Horn of Africa: trip to Yemen, Socotra, Somaliland, and more
Mar 31, 2013, 11:43 am
#31
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: East Ester, Alaska
Programs: Alaska Million Miler, United Million Miler, Wyndham Rewards Diamond, Choice Hotels Diamond
Posts: 12,148
Thanks for one of the best trips and trip reports I’ve seen in a while. Fantastic photography and reporting! Now I want to go to see the Horn of Africa myself!
Apr 1, 2013, 11:55 am
#34
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
March 14, 2013
Hotel: Hotel Man-Sour Berbera; Berbera, Somaliland; $60/double
This morning we had to wait until around 9AM until the driver could pickup our permits and arrange the guard. We had breakfast at the hotel, I ordered a local dish for breakfast (forget the name of it now) and it turned out very similar to tex-mex migas (without the tortillas). Scrambled eggs with chiles, onion, tomato and cheese. Very good. We walked outside to get some more street photos and photos of the hotel. We got told off by one of the locals saying 'this is not a zoo.. people in other countries don't take photos of the street'. To which we replied, well yes actually they do... We weren't even taking photos of specific people, just overall area around the hotel.
Oriental Hotel
Finally the driver and guard show up and we set off. I had wanted to visit the Somaliland Independence Monument but it was not on the Lonely Planet map or my GPS but the driver knew where it was. The monument was south of the city center towards the airport. The monument is a huge hand gripping a map of Somaliland. There were bunch of men and boys loitering around. They got a bit excited when we got out of the car and started snapping photos of the monument. One guy actually wanted me to take his photo, the only time someone wanted their photo taken in Somaliland. But he ran off before I could show him the photo!
Somaliland independence monument
We had to cross the wadi again to head out of town. There is only one bridge but most of the other cross streets just go down through the bottom of the wadi. The first street we drove down, they were building a new bridge and it was closed.. so back up and try the next street. This one was backed up with traffic, some trucks on the other side of the wadi were blocking the road. I'd been surreptitiously snapping photos out the window as we were driving but put my camera away here. It took probably 10 minutes to get across the wadi and through the mini traffic jam.
Sneaking photos of locals
The road outside of Hargeisa towards Berbera was paved and in decent enough condition. The Laas Geel cave paintings are about 50kms east of Hargeisa. The landscape was barren and empty with the occassional tall terminte mound. We saw no other traffic other than the odd camel or two. Occassionally we passed through a small town where there would be a checkpoint with a rope pulled across the road. Until recently tourists were required to travel with an armed guard. Supposedly that requirement was lifted but not all the checkpoints have received the memo. We had the guard with us though so we were just waved through.
Barren landscape
It took about an hour to reach the turnoff to the caves. It was a bumpy 5-6kms dirt road cross country until we reached the guard shack. At one point along the road some kids came running up from the nearby village and the driver gave them a bag of candy. At the guard shack the guard climbed in the car with us, He had his rifle with him and he didn't seem to know how to handle it as he kept pointing it at us, at himself, everywhere. I'm sure it wasn't loaded though and the muzzle seemed to have a twig or some other plug stuck in it.
From the guardhouse it was just a short drive to the 'visitor center' where the guide was sleeping on the floor. The visitor center had info about the discovery of the paintings.. they were only discovered about 10 years ago by a French archeological team. The paintings are about 4000-5000 years old and there are many other similar sites in Somaliland. The paintings use red, black, yellow, white pigments and mainly depict cattle, humans and dogs. If Somaliland were a recognized country this would be a UNESCO World Heritage site. I checked the guidebook and we had been the only visitors today but there had been many others the previous days, including 3 people from the USA.
It was barely 11AM but already pretty toasty warm. There was a short path leading from the visitor center up to the rock cliffs, they have built steps here leading up to the first cave.. More an overhang than a cave, but the back wall was just covered with bright paintings, some of them looked almost brand new! The dry desert air has helped preserve the color and quality of the paintings. The caves were in the side of a hill giving a great view out over the landscape. Down below was the intersection of two wadis. There were 4-5 more sites in the loop trail, with paintings everywhere. They depicted people milking cows, dancing in unique style.
Walking to the caves
Laas Geel paintings
Our guard
After we were finished we gave the guard and guide a lift back into town.. we must have been the only tourists visiting today. We set off then, hauling ... down the road 80mph in places. We checked the GPS and were still pretty high altitude.. 3600' I hadn't realized the center of Somaliland was so high. We stopped at a town around 1PM for lunch. It was a very popular roadside stop, considering there wasn't anything else for probably 50 miles in either direction. We had roast goat and rice. No utensils, all finger food only even the rice, which was tricky. The goat was actually really good. I got a good shank piece though, my friend mainly got gristle. Ended up being pretty expensive though, 30000 each but I think we were paying for our driver/guard lunch as well.
Another 45 minutes or so and we arrived at Berbera on the coast. Berbera was a lot more run down than Hargeisa had been with many derelict colonial buildings. Berbera is mainly a fishing community so most of the businesses were fish processing. We stopped for a view out in the harbor where there were several abandoned ships. From there it was a few more kms across barren land to the Mansoor Beach hotel, the 'best' hotel in Berbera. $60/night for a double. The setting was nice enough, set back a bit from the beach. There were several cottage rooms and they were in the process of building more. The room was nice and clean and bonus had air-con.
Old building in Berbera
We walked down to the beach to check it out. I'd heard the beach here was supposed to be nice and pristine but the first thing we came across was lots of abandoned plastic bottles everywhere... this seems to be where most of the young locals come to hang out. Somaliland is a dry country so there is no booze. The beach sand was OK, but there was a lot of black sand mixed in with it. There were several SUVs and a bus parked here with locals playing in the water. There was a group of girls, all fully covered but not veiled that were playing in the water, 'burqinis'. We walked down the beach a bit, a bit cleaner the farther away we walked from the hotel. On the way back some local boys wanted to talk to me.. the conversation went 'hey how are you. Give me money.' Ugh.
Beach and locals
Camels on the beach
We just chilled at the hotel the rest of the afternoon... it was a long way back into town and we only had a little local currency left anyway. We arranged the taxi ride to the airport for tomorrow morning for our flight to Djibouti. For dinner we ate at the restaurant. I ordered roast goat again and we had nonalcoholic malt drink. It was OK enough but not as good as the ones I'd had in Iran which were fruit flavored, pomegranate, lemon, etc.
Mansour Hotel
Hotel: Hotel Man-Sour Berbera; Berbera, Somaliland; $60/double
This morning we had to wait until around 9AM until the driver could pickup our permits and arrange the guard. We had breakfast at the hotel, I ordered a local dish for breakfast (forget the name of it now) and it turned out very similar to tex-mex migas (without the tortillas). Scrambled eggs with chiles, onion, tomato and cheese. Very good. We walked outside to get some more street photos and photos of the hotel. We got told off by one of the locals saying 'this is not a zoo.. people in other countries don't take photos of the street'. To which we replied, well yes actually they do... We weren't even taking photos of specific people, just overall area around the hotel.
Oriental Hotel
Finally the driver and guard show up and we set off. I had wanted to visit the Somaliland Independence Monument but it was not on the Lonely Planet map or my GPS but the driver knew where it was. The monument was south of the city center towards the airport. The monument is a huge hand gripping a map of Somaliland. There were bunch of men and boys loitering around. They got a bit excited when we got out of the car and started snapping photos of the monument. One guy actually wanted me to take his photo, the only time someone wanted their photo taken in Somaliland. But he ran off before I could show him the photo!
Somaliland independence monument
We had to cross the wadi again to head out of town. There is only one bridge but most of the other cross streets just go down through the bottom of the wadi. The first street we drove down, they were building a new bridge and it was closed.. so back up and try the next street. This one was backed up with traffic, some trucks on the other side of the wadi were blocking the road. I'd been surreptitiously snapping photos out the window as we were driving but put my camera away here. It took probably 10 minutes to get across the wadi and through the mini traffic jam.
Sneaking photos of locals
The road outside of Hargeisa towards Berbera was paved and in decent enough condition. The Laas Geel cave paintings are about 50kms east of Hargeisa. The landscape was barren and empty with the occassional tall terminte mound. We saw no other traffic other than the odd camel or two. Occassionally we passed through a small town where there would be a checkpoint with a rope pulled across the road. Until recently tourists were required to travel with an armed guard. Supposedly that requirement was lifted but not all the checkpoints have received the memo. We had the guard with us though so we were just waved through.
Barren landscape
It took about an hour to reach the turnoff to the caves. It was a bumpy 5-6kms dirt road cross country until we reached the guard shack. At one point along the road some kids came running up from the nearby village and the driver gave them a bag of candy. At the guard shack the guard climbed in the car with us, He had his rifle with him and he didn't seem to know how to handle it as he kept pointing it at us, at himself, everywhere. I'm sure it wasn't loaded though and the muzzle seemed to have a twig or some other plug stuck in it.
From the guardhouse it was just a short drive to the 'visitor center' where the guide was sleeping on the floor. The visitor center had info about the discovery of the paintings.. they were only discovered about 10 years ago by a French archeological team. The paintings are about 4000-5000 years old and there are many other similar sites in Somaliland. The paintings use red, black, yellow, white pigments and mainly depict cattle, humans and dogs. If Somaliland were a recognized country this would be a UNESCO World Heritage site. I checked the guidebook and we had been the only visitors today but there had been many others the previous days, including 3 people from the USA.
It was barely 11AM but already pretty toasty warm. There was a short path leading from the visitor center up to the rock cliffs, they have built steps here leading up to the first cave.. More an overhang than a cave, but the back wall was just covered with bright paintings, some of them looked almost brand new! The dry desert air has helped preserve the color and quality of the paintings. The caves were in the side of a hill giving a great view out over the landscape. Down below was the intersection of two wadis. There were 4-5 more sites in the loop trail, with paintings everywhere. They depicted people milking cows, dancing in unique style.
Walking to the caves
Laas Geel paintings
Our guard
After we were finished we gave the guard and guide a lift back into town.. we must have been the only tourists visiting today. We set off then, hauling ... down the road 80mph in places. We checked the GPS and were still pretty high altitude.. 3600' I hadn't realized the center of Somaliland was so high. We stopped at a town around 1PM for lunch. It was a very popular roadside stop, considering there wasn't anything else for probably 50 miles in either direction. We had roast goat and rice. No utensils, all finger food only even the rice, which was tricky. The goat was actually really good. I got a good shank piece though, my friend mainly got gristle. Ended up being pretty expensive though, 30000 each but I think we were paying for our driver/guard lunch as well.
Another 45 minutes or so and we arrived at Berbera on the coast. Berbera was a lot more run down than Hargeisa had been with many derelict colonial buildings. Berbera is mainly a fishing community so most of the businesses were fish processing. We stopped for a view out in the harbor where there were several abandoned ships. From there it was a few more kms across barren land to the Mansoor Beach hotel, the 'best' hotel in Berbera. $60/night for a double. The setting was nice enough, set back a bit from the beach. There were several cottage rooms and they were in the process of building more. The room was nice and clean and bonus had air-con.
Old building in Berbera
We walked down to the beach to check it out. I'd heard the beach here was supposed to be nice and pristine but the first thing we came across was lots of abandoned plastic bottles everywhere... this seems to be where most of the young locals come to hang out. Somaliland is a dry country so there is no booze. The beach sand was OK, but there was a lot of black sand mixed in with it. There were several SUVs and a bus parked here with locals playing in the water. There was a group of girls, all fully covered but not veiled that were playing in the water, 'burqinis'. We walked down the beach a bit, a bit cleaner the farther away we walked from the hotel. On the way back some local boys wanted to talk to me.. the conversation went 'hey how are you. Give me money.' Ugh.
Beach and locals
Camels on the beach
We just chilled at the hotel the rest of the afternoon... it was a long way back into town and we only had a little local currency left anyway. We arranged the taxi ride to the airport for tomorrow morning for our flight to Djibouti. For dinner we ate at the restaurant. I ordered roast goat again and we had nonalcoholic malt drink. It was OK enough but not as good as the ones I'd had in Iran which were fruit flavored, pomegranate, lemon, etc.
Mansour Hotel
Apr 1, 2013, 11:56 am
#35
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
March 15, 2013
Flight: Berbera, Somaliland (BBO) to Djibouti, Djibouti (JIB), Jubba Airways, econ
Hotel: Sheraton Djibouti; Djibouti, Djibouti; $75+2800pts
This morning we were off to the airport at 8:45. Our flight wasn't until 12:30 but the ticket said you must checkin 3 hours early! The taxi driver wanted $25 at first but then we talked him down to $20 and 20000 shillings (our last remaining). It was further out to the airport than I remembered.. it took us nearly 30 minutes to get out there. The building was small enough but as soon as we entered the building mass chaos and bedlam ensued. We went through security just to get into the building, and that was the only security check. Once we got through that we had to join the throng of people trying to checkin for flights... and it was full contact queueing rules. It was a tiny area but there were 50-60 people crammed in all trying to shove their way to the front. There were signs for no weapons or Qat. There were two checkins for Jubba airlines.. my friend joins one and I join the other to see which moves faster. Finally after 20 minutes he gets to the front of his line so I get out of place in my line to join his... only to find out it is the 'wrong' Jubba checkin line.
So we get back in my line, now we are at the end of the line again. Eventually we force our way to the front of the line and were able to checkin OK. We planned to carryon our backpacks. There were supposedly two Jubba airlines flights departing for Djibouti within 30 minutes of each other... not even sure if we had the right flight or not as our boarding pass just had a scribbled JIB on it. By that point the room had mainly cleared. We then went to immigration, they kept asking us who our visa sponsor was.. we said we had gotten it in USA but no longer had the papers as they had kept them at the Wajaale border. I luckily had the PDF on my phone/laptop. Then we finally headed towards the departure lounge, where we discovered we were supposed to have paid not one but two separate departure taxes, $10 and $34 respectively. None of those booths had been labeled or anything, one of them was beside the checkin desks and another was in the same row as immigration.
Finally our dues paid we go to the departure lounge. All that chaos but it had only taken about an hour to get through. So now we had a few hours wait before our flight. No flight departure screens or other information was provided, a very basic airport indeed. Fun fact, the Berbera airport has one of the longest runways in Africa (13500') and had been designated a space shuttle emergency landing field until the early 1990s.
Berbera airport departure area
Finally a Jubba airlines flight is called to Dubai. I know most of the Jubba flights go via Djibouti first so wasn't sure if this was our flight or not. Apparently not though so we sat down to wait longer. Other flights were called to Mogadishu. Eventually our flight is called at approximately the right time meanwhile another flight had arrived (they rescreen transit passengers from Mogadishu). The problem is the rescreen metal detector they use is the same one used by departing passengers as well.. more chaos as there are two lines trying to go through the metal detector in opposite directions.
We boarded the bus to shuttle us out to the plane.. at one point we turn off the taxiway and pull in between two bunkers. I wondered what was up until I saw a Jubba plane taxiing behind us! I guess that was the Dubai flight... still wasn't sure if that was supposed to be our plane or we were on the 2nd Djibouti flight! Jubba uses 737 airplanes and is supposedly pretty reliable. The other choice was Daallo airlines which uses old Russian clunkers (there were a few sitting on the tarmac) and will cancel flights on a whim.
Jubba Airways to Djibouti
Old Russian plane
The plane was definitely older.. not sure what language the signs were written in but something African sounding (Swahili?). The captain announced the flight number and it matched our itinerary.. so that was a big relief, as it was a relief just to be on a plane after the chaos of the airport. The flight was really quick 30 minutes flying along the Gulf of Aden.
Djibouti is Western friendly and there is now a large US military base south of the airport. The French also have a large military presence here. As we were landing we noticed several drones sitting out on the tarmac. Djibouti is a good position for 'monitoring' trouble spots in Yemen and Somalia. Also a base for patrolling piracy around Somalia.
We had already gotten our visas for Djibouti in Washington DC for $60 each, but it is possible to get a visa on arrival, IIRC approx $30 for 3 days or $60 for longer stay. The terminal was tiny and immigration was quick. There were no ATMs at the airport and we didn't have any small bills on us. Outside at the taxi stand there is a sign showing official rates to various parts of town. The Sheraton was 2000 DJF ($11.25) but they wanted another 1000 to go via an ATM. Whatever. The ATM was on the way anyway and it only took a few seconds to get out cash. Unfortunately the ATM only dispensed in 5000 franc increments! I found one later that would do 1000 minimum.
We got to the Sheraton around 2PM but had to wait around for a room with two beds to be ready. I had booked cash and points rate at the old rate.. it should have been 2800+$45 but for some reason was charged 2800+$75 (new c/p rate?) Or it may have been $30 for the additional person which is sneaky. While we were waiting we headed downstairs to the restaurant to grab some lunch. There were a lot of Euro (German and Swedish) soldiers and contractor types staying at the hotel.
Sheraton Djibouti
After lunch and dropping stuff in our room we headed out to walk into town. The Sheraton is up on a peninsula north of the center of town, about a mile or so walk. Today was Friday though so there was zero traffic and everything was closed. Still was a nice walk into town passing some of the ministries and old churches. The old 'European' quarter of Djibouti is an interesting mix of Moorish style and French colonial (louvers) style. A lot of the buildings are definite fixxer-uppers. There were also several different style mosques.. one with a square minaret, another with a short stubby one. There were a few vendors in the main square trying to get our business. I was short on US cash and luckily found an ATM that would dispense $100s.
Djibouti Moorish/French architecture
The African market/quarter is just south of the European quarter. This was much more lively/chaotic with a market in full swing. Lots of shared taxis here. My friend bought a pair of board shorts to go swimming at the hotel. We took a taxi (1000) back to the Sheraton from there. We asked the driver if he wanted to take us to Lac Assal in the morning, but he said no.. either not understanding or not wanting to drive so far. We asked a few other taxis as well but none of them seemed interested.
African market
Djibouti taxi
Back at the Sheraton we had a nice relaxing swim and a rum and coke at the pool bar watching the sunset. For dinner we headed to the Melting Pot restaurant. Our taxi driver was trying to get a higher fare and wanted us to pay for him to wait and take us back to the hotel. I didn't like his attitude so we said no just one way to the restaurant is fine.. I'm sure we could call another taxi if needed. When we got to the restaurant and I only gave him the 1000 he got angry and my friend started cursing him out in Spanish heh.
The restaurant was a definite expat hangout and was full of gringos. Great French food though, flaky baguettes with butter and I had a lamb shank with local rice, delicious. We were easily able to catch another cab back to the hotel.
The Melting Pot restaurant
Flight: Berbera, Somaliland (BBO) to Djibouti, Djibouti (JIB), Jubba Airways, econ
Hotel: Sheraton Djibouti; Djibouti, Djibouti; $75+2800pts
This morning we were off to the airport at 8:45. Our flight wasn't until 12:30 but the ticket said you must checkin 3 hours early! The taxi driver wanted $25 at first but then we talked him down to $20 and 20000 shillings (our last remaining). It was further out to the airport than I remembered.. it took us nearly 30 minutes to get out there. The building was small enough but as soon as we entered the building mass chaos and bedlam ensued. We went through security just to get into the building, and that was the only security check. Once we got through that we had to join the throng of people trying to checkin for flights... and it was full contact queueing rules. It was a tiny area but there were 50-60 people crammed in all trying to shove their way to the front. There were signs for no weapons or Qat. There were two checkins for Jubba airlines.. my friend joins one and I join the other to see which moves faster. Finally after 20 minutes he gets to the front of his line so I get out of place in my line to join his... only to find out it is the 'wrong' Jubba checkin line.
So we get back in my line, now we are at the end of the line again. Eventually we force our way to the front of the line and were able to checkin OK. We planned to carryon our backpacks. There were supposedly two Jubba airlines flights departing for Djibouti within 30 minutes of each other... not even sure if we had the right flight or not as our boarding pass just had a scribbled JIB on it. By that point the room had mainly cleared. We then went to immigration, they kept asking us who our visa sponsor was.. we said we had gotten it in USA but no longer had the papers as they had kept them at the Wajaale border. I luckily had the PDF on my phone/laptop. Then we finally headed towards the departure lounge, where we discovered we were supposed to have paid not one but two separate departure taxes, $10 and $34 respectively. None of those booths had been labeled or anything, one of them was beside the checkin desks and another was in the same row as immigration.
Finally our dues paid we go to the departure lounge. All that chaos but it had only taken about an hour to get through. So now we had a few hours wait before our flight. No flight departure screens or other information was provided, a very basic airport indeed. Fun fact, the Berbera airport has one of the longest runways in Africa (13500') and had been designated a space shuttle emergency landing field until the early 1990s.
Berbera airport departure area
Finally a Jubba airlines flight is called to Dubai. I know most of the Jubba flights go via Djibouti first so wasn't sure if this was our flight or not. Apparently not though so we sat down to wait longer. Other flights were called to Mogadishu. Eventually our flight is called at approximately the right time meanwhile another flight had arrived (they rescreen transit passengers from Mogadishu). The problem is the rescreen metal detector they use is the same one used by departing passengers as well.. more chaos as there are two lines trying to go through the metal detector in opposite directions.
We boarded the bus to shuttle us out to the plane.. at one point we turn off the taxiway and pull in between two bunkers. I wondered what was up until I saw a Jubba plane taxiing behind us! I guess that was the Dubai flight... still wasn't sure if that was supposed to be our plane or we were on the 2nd Djibouti flight! Jubba uses 737 airplanes and is supposedly pretty reliable. The other choice was Daallo airlines which uses old Russian clunkers (there were a few sitting on the tarmac) and will cancel flights on a whim.
Jubba Airways to Djibouti
Old Russian plane
The plane was definitely older.. not sure what language the signs were written in but something African sounding (Swahili?). The captain announced the flight number and it matched our itinerary.. so that was a big relief, as it was a relief just to be on a plane after the chaos of the airport. The flight was really quick 30 minutes flying along the Gulf of Aden.
Djibouti is Western friendly and there is now a large US military base south of the airport. The French also have a large military presence here. As we were landing we noticed several drones sitting out on the tarmac. Djibouti is a good position for 'monitoring' trouble spots in Yemen and Somalia. Also a base for patrolling piracy around Somalia.
We had already gotten our visas for Djibouti in Washington DC for $60 each, but it is possible to get a visa on arrival, IIRC approx $30 for 3 days or $60 for longer stay. The terminal was tiny and immigration was quick. There were no ATMs at the airport and we didn't have any small bills on us. Outside at the taxi stand there is a sign showing official rates to various parts of town. The Sheraton was 2000 DJF ($11.25) but they wanted another 1000 to go via an ATM. Whatever. The ATM was on the way anyway and it only took a few seconds to get out cash. Unfortunately the ATM only dispensed in 5000 franc increments! I found one later that would do 1000 minimum.
We got to the Sheraton around 2PM but had to wait around for a room with two beds to be ready. I had booked cash and points rate at the old rate.. it should have been 2800+$45 but for some reason was charged 2800+$75 (new c/p rate?) Or it may have been $30 for the additional person which is sneaky. While we were waiting we headed downstairs to the restaurant to grab some lunch. There were a lot of Euro (German and Swedish) soldiers and contractor types staying at the hotel.
Sheraton Djibouti
After lunch and dropping stuff in our room we headed out to walk into town. The Sheraton is up on a peninsula north of the center of town, about a mile or so walk. Today was Friday though so there was zero traffic and everything was closed. Still was a nice walk into town passing some of the ministries and old churches. The old 'European' quarter of Djibouti is an interesting mix of Moorish style and French colonial (louvers) style. A lot of the buildings are definite fixxer-uppers. There were also several different style mosques.. one with a square minaret, another with a short stubby one. There were a few vendors in the main square trying to get our business. I was short on US cash and luckily found an ATM that would dispense $100s.
Djibouti Moorish/French architecture
The African market/quarter is just south of the European quarter. This was much more lively/chaotic with a market in full swing. Lots of shared taxis here. My friend bought a pair of board shorts to go swimming at the hotel. We took a taxi (1000) back to the Sheraton from there. We asked the driver if he wanted to take us to Lac Assal in the morning, but he said no.. either not understanding or not wanting to drive so far. We asked a few other taxis as well but none of them seemed interested.
African market
Djibouti taxi
Back at the Sheraton we had a nice relaxing swim and a rum and coke at the pool bar watching the sunset. For dinner we headed to the Melting Pot restaurant. Our taxi driver was trying to get a higher fare and wanted us to pay for him to wait and take us back to the hotel. I didn't like his attitude so we said no just one way to the restaurant is fine.. I'm sure we could call another taxi if needed. When we got to the restaurant and I only gave him the 1000 he got angry and my friend started cursing him out in Spanish heh.
The restaurant was a definite expat hangout and was full of gringos. Great French food though, flaky baguettes with butter and I had a lamb shank with local rice, delicious. We were easily able to catch another cab back to the hotel.
The Melting Pot restaurant
Apr 2, 2013, 11:07 am
#36
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
March 16, 2013
Flight: Djibouti, Djibouti (JIB) to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (ADD), Ethiopian, econ
Flight: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (ADD) to Entebbe, Uganda (EBB), Ethiopian, econ
Hotel: Sheraton Kampala; Kampala, Uganda; $75+2800pts
Today was my friend Dean's last day.. this evening he would head back to the USA and I would fly on to Uganda to start my solo travel week. Our flight wasn't until 7PM though so we had all day. We wanted to visit Lac Assal, the lowest point in Africa (155m below sea level). We hadn't been successful asking taxis to go, and tour companies wanted up to $300 if we had to buy all 4 seats in the vehicle. So we asked the hotel about getting a driver for the day. It took awhile to arrange so we went and had breakfast while we waited for him to arrive. We still didn't know how much he would want for the day. He finally arrived around 8:30 and started off the negotiations. Originally he wanted $300 as well but we talked him down to $180, everything included. I'd been prepared to pay a taxi up to $150 so I figure for an actual English-speaking guide the extra would be worth it.. it's a fair distance to Lac Assal about 1.5-2hr drive each way.
The first challenge was getting the SUV... we had to take a taxi (we paid) to some mechanics yard where we ended up standing around for an hour while the guys there had to play towers of hanoi to maneuver the SUV out from behind three other vehicles. They had to swap the battery out between vehicles each time. The yard was full of mainly Toyota trucks and SUVs in varying condition and disassembly. Then they changed the spare tire on the SUV. Meanwhile our guide was telling us he had just gotten home late the night before from a trip out to Lac Abbe (much further distance). He was apologizing for it taking so long to get ready. We still had time but it was ticking away. We paid 10000 francs for the SUV. Finally they managed to get the SUV outside the yard and we set off... but now having to head back into town for the guide to get his drivers license. Then we stop and fill up with gas and get water and another 10500 francs are gone.. that was pretty much all our local currency spent and we hadn't gone anywhere.
We finally hit the road around 10:45 or so.. heading out past the Ethiopian port. Djibouti is Ethiopias main port and the road and port infrastructure here have been improved. Ethiopias economy must be doing well as there are hundreds of cargo and petroleum trucks here lined up to head across the border. Our guide was telling us of his sex life now... married to three women and twelve kids. He said he needed Viagra to keep going.
The road was in excellent condition for the first 50km or so until the turnoff. Mainly heavy truck traffic... goods headed to Ethiopia and returning full of qat. There were several military areas alongside the road. An old French Foreign legion site and another one used by US forces for desert training. The landscape started changing.. dry valleys became a plateau covered with volcanic stones. The altitude here was higher and air was cooler.
Djibouti road
We stopped at a few viewpoints to look at a massive canyon and the waters of the bay far below. Our guide said he was Afar tribe and his grandfather had lived in this area. It looked like a hard life.. no water or vegetation to be seen. The road started losing altitude as we headed down towards Lac Assal. We could see it for some distance ahead. My friend and I had our GPS out to track when we crossed sea level.. not sure exactly as our altitude readings were off by about 7'. The air kept getting hotter as we passed -100, -200, -300' and more. We stopped at a hot spring then continued onto the lake shore itself, which is 1.5m of solid salt. The wind had whipped the waves and crystals into odd rose/ball shaped formations. I was definitely glad for sunglasses as it was blazingly bright with the white salt.
Lac Assal
We didn't have any money left for lunch and we had brought power bars with us but the guide was getting hungry too as he had missed breakfast to come out to us. We shared one of our bars with him but they just make me thirsty. Started back to town around 1:00 or so. This trip was quicker but the guide was getting nervous as the fuel gauge was showing near E. We didn't have any local money left and there wasn't any gas in any of the small towns we were going through. We were definitely driving on fumes by the time we got back near town. The guide said it was qat chewing time so he would run any red lights we came across!! Luckily that only happened once and we made it back to the hotel OK. We paid him the balance (about $60 US) and he seemed happy with that, so that ended well.
I had arranged a late checkout at 4PM due to my Gold SPG status. I debated another quick swim but then decided against as I didn't have a plastic bag to put wet trunks in. After checkout we caught a cab to the airport for our flight at 7PM. The fare was 2000 but we only had 1660 francs. We offered him that and $2, he kinda scrunched his nose at that but accepted it. It was way too early to checkin so we had to sit around outside the airport for awhile.
Eventually we are able to checkin. I had printed out our trip confirmations from Tripit but had combined my friend's itinerary and mine.. he was flying back to Washington and I was going onto Entebbe. I think that confused the agent and she only gave me a boarding pass to Addis. She also gave me an invitation pass to the lounge. The main airport terminal is pretty tiny but there is a VIP terminal next door. We went upstairs and I went to check on the lounge. It is actually a contract lounge operated by Kempinski hotel.. my friend was not allowed to enter as a guest unfortunately. The lounge was aircon which was nice, but you only get one free drink, any after that are paid. I just sat and drank a Fanta then went back in the main terminal.
Departure time finally arrived.. and we hadn't yet boarded. We kept sitting. 30, 45, 60 minutes past departure time and we still haven't boarded or received any information on the delay. The flight had arrived on time and we could see it down on the tarmac. My friend guessed that we were waiting on some VIP. Some people were already worried about missing their flights. We originally had a 2:45 connection but now that was ticking away. Eventually an agent came up and started asking if anyone would take a bump to the next day's flight. Nobody volunteered and in the end they pulled the last person to checkin off the flight!!
Turns out that immigration wasn't willing to let anyone back through once they had 'departed' and that was part of the delay. It was some Somali VIP ....... who had shown up last minute wanting a seat. It still took another 30-40 minutes to get everything organized I guess.. we finally boarded almost 2 hours late. Definitely getting a bit worried about my connection now. The flight was a brand new Q400 plane, 14 business class seats. The Somali VIP boarded right after I did and I heard him complain that there weren't any Business seats available. Geez buddy be glad you get a seat at all after delaying us 2 hrs.
The flight was pretty uneventful otherwise and we land just after 10PM.. my connection is at 10:45. By the time we taxi to the other side of the airport, wait for the bus, get on the bus and get transferred to terminal 2 it is 10:15. There was a 737 boarding as we pull up to the terminal, I thought it might be my flight. I say a quick goodbye to my friend and have to race off, not even stopping at the transit desk. I ask an agent standing nearby about the Entebbe flight, she says it is in T1 and points down a long hallway. I start running down the hall and down the stairs to catch a bus to Terminal 1... I'm joined by another guy that was on the Djibouti flight as well so he is in the same boat. Bus to T1, run up the stairs, have to wait to go through security and I still have no boarding pass... they are doing final call on the Entebbe flight at this point.
Security decides to have an issue with my walking stick which by this point has been through security 9 times (including this same one) without a problem. Finally they let me through and I run to the gate where they hand-write my boarding pass. Rush down the stairs and onto the waiting bus... whew. I was going to make the flight after all but just barely. The 737 plane of course ended up being parkedright next to the flight I had just come in on! I was the last one to board and overheads were already pretty full but managed to find a place for my backpack. Made the flight with minutes to spare. I texted my friend to let him know I'd made the connection. I slept most of the flight to Entebbe.
Flight: Djibouti, Djibouti (JIB) to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (ADD), Ethiopian, econ
Flight: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (ADD) to Entebbe, Uganda (EBB), Ethiopian, econ
Hotel: Sheraton Kampala; Kampala, Uganda; $75+2800pts
Today was my friend Dean's last day.. this evening he would head back to the USA and I would fly on to Uganda to start my solo travel week. Our flight wasn't until 7PM though so we had all day. We wanted to visit Lac Assal, the lowest point in Africa (155m below sea level). We hadn't been successful asking taxis to go, and tour companies wanted up to $300 if we had to buy all 4 seats in the vehicle. So we asked the hotel about getting a driver for the day. It took awhile to arrange so we went and had breakfast while we waited for him to arrive. We still didn't know how much he would want for the day. He finally arrived around 8:30 and started off the negotiations. Originally he wanted $300 as well but we talked him down to $180, everything included. I'd been prepared to pay a taxi up to $150 so I figure for an actual English-speaking guide the extra would be worth it.. it's a fair distance to Lac Assal about 1.5-2hr drive each way.
The first challenge was getting the SUV... we had to take a taxi (we paid) to some mechanics yard where we ended up standing around for an hour while the guys there had to play towers of hanoi to maneuver the SUV out from behind three other vehicles. They had to swap the battery out between vehicles each time. The yard was full of mainly Toyota trucks and SUVs in varying condition and disassembly. Then they changed the spare tire on the SUV. Meanwhile our guide was telling us he had just gotten home late the night before from a trip out to Lac Abbe (much further distance). He was apologizing for it taking so long to get ready. We still had time but it was ticking away. We paid 10000 francs for the SUV. Finally they managed to get the SUV outside the yard and we set off... but now having to head back into town for the guide to get his drivers license. Then we stop and fill up with gas and get water and another 10500 francs are gone.. that was pretty much all our local currency spent and we hadn't gone anywhere.
We finally hit the road around 10:45 or so.. heading out past the Ethiopian port. Djibouti is Ethiopias main port and the road and port infrastructure here have been improved. Ethiopias economy must be doing well as there are hundreds of cargo and petroleum trucks here lined up to head across the border. Our guide was telling us of his sex life now... married to three women and twelve kids. He said he needed Viagra to keep going.
The road was in excellent condition for the first 50km or so until the turnoff. Mainly heavy truck traffic... goods headed to Ethiopia and returning full of qat. There were several military areas alongside the road. An old French Foreign legion site and another one used by US forces for desert training. The landscape started changing.. dry valleys became a plateau covered with volcanic stones. The altitude here was higher and air was cooler.
Djibouti road
We stopped at a few viewpoints to look at a massive canyon and the waters of the bay far below. Our guide said he was Afar tribe and his grandfather had lived in this area. It looked like a hard life.. no water or vegetation to be seen. The road started losing altitude as we headed down towards Lac Assal. We could see it for some distance ahead. My friend and I had our GPS out to track when we crossed sea level.. not sure exactly as our altitude readings were off by about 7'. The air kept getting hotter as we passed -100, -200, -300' and more. We stopped at a hot spring then continued onto the lake shore itself, which is 1.5m of solid salt. The wind had whipped the waves and crystals into odd rose/ball shaped formations. I was definitely glad for sunglasses as it was blazingly bright with the white salt.
Lac Assal
We didn't have any money left for lunch and we had brought power bars with us but the guide was getting hungry too as he had missed breakfast to come out to us. We shared one of our bars with him but they just make me thirsty. Started back to town around 1:00 or so. This trip was quicker but the guide was getting nervous as the fuel gauge was showing near E. We didn't have any local money left and there wasn't any gas in any of the small towns we were going through. We were definitely driving on fumes by the time we got back near town. The guide said it was qat chewing time so he would run any red lights we came across!! Luckily that only happened once and we made it back to the hotel OK. We paid him the balance (about $60 US) and he seemed happy with that, so that ended well.
I had arranged a late checkout at 4PM due to my Gold SPG status. I debated another quick swim but then decided against as I didn't have a plastic bag to put wet trunks in. After checkout we caught a cab to the airport for our flight at 7PM. The fare was 2000 but we only had 1660 francs. We offered him that and $2, he kinda scrunched his nose at that but accepted it. It was way too early to checkin so we had to sit around outside the airport for awhile.
Eventually we are able to checkin. I had printed out our trip confirmations from Tripit but had combined my friend's itinerary and mine.. he was flying back to Washington and I was going onto Entebbe. I think that confused the agent and she only gave me a boarding pass to Addis. She also gave me an invitation pass to the lounge. The main airport terminal is pretty tiny but there is a VIP terminal next door. We went upstairs and I went to check on the lounge. It is actually a contract lounge operated by Kempinski hotel.. my friend was not allowed to enter as a guest unfortunately. The lounge was aircon which was nice, but you only get one free drink, any after that are paid. I just sat and drank a Fanta then went back in the main terminal.
Departure time finally arrived.. and we hadn't yet boarded. We kept sitting. 30, 45, 60 minutes past departure time and we still haven't boarded or received any information on the delay. The flight had arrived on time and we could see it down on the tarmac. My friend guessed that we were waiting on some VIP. Some people were already worried about missing their flights. We originally had a 2:45 connection but now that was ticking away. Eventually an agent came up and started asking if anyone would take a bump to the next day's flight. Nobody volunteered and in the end they pulled the last person to checkin off the flight!!
Turns out that immigration wasn't willing to let anyone back through once they had 'departed' and that was part of the delay. It was some Somali VIP ....... who had shown up last minute wanting a seat. It still took another 30-40 minutes to get everything organized I guess.. we finally boarded almost 2 hours late. Definitely getting a bit worried about my connection now. The flight was a brand new Q400 plane, 14 business class seats. The Somali VIP boarded right after I did and I heard him complain that there weren't any Business seats available. Geez buddy be glad you get a seat at all after delaying us 2 hrs.
The flight was pretty uneventful otherwise and we land just after 10PM.. my connection is at 10:45. By the time we taxi to the other side of the airport, wait for the bus, get on the bus and get transferred to terminal 2 it is 10:15. There was a 737 boarding as we pull up to the terminal, I thought it might be my flight. I say a quick goodbye to my friend and have to race off, not even stopping at the transit desk. I ask an agent standing nearby about the Entebbe flight, she says it is in T1 and points down a long hallway. I start running down the hall and down the stairs to catch a bus to Terminal 1... I'm joined by another guy that was on the Djibouti flight as well so he is in the same boat. Bus to T1, run up the stairs, have to wait to go through security and I still have no boarding pass... they are doing final call on the Entebbe flight at this point.
Security decides to have an issue with my walking stick which by this point has been through security 9 times (including this same one) without a problem. Finally they let me through and I run to the gate where they hand-write my boarding pass. Rush down the stairs and onto the waiting bus... whew. I was going to make the flight after all but just barely. The 737 plane of course ended up being parkedright next to the flight I had just come in on! I was the last one to board and overheads were already pretty full but managed to find a place for my backpack. Made the flight with minutes to spare. I texted my friend to let him know I'd made the connection. I slept most of the flight to Entebbe.
Apr 3, 2013, 11:47 am
#40
Join Date: Mar 2003
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Apr 3, 2013, 3:21 pm
#41
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
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Apr 3, 2013, 4:07 pm
#42
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: PER
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Apr 3, 2013, 5:13 pm
#43
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Honolulu, HI
Posts: 105
Goodness. You and ironmanjt have the most enviable adventures!
I've been wanting to go to Yemen and Socotra for a while now, but haven't had anyone able to come with me (or they're too nervous to go to that region of the world), so for now I'll just have to live off of reading about these places. Fantastic TR, thanks so much for sharing! ^
Count me in too, please!
I've been wanting to go to Yemen and Socotra for a while now, but haven't had anyone able to come with me (or they're too nervous to go to that region of the world), so for now I'll just have to live off of reading about these places. Fantastic TR, thanks so much for sharing! ^
Count me in too, please!
Apr 3, 2013, 8:05 pm
#44
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: BOS
Programs: Marriott, AAdvantage, United, Club Carlson
Posts: 1,687
Either way, I am 100% interested in exploring far out places. I can make my schedule work anytime...would love to get a group together!
Apr 5, 2013, 10:33 am
#45
Join Date: Mar 2003
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Posts: 5,523