Originally Posted by
DanielW
Awesome photos of Mog
. Wow, the new airport is a serious upgrade. Looks even better than ADD
.
They did an amazing job fixing up the Sahafi, some serious blast protection just outside the hotel too. The street looks to be twice as narrow now
!
Funny how someone has now moved into the Lighthouse, must be prime real estate
.
Looking forward to day 2.
It looked a lot nicer than it really was. So many security points, but there was a shop, cafe and lounge. They even sold postcards for $5! Likely 30+ years old.
The hotel as secure as it is, still has gaping security oversights. You can build a wall, but there is always away around it...
I wonder how long they can remain there until the Government finally rehabs that property. I read somewhere that Somalia is in the bottom 5 of corrupt countries.
Originally Posted by
netllama
ha ha. ADD is such a dump, it doesn't take much to do better.
Haven't made it yet, but Rawanda has the only airport in Africa (outside of northern arab states) worthy of being called an airport. The new NBO terminal isn't Awful...
Originally Posted by
offerendum
Puh, thatīs another world! I guess the pictures from the fish market will be in my head for a while.....
Sorry for ruining seafood for you.
Originally Posted by
londonfog
Judging from the writing in Italian, the monument must have been built before World War II to honour the 'unknown soldier' (In italian "Milite Ignoto"). I am assuming it might refer to anybody from the area who died in World War I, Italy like France and the UK had 'colonials' serving in the army and Somalia was an Italian colony (not the whole country, Somaliland used to be British!)
Great insight on the Italian...Thanks. Eritrea was as well.
Originally Posted by
GetSetJetSet
It looks like Mogadishu could be, and likely was a nice place during the colonial era. Shame it's turned it into a literal deathtrap. Can't imagine it'll be safe for foreigners who wish to travel without a platoon anytime soon.
It really makes the situation even more disparaging when you think what Mogadishu used to be. The photos from before Siad Barre being ousted and the country spiraling into civil war are absolutly gorgeous. What a shame. This is a country I really hope to visit in 20 years and see how it's hopefully rebounded.
Originally Posted by
Bretteee
The fish market in Muscat is so clean. The difference with Mogadishu is night and day.
Even the most unkempt fish markets are clean in comparison...
Originally Posted by
bitterproffit
2 car bombs yesterday in Mogadishu, one near the presidential palace. After seeing this trip report and your pictures of smiling locals, once you can put faces to the places, the death and destruction seems more horrible and sad to me. It's not some remote event in some nameless and faceless place.
Maybe trip reports like yours help humanize some of these places where things are so difficult and your pictures serve to remind us that there are actual people living in these war zones. Thanks for that.
Sad. Mogadishu (aside from targeted assassinations) had been mostly terror free since the day I left. Both sites, the Palace (Villa Somalia) and the Doorbin Hotel, were within one KM of the Unknown Soldier War memorial.
I really enjoy portrait photography when I travel so I can share with friends and family that these 'faces of evil' are just people like us, looking for a better life.
Wow, amazing report and photos so far. Looking forward to the rest!
Originally Posted by
lostinlondon
Wow... absolutely incredible and very thought-provoking. Fantastic trip report, can't wait to see the rest.
Originally Posted by
RabbitIYH
I'm so glad this is back!
Absolutely incredible TR so far, your pictures are gorgeous too. I'm very grateful you went all the way there and decided to share this with us because this is definitely not a trip I would undertake myself.
Thanks. Writing this has taught me so much more about Somalia as I see each photo and want to know more and more about it. Resources are scarce online regarding current day Mogadishu. Most articles are very generalized and deprived of facts and specifics. It took a good 30 minutes after this most recent bombing to find the name of the hotel that was attacked. And even with the name I only found its location by looking at photos of the destruction and matching landmarks with high level google maps.
Thank god for GPS stamps on my photos.