Vacation In Mogadishu
Most people have heard of the phrase lost in translation, but have you ever heard of vacationing in Mogadishu? No, I don’t mean going to Somalia, where your odds of catching a rocket propelled grenade or being kidnapped by Al-Shabaab are pretty high and you should probably change your pants because you wet them. I mean vacationing in Mogadishu as in traveling to Mogadishu, capital city of Somalia and the 4th largest city in East Africa.
Author’s note: I spent a couple of weeks in Mogadishu on vacation with friends. Among the most interesting things I did there was visit the site of the Battle of Mogadishu. I was disappointed with what is on display today, but perhaps that’s just the way it goes. As for my blog post about it, I want to be clear that this is not intended to be in any way an endorsement or defense of the conduct of American troops in Somalia in 1993. The article is meant as an inquiry into why things aren’t more interactive, informative and engaging at the scenes of historical events. Perhaps those who have been to Mogadishu have some ideas; contributions are welcome.]
As you can imagine, Mogadishu is not the first spot on most people’s itinerary. A long history of conflict and terrorism has made it a dangerous place. But despite this, in recent years Mogadishu has started to become a popular travel destination
Vacation In Mogadishu
Adrenaline rushed through my body as the plane skilfully touched the ground at Aden Adde International Airport. I was slightly apprehensive, but it wasn’t a kind of nervousness that makes you want to cancel your trip. Everything was under control; I had taken every precaution necessary before embarking on an emergency medical mission to Mogadishu.
TRAVEL TO SOMALILAND, I WAS CHEATING MYSELF
Somaliland is separated from Somalia proper in that it has its own Government, its own flag, its own currency, even its own passport. It is a self-declared republic and is 1000x safer than Somalia to the south. Due to political pressures from the UN and various western superpowers, Somaliland is only recognised by 8 nations (Belgium being one of them), so technically it could be argued that it IS Somalia, but in reality, it really, really isn’t, and I knew it.
Still, it was nervewracking to enter Somaliland, and I ended up having a ridiculous adventure there with a Saudi property tycoon, some illegal alcohol, a convicted terrorist and some dubious ladies of the night in full burkas. You can check out that story here. But all’s well that ends well and I moved on to Sudan, Egypt (3 days in Cairo), Jordan, Lebanon and we travelled to Syria, a hell of a trip that was.
As I approached country 187 of 197 countries in the world, just 10 countries to go, the shadow of my visit to Somaliland was hanging over me. I had spent 10 years REALLY travelling the world, none of this border jumping, flying into airports and out again, transits and 1 day per country stuff that that vast, vast majority of people who have visited every country in the world have done, and I knew I was cheating myself with Somalia, had I truly visited Somalia? Not really and it was keeping me awake at night. I had to be true to myself, so I set out to put it straight.
FINALLY, I WOULD TRAVEL TO SOMALIA PROPERLY
I was going to go to travel to Mogadishu, perhaps the most dangerous city in the world, home to the ‘Black Hawk Down’ escapade and even more worryingly it’s a hotspot for Al-Shabaab, an offshoot of Al-Qaeda. With that in mind, I started reaching out to various contacts in my travel world who could provide me with some remnants of safety, and I ended up with a shortlist of 2 ‘agents’ who could secure me a visa for Somalia, armed guards, a guarded compound, and some ‘tours’ of Mogadishu and the surrounding areas, 4 days or so, for a vaguely affordable price.
Just before I confirmed I had one last contact, an American guy Rob (thanks buddy), who had experience in war zones and had actually been to Mogadishu (and was ambushed by terrorists and nearly died, not good). I spoke to him about my 2 contacts and he told me, in no uncertain terms, that choosing agents based on price in a place like Mogadishu, Somalia was tantamount to stupidity and suicide.
Furthermore, he would only ever use one guy in Mogadishu, and the cost should be irrelevant, that guy was Bashir (bashiirph@hotmail.com), a young entrepreneur and founder of the Peace Hotel, Mogadishu, the safest hotel compound in the city. Rob was more informed than me, so I took his advice and organised everything with Bashir, he was amazing to deal with, and it was the right choice to go with him. Before long I had my flights from Istanbul booked, and was ready to go