 1. Yeah, that wan’t going to happen.
This is my stuck at the airport face.
It wouldn’t be a trip to Africa without a mysteriously cancelled or missed flight. Except this cancelled flight didn't leave us in the bustling capital of Nairobi, or in the Seychelles, but in Hargeisa, the Capital of Somaliland. It’s a place where there are no ATMs, no free wifi hot spots, and no embassy to run to. Also - it’s only safe-ish, and there is no way in hell we were going go bebopping through town with our packs, without a local guide or armed security, looking for a room to rent for the night. Hell no. Helllllll nooooo.
Air Djibouti had one flight out that day, and it was cancelled. All this happened at the security checkpoint of the airport, we were not even allowed inside to talk with someone (though turns out there wasn’t anyone there to talk to anyways). Mike had booked the earliest flight out, which luckily left an Ethiopian airlines flight out just a little bit later as a bit of a backup. But first, we had to convince security to let us thought to speak with an Ethiopian agent as we couldn’t get online to book. Mike was allowed to go through alone and speak with the desk, where there let us know that there was room on the flight, and it would only be $350. Cash. No credit, and no ATMs. We had brought a lot of cash with us; we knew the places we were going had little or no banking services, and cash was going to be king. It’s that way in many developing countries. Still, 700 bucks for two tickets stung. We finally got everything sorted out, handed over the cash - and after a very, very, detailed security frisk (I think the security agent and I are going steady now) - we made it onto the the only flight to Djibouti.
Djibouti is home to more foreign military bases than any other country. Why? For one, they need the money. They are resource poor so they don’t have any income from oil or natural gas. Two, geography; they sit at a key position, the nexus between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. They are also the only port for landlocked Ethiopia, with China invested and helping to the build a railroad between the two capitals.
As interesting as the geopolitics might be, we are much more interested in a break from the more, ah, rustic part of our travels and booked a couple nights at a nice hotel as we gear up for the Sudanese Desert part of the trip. This is also Tara’s last stop on the trip (Ethiopia-> Eritrea-> Somaliland -> Djibouti -> Sudan) so we used the time to rest up, get some sun, and snap a few pics with the GoPro.
There’s not much to say for this part of the trip. Djibouti seems pleasant enough, and if we had more time there would be some interesting landscapes to visit. But for now, we will have another bottle of bubbly and ruminate on how long the perfect nap should be.
Next up is the main event - Sudan.
U.S. Travelers need to get a visa online ahead of time and print out a color copy to bring with you. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t, but it will save you a lot of time and hassle getting through passport control
Where we stayed: Hotel Djibouti Kempinski: Luxury hotel, fabulous rooms for a high price. Only down side is that it seems to get filled up up with military types so it can feel a little bro-ish. Otherwise a nice stop for a little pampering for weary travelers.
