The Wolf

What's next by the way.
Newyear's eve in Aleppo?

Pangro

Absolutely mindblown, and what captivating images!

I hope you can answer some questions I pondered about while reading

*Did you eat the food served on the airplane? I am a skeptic even for european airplane food.

*Did your stomach manage with the Somali-food? Do you generally just eat what you want when you travel, without getting sick of it? I know my main concern (in addition to personal safety...) if going to Africa is what to eat, I'm so scared about getting food poisoning I struggle eating even in Greece...

*There's this MERS-CoV-virus going on in the middle east, and the WHO is recommending people to stay away from camel farms and ingesting camel milk/meat. Did you think of this while in Mogadishu? Do you feel it's too far away from Saudi Arabia? I'm by no means trying to moral preach you here, I'm just curious about your thoughts since I'm such a scaredy-cat myself. It's nice to get some more self confident thoughts from well seasoned travelers

*Were there a lot of trash in the area? I can just imagine the huge issues they must have with proper disposal of plastics, trash and even sewage... Did the hotel have a normal toilet? Could you take a shower?

I love "reading" (looking at) your trip reports, keep travelling to interesting places!!! ^

modesto2

Very fascinating report, thanks for sharing!

Bretteee

Somalia is very confusing to me.

In Djibouti they have a very nice Kempinski Hotel. I met the previous manager.

I think that is also part of Somalia?

johnincolumbus

Brilliant TR as usual. As a fellow photographer, I really really enjoy your crisp, colorful, thoughtfully composed images.

Quick question, what is the first map with your routing from? What did you use to make that? Thanks!

SanDiego1K

I was drawn in by your title, and when I saw you were the author, knew I had a good read ahead. Your pictures are fantastic. I noticed that you had lots of children looking at you on the beach. Was that simply because they were looking at the camera or was it because it is obvious you are not local?

mike&co

Fantastic, really enjoyed that ^. Wonder if SFO777 will be heading there on his next trip

DanielW

Thank you, Becho. The locals were bemused to see a foreigner about, so they gave me a small piece of khat to try:



Thanks, agp423. Most of the shots are with the Canon 16-35L II, and a few with the 24L II and 50L lenses.

Cheers, durberville. I saw a TK plane on the tarmac when I was leaving, maybe for next time?

Thanks, brooklynflyer82. I must admit that when the plane took off from MQG, I felt a certain sense that I had 'survived'.

Many thanks, exilencfc. My guide was saying that in the colonial times (~1950's), it used to be popular tourist destination for europeans, with people wearing bikini's on the beach etc. Hard to imagine though!

Thanks, isaifan. Yes, just have to look at the sorry situation in Syria and see how things can change so much in only a few years.

I wish! Back to the African continent, to Sudan.

Many thanks, Pangro. I'm not too fussy about food and will eat just about anything, including mediocre airline food. I had bad 'delhi belly' when I went to India, but nothing like that on my various trips to Africa.

I wasn't too worried about camel meat/milk, probably more chance of catching malaria than MERS etc.

Not too much trash, no worse than other third world countries anyway. I had a western style toilet and half-decent shower at my hotel, fine for a few days anyway.

Thanks, Bretteee. Yes, will have to head back to Djibouti after the quick stop at the airport. Technically it's a separate country, but I think it used to be part of the french controlled Somaliland.

Thank you, johnincolumbus. The flight maps are just made with http://www.gcmap.com

Many thanks, SanDiego1K. As a white westerner it was impossible to be inconspicuous, especially when I had 3-4 armed guards surrounding me all the time. Apart from a Turkish airlines employee at the airport, I saw no other western people for the whole trip. I was quite the curiosity at the refugee/IDP camp too, I felt a bit like the pied piper with all the kids following me.

Cheers, mike&co. Yes, I definitely recommend he adds Mogadishu to his 'must see' list. Not sure if Mrs SFO777 will be too keen though.

FallenPlat

Wow.

I've simply never heard of being a "tourist" in a situation that required evasive maneuvers on arrival, a gun-toting security entourage of five on the ground, and one or more bribes on departure. I'm the kind of guy who thought the bombed-out and bullet-marked buildings of Iron-Curtain Berlin were completely jaw-dropping -- but this beats all.

flyr16

Outstanding report; you really do get places most of us will never visit. Thanks for posting.

Great foto of the basket of tomatoes and the woman vendor, terrific framing and color.

Gnopps

Great report and photos, thanks!

halfcape

Wow, yikes, these are just two of the words that come to mind in reading your report. Thank you so much for sharing you experiences through words and photos. Amazing.

Fredrik74

Mogadishu? You're a lot braver than I am that's for sure.

Thanks for the report with your usual quality of photos.

krazykanuck

Very cool report Daniel. When I lived in Canada, we had a very good family friend who emigrated from Somalia after the war. He had many scars from injuries suffered there, so he rarely talked about home. I don't know anybody who has ever visited there, so it's fascinating to see the photos.

Out of curiosity, how did you manage to find your guide and small army of guards? Also from the picture of cash seems like what I'd call a reasonable fee for a driver, guide, and armed guards.

MatthewLAX

Superb, as usual DanielW. After reading your report I feel much more comfortable making a similar trip there.