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Eritrea - Is this really Africa? (May 2023)

Wow, I had heard Eritrea was different to the rest of Africa, but I’d never realised how different!

We landed in Asmara and immediately the friendly vibe was apparent. We walked around the streets without being bothered, asked for money or feeling vulnerable whilst we looked at the Italian architecture. This was once a very prosperous town. There were multiple cinemas, an opera house and many many churches and mosques. People lived peacefully here despite the multiple religions and it was difficult to tell whom were Muslim and whom were Christian, but in reality did it really matter?! I was travelling with my buddy Nabil, whom I'd met on the Afghanistan trip. We had two requests: the tank graveyard and the bowling alley and were thrilled that we would be seeing both on our first day - that's how I like it, so everything else is a bonus! Asmara was built between 1901 and 1945, and is around 2,300m above sea level. Despite being so close to the Middle East, the city was cool with nice breeze that took the heat of the sun away from us.


We roamed down the main road, Hornet Street (Freedom Street) past the Italian style opera house, Diana's bar, the bakery and into the old cinema (built in 1920) that looked like the scene of a horror movie. I was glad I wasn’t alone. There was still an old projector on show which was fascinating to see but the cinema was dark and we used our phones to light the way and for some photos.before entering the street again, the sun hurt your eyes with the contrast from the dark picture house to the bright sunlight.

We moved into the market, the Mosque and the Orthodox Church. Interestingly the Christian’s helped the Muslims build the Mosque and the Muslims helped the Christian’s build the Church. Both were beautifully constucted and were in locations fitting of religious sites. It was great to see such mutual respect of each other differences as well as similarities.

Next we went to the recycling centre - called "Medeber", that was built in 1912-14 - not really a place I was interested in visiting on my travels, but I was taken aback by the sheer volume of material that was being recycled with incredibly basic tools like hammers and clamps. These really were a people maximising the resources they had and creating what they needed. It was quite inspirational and we stayed far longer than we had intended.

By this point we had wandered for hours and were thirsty, so it seemed the perfect time to head to the bowling alley, get a drink and try and hit some pins. The bowling alley was built in 1942 and seemed to be a meeting point t for the men of Asmara, there were also pool tables as well. I convinced Nabil to play as he’s more into the photography than the competition! The balls were clearly for men only as they were incredibly heavy and the finger holes were really far apart! Not too practical for my child sized hands. But nevertheless being determined, I managed to play!!!

Interestingly, you had to throw the ball at a certain speed (I was totally unable to do this for the above mentioned issues) or it would veer off just before it hit the pins and you would totally miss! This provided much amusement given how competitive I was, and determined to win! Haha. However Nabil was happy and we had some cool photos, so overall, despite barely hitting the pins, we'd had a successful visit.

Next stop was the tank graveyard, the place I had most wanted to visit. It was incredible to see so many old tanks, tractors, cars, vehicles and scrap all in one place. We had two guides as a Chinese guy had also joined us and Robel and Sami loved taking photos and knew a lot of the great picture spots. This was great as the sun was only in the right spot for certain photos and was slowly starting to sink in the sky. We started with a few photos by an old bus and car before we climbed out first tank! It was fully in tact although I doubt the engine was still there and we posed and pouted for many a shot.

Whilst Nabil and the Chinese guy were taking their photos, Sami took me to an old car which I promptly climbed up before sitting on a huge cactus by accident which resulted in half the cactus now sticking out of my right butt cheek, much to my dismay, and for all you divers out there, it’s a bit like when a sea urchin decides to spike you in the leg! Very difficult to get the spines out without impaling your fingers in the task! And annoyingly it was very itchy! Nevertheless, this was not going to ruin my enjoyment of the experience given this was my choice of place to visit!! However it did mean that I was going to scratch my ass all afternoon!

We continued moving through the graveyard until we got to more tanks or photo spots. Nabil knew exactly the shots he wanted, having followed many of IG who had been, which was great for me as I’d only seen a few photos beforehand and wanted to experience things for myself (but with inside knowledge of the best shots!!!). We climbed up three tanks on top of each other and took pictures! Nabil and I took one together as it would be the fifth country we’ve explored together having also been in Oman, UAE and Ethiopia and have a few potential options for the rest of the year.

The sun was setting and we decided to head back to the city and see another cinema, and church before dinner. I was super excited by the thought of amazing Italian food but was equally super tired having flown overnight from Muscat to Dubai, to Addis to Asmara! Muscat is not the ideal place to travel from due to the lack of direct flights nevertheless this was home for now and I was very familiar with the airports in Dubai, Doha and Istanbul where I spend a lot of time waiting on connections!!!

Dinner was not what I was expecting! The food was definitely Italian but was not the thin crust pizzas we were expecting nor was the pasta cooked as you would get in Italy! Note to self - you are still in Africa, reset your expectations!!! However they did have beer which is always a bonus, and good to try the local drinks! The beer came in a stubby brown bottle with no label - cost reduction efforts apparently! No need to print labels if everyone knows what it is! Haha


After dinner I managed to persuade eNabil that at 7.30 it was far too early to go to bed, despite both of us fading fast, so we went with Sami for a beer at Diana’s and sang along to the rock songs they were playing (I felt bad for Nabil as he doesn’t drink!) and we eventually got back to the hotel at 8.15 and agreed to meet for breakfast at 830 the next day! I didn’t set an alarm as I didn’t think it was possible to miss breakfast and indeed I finally stirred at around 815 the next day. Having had such a good sleep and feeling super refreshed, although still with many cactus spines in my body!! I was also pleased to find the shower not only had water pressure but hot water. This had not been the case the day before!

We ate breakfast while Nabil talked to every tourist in the room (I appear to be an extroverted introvert and had gone all shy!) and proceeded to update me on each persons nationality, age, sexual orientation and phone numbers - man, this guy was good! Unsurprisingly given the travel community demographic, they were all gay guys of a certain age travelling the world. Nabil and I always ask each other for our thoughts before he goes to speak to someone “your tribe or mine?!” Needless to say, they are generally all his! Haha!


We left the hotel and before heading to Massawa, saw the Optic Church called BaleEgzihier which is at the top of a hill surrounded initially by a huge graveyard of the rich (with 4-8 people per grave) and then the wider views across Asmara. We had met an Optic Priest on the plane from Addis to Asmara and he was dressed in black and red robes it’s a staff and looked very similar to Jaffar from the Disney movie "Aladdin". I’d never seen anyone dressed that way before and we had to ask our guide what the clothes meant, which lead us to know he was an Optic priest.

We stopped in town to collect out permits for Massawa and popped into the huge post office before we headed off on the 2.5 hour drive to Massawa.

The drive was spectacular, with mountain views into deep valleys and train line and tunnels that could be spotted sporadically throughout the landscape. I had hoped to get the train between the two cities but the 1890’s railway hadn’t worked in years so the only option was to drive.

As Asmara was at the top of the mountains and Massawa was on the coast, we’d be taking the mountain pass down to sea level on the drive. We passed many towns and many hitchhikers or so we thought. We didn’t stop for any of them (slight guilty feeling). And we got to Massawa in the early afternoon - first stopping to see an abandoned plane, just left by the side of the road, which was now home to several very friendly squatters, and went for lunch. As this was a coastal town it was fish in the menu and it didn’t disappoint. It was beautifully cooked with vegetables and a little too much spice for my palate meaning my mouth felt like I was a fire breathing dragon! Way too hot!!!!

We wandered around Massawa, a town full of Ottoman and Egyptian building and what is believed to be the oldest mosque in Africa. The people speak the local Eritrean language as well as Arabic and a lot of the greetings and hand gestures were recognisable from Muscat.

We also went to the three tank monument.. these tanks are the Jaguar, Tiger and the Commander and symbolise the end of the Ethiopian colonisation of Eritrea - through "Operation Fenkil" between the 8th and 10th February, 1990. The more I travel, the more I realise how much turmoil has happened in the world, whilst I have been alive. The War between Russia and Ukraine - a war in Europe at present, really blows my mind, but Eritrea got its independence in 1990 (after fighting against Ethiopia since 1961) - I was seven when this war ended, and had barely heard of this country until I started travelling outside of Southern Africa. Eritrea is currently still fighting the Tigray people of Northern Ethiopia, who believe the land still belongs to them. For that reason, men under 55 are not allowed to leave the country in case they are called up to fight.

Massawa had a very different vibe to Asmara, and according to the guide, only poor people lived here now. There were so many destroyed or empty buildings and the town was virtually deserted for the daytime hours with residents opting to sleep during the heat of the day.

The town, we were also advised, boasts the first bank in Africa - built by the Italians from 1912-15. An incredibly impressive building, now closed off and unused.

When the afternoon heat started to cool, we wandered over to the Governor's Palace, built between 1872 to 1874, when the Egyptians ruled Massawa. There used to be a large statue outside of this building that is meant to have been of Rameses II. The ceilings had collapsed in on the palace, and the walls were falling down, always glad to be wearing flip flops in these kind of situations! Perhaps one of the reasons the building hasn't survived so well is that it was built from coral (as many of the buildings in the town are made from, however a lot of the newer buildings are made from a mix of granite and coral in order to maximise the strength quality of the granite rock.

Across from the Govenor's Palace was the Emperor's Palace, This building was more in tact and the two impressive lions at the door, still remained. Nabil was still in the Governors Palace, trying to get Robel to take an IG photo of him on the balcony, and as the building was abandoned, I'd decided to go and explore ahead of them. I crept slowly up the stairs, having been unable to open any of the doors on the ground level - strange for an abandoned building, but hey?! Who knows! I walked around the outside of the first floor, again unable to get into the actual building and then went up the stairs again to the second floor. I was walking round the balcony, when I heard something. I froze, and all the scary horror movies I watched (as a teenager due to peer pressure) where people are followed around buildings and then someone jumps out and stabs them went racing through my mind all at once but only for a split second, as. knew I needed to react.


I moved quickly around the corner of the building, and put my back against the wall to listen, indeed there were footsteps. I could see Nabil still on the balcony of the other building so I knew it wasn't him trying to scare me (although that would have been pretty funny!). I kept moving around the building trying to get to the stairs, but when I did, someone was coming up them. A man in rather rugged clothes, I turned to go back the way I'd came, but there was another man there, again dressed pretty ruggedly. I was getting scared now. I wondered why I'd wandered off by myself and was trying to decide what to do quickly.

"Hiya" I said, "Salaam Alyssum".

"Salaam" they both replied.

"No come here". one said.

"Ok, sorry", I put my hand on my chest to show sincerity. "I go" and pointed down the stairs.

They nodded and I walked down the stairs, trying my hardest not to show how scared I was. I sat on the lions outside and waited as I watched Nabil and Robel walk over.

"Anything in there?" Nabil asked

"Nope" I said...

Time to head for dinner!

The heat in Massawa as just like in Muscat and if you aren't in the water, you don't really want to be outside, so it was lucky that we were heading to Green Island this morning. Green Island was about a 30 minute boat ride from Massawa Port if you went vis the ship wreck, which of course, we were going to do! By Port, I mean, jumping into a speedboat from the hotel wall! We headed out and enjoyed the breeze from the speed of the boat. It was only 8am, but it was super hot already!


The shipwreck was relatively in tact, and looked like the ship had been abandoned as it had run aground. I wished I could climb on and wander around, but the captain of the speedboat looked at me like I was stupid! Maybe I was?! and firmly said NO!

We drove around the wreck to see it from all angles before heading for a swim. Green island was just off the coast of Massawa and seemed to be a popular place. When we got there, there was only one other boat - by the time we left, there were around twenty! It was party time and it wasn't even 10am!!

Sadly, we hadn't brought any beers with us (hey, I'm on holiday and its midday somewhere in the world!) and no-one was selling any, so after our super refreshingly swim that lasted around 2 hours, we headed back for a quick shower before we would drive to Asmara and the airport. The long weekend was over and it was time to go back to work.


But wow - Eritrea - you are definitely not like the rest of Africa!!




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