Place: Somaliland (Northern Somalia)
Time: July 10, 2016
"A woman once drove me to drink. I never had a chance to thank her."- W.C. Fields
I had expected northern Somalia to be a land of darkened doorways, littered with guns and reeking of fear and distrust. A place of thorn scarred camels, tattered turbans and dirty teeth. No matter what it had to throw at me, I was ready- ready for everything but pleasant surprise.
I found instead Somaliland to be a vibrant, friendly, happy place. It was a country that seemed to police itself based solely on the excellent character of those who inhabited it. Instead of machine gun alley, I was assaulted at every turn by shout outs from the locals. “Hello!”, “How are you?” ,
“Welcome!” , “Where are you from?”, “What is your name?” “Can I help you?”.
Yes, everywhere I went, people went out of their way to be accommodating and kind. Endless smiles and waves, countless offers of assistance and good will. For them to see a white westerner walking the streets with them with pack on back, was indeed rare occasion.
Somaliland broke away from Somalia and declared its independence from its home country after the terrible civil war in 1990. To its incredible credit, it has maintained peace and stability for the last 25 years ,but still the worlds communities refuse to recognise it as its own country, even though they now have their own currency, their own military and their own flag. For the worlds nations, it is still “Somalia”.
I didn't feel much like pulling out my camera while there. It didn't feel like a place for photography, and there didn't seem to be much worth shooting anywise. I was the only white person I saw in 5 days who was traveling through the country.
A few photos below….
This is what you wake up to every morning at around 4:30 am if you are in an Islamic country.
Competing minaretes throughout the city all drone with morning prayer. Finally, the mosque closest to me over powers them.
I crossed the border with these three wonderful chaps from Ethiopia. Left to Right:
Zinew, an Ethiopian Doctor who is working in Somaliland. Fikru, who is a health lecturer from Ethiopia, and "Mickey" a civil engineer who is working in Ethiopia.
I wound up hanging out with Zinew for a couple days and hope to keep in contact with all these wonderful guys.
View of one minaret of scores around my guest house. Somaliland is solid Islam.
The locals celebrate their independence everywhere with dates and their flag.
This explains Africa in a nutshell.
Ill give my electrician Tony a call from EFS and have him sort out this wiring pronto.
(This photo taken by Fikru)
We just crossed into Somaliland and are getting our passports stamped.
I snuck 3 beers into this Islamic country- IN MY STOMACH!!!...Hahhahaa....the fools will never look for them in there!!!
Shown here with the only pair of jeans I have with me, with a hole in the crotch. I wash them every 2 weeks whether I need to or not....
I changed $ 50 dollars and get back 350,000 Somaliland Schillings. I was going to buy the entire country until I found out that my guest house room for the night cost 27,000 shillings.
