The Road Less Travelled-Blog (2): Somalia

I have been lucky enough to travel to some countries which not a lot of tourists visit, mainly for my work. I thought it would be a good idea to share these experiences with you guys. Second in line, after Eritrea, is neighbour Somalia; some other countries that are on my list to be included in this series are: North Korea, Papua New Guinea, South Sudan, Iraq, Bhutan and perhaps a few others.

source: istock / my own photo

OK, Somalia, or better: Somaliland, the northern / western part of Somalia. Somaliland is officially called "Republic of Somaliland", and is a self-declared state internationally recognised as an autonomous region of Somalia. Somaliland was occupied by the British, but united in 1960 with was called Italian Somaliland, to form Somalia.

Somaliland lies on the Gulf of Aden, and has around 4 million residents. Its capital is Hargeisa, where I was based. It's very arid and there are only a few agricultural pockets where crops can be grown. Somaliland has a large livestock export, mainly goats and sheep, worth millions of US Dollars, mainly going to the Arabic states for religeous festivals. There are not many industries, and the region survives for a large part on remittances from Diaspora.

The camel is an important animal in the area, both the meat and the milk from the camel is highly appreciated. There are special restaurants that focus on camel meat, and I have to say it can be very tender and delicious if prepared in the right way. As for camel milk, locals prefer the milk strangely with a slight 'burnt taste' which gets into the milk after boiling it on an open fire.

source: my own photo

The former area of British Somaliland includes Puntland, and Somaliland continues to claim that area as well (e.g. the 'pointy' end of the country), and this border dispute continues to cause tensions between Puntland and Somaliland.

source: istock / my own photo

Clans are important social units in Somaliland, and this is especially striking in the town of Burao, where one side of the town is from one clan, the other side if from another clan. When we were recruiting people, we had to make sure to hire an equal number (50/50) of each clan, not to cause tensions!

photos: myself-ie-ish

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Click here for my other posts

Travel
Road less Travelled: Eritrea

Cycling
MTB back garden ride
The toughest MTB race on earth
Crocodile providing MTB support
Top 10 MTB stage races in the World
I beat the Magalies Monster!
What to carry on your bike
Bhutan - Tour of the Dragon - 268 km MTB race
Plugging your tires
My bike, Salsa Cutthroat

Winecraft - Wine Barrel Projects
Bench --- Lounger --- Table --- Wine glass holder

Language
Language affects the way we think
Words change the Colours we see