Eritrea Jan 16-20, 2023
Described as the North Korea of Africa, it has been ruled by the same dated autocrat for over 30 years. Involved in a civil war from 1960 to 1991 and another with Ethiopia that just ended in 2019, war has been a major economic drag. Eritrea-Ethiopian relations may have changed, but Afewerki’s dictatorial regime has not. It is an autocracy, where a lot of the decisions are made by the president and some key advisors, ministers, generals—it’s a very small circle. A huge percentage of Eritrea’s population has fled the country, largely to avoid repressive policies.
Tourism is not actively encouraged despite being a lovely country with some great attractions, especially the WHS City of Asmara.
Many young Eritreans (virtually anyone with intelligence and ambition) have left the country because of the severe repression. Men are conscripted into the army off the streets. The only way to leave is to be smuggled across the border with Ethiopia. It is an incredible brain drain.
Visas are generally only available in your home country. The Embassy in Rome may be the best without an Eritrean embassy in your home country. Application form link: Visa Formular. Passport copy, one photo. Flight/hotel/itinerary/employment letter needed. €70. All land borders are closed. The embassies are often inefficient, have unnecessary delays and don’t answer any communication.
Canada has an embassy in Toronto but I was in Africa and live over 4000 km from Toronto. I contacted Tekeste Asghedom of Asmara Grande. He has worked in the tourism industry for decades and has good contacts. He made a special request and obtained a visa!! He emailed the VOA. His cost was $70 and I gave him $100 for all his help. Pay $70 cash for the visa at the airport.
Permits required for each city/destination outside of Asmara and to see the Tank Graveyard (this was free). Issued at the Tourism Office in Asmara, weekdays only, takes 3 hours. Need a photocopy of visa and passport for the permit application. 51 EF ($3.40). Make photocopies of permit and visa as need for checkpoints. Possible without tour guide. I left a tip.
Tours.
1. Asmara Grande. Tekeste Asghedom. www.asmaragrande.com / Tekeste.tekeste.azere@gmail.com asmaragrandeasmara@gmail.com. +291 11110672/+291 7116317. I emailed Tekeste and said I was in Egypt and how far away I lived from Toronto and he obtained my Eritrean visa without my having to return home. Tekeste is a wonderful guide and facilitator for Eritrea. He is 68, has been in the tour business for a long time and is very well connected. He is the sweetest, most knowledgeable and ethical guy, willing to help with anything. As an addition, he speaks great English and is very well read. He is curious about everything and an easy conversationist.
Instead of the $70 requested for the visa, I gave him $100. He picked me up at the airport and again in the morning to get the tourist permits at 08:30, drove to the tank graveyard and returned at 11:30 to pick up the permit. He took me to the bus to Massara at 05:30 and drove me to the airport on departure. I did not hire him as a guide per se, and it seemed as if he was doing things out of the goodness of his heart. I gave him another $100. He gave me a departing gift and took me to a neighbour for a wonderful lunch.
2. Damera Tours. Kahsai Berhane dameratours@gmail.com / kahsai@me.com.
3. Medhanie, Whatsapp +2917403639 $40/day, $70/two days.
Money. Bring enough US$ or € cash for the entire trip – No ATMs. Get €/$ changed at the airport, your hotel, any business, at the Cambios in Asmara, or taxi drivers. 1 US$=15EN; 1 €=16EN
SIM cards. Not available for foreigners and even if you were able to get one, there is no data. Ask any local to make a phone call for you using their phone.
Internet. Internet cafes in Asmara – I went to Dolphin Internet and paid 15 EN for one hour and needed the whole hour to do a few simple things as it was so slow. Need a VPN to access social media but it took so long to log in as to not useful.
Near Fiat Tagliero is an internet café with faster speeds – 100 EN for 100 MB..
Tips
Make all flight/travel arrangements before coming to Eritrea
Download Google Maps of Eritrea & pin everything
A power bank may be useful as electricity is only available in the evenings and some of the night. I didn’t use mine as there was electricity starting from 6-7pm and lasting most of the night so I charged all my electronics then.
Bring clothes for all seasons (cool in Asmara, hot in Massawa)
Safety is good. Curfew at 11 pm.
Accommodation: Africa Pension 450 EN (30 US$) for 1. Great value but no internet.
Crystal Hotel 83 USD per night with breakfast for 2, has wifi.
Luna Hotel in Massawa 600 EN for 1
Food. Most food is Italian. Ethiopian food (ingura) is available but I never found a café with it. Gelato da Fortuna, Spaghetti and Pizza house, Pizza Napoli. Avoid Daniel’s Fast Food
Transportation. Taxis from the airport 200 – 300 Nakfas ($14 – 20 US$) to the main part of the city. The train to Massawa has not operated for decades.
ASMARA is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country’s Central Region. It sits at an elevation of 2,325 metres (7,628 ft), making it the sixth-highest capital in the world by altitude and the second-highest capital in Africa. The city is located at the tip of an escarpment that is both the northwestern edge of the Eritrean Highlands and the Great Rift Valley in neighbouring Ethiopia. In 2017, the city was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its well-preserved modernist architecture.
The site of Asmera was first settled in 800 BC. The city was then founded in the 12th century AD after four separate villages were unified to live together peacefully after long periods of conflict. Under Italian rule, the city of Asmara was made the capital of Eritrea.
Italian Asmara. Asmara, a small village in the nineteenth century, started to grow quickly when it was occupied by Italy in 1889 and made the capital city of Italian Eritrea in 1897. In the early 20th century, the Eritrean Railway was built to the coast, passing through the town of Ghinda,
A large Italian community developed the city. In 1939, Asmara had a population of 98,000, of whom 53,000 were Italian of the 75,000 Italians in all of Eritrea, The capital acquired an Italian architectural look. Europeans used Asmara “to experiment with radical new designs” – handsome wide streets, ornate public buildings, and a modern sewage system. Nowadays, more than 400 buildings are of Italian origin, and many shops still have Italian names. The Kingdom of Italy invested in the industrial development of Asmara (and surrounding areas of Eritrea), but the beginning of World War II brought this to a halt.
UNESCO made Asmara a World Heritage Site in July 2017, saying “It is an exceptional example of early modernist urbanism at the beginning of the 20th century and its application in an African context”.
Federation with Ethiopia. In 1952, the United Nations resolved to federate the former colony under Ethiopian rule. During the Federation, Asmara was no longer the capital city. The capital was now Addis Ababa, over 1,000 km to the south. The national language of the city was therefore replaced from the Tigrinya language to the Ethiopian Amharic language. In 1961, Emperor Haile Selassie I ended the “federal” arrangement and declared the territory to be the 14th province of the Ethiopian Empire. Ethiopia’s biggest ally was the United States. The city was home to the US Army’s Kagnew Station installation from 1943 until 1977. The Eritrean War of Independence began in 1961 and ended in 1991, resulting in the independence of Eritrea. Asmara was left relatively undamaged throughout the war, as were the majority of highland regions. After independence, Asmara again became the capital of Eritrea.
The lands that surround Asmara are very fertile, especially those to the south of the Debub Region of Eritrea. The highlands that Asmera is in fall away to reveal the eastern lowlands, characterized by the searing heat and humidity of the Eritrean salt pans and lapped by the Red Sea. To the west of the plateau stretches a vast semi-arid hilly terrain continuing all the way towards the border with Sudan through the Gash-Barka Region.
Climate. Asmara has a semi-arid climate. It is dry for 185 days a year with an average humidity of 51% and a UV index of 6.
Architecture. The city is known for its early 20th-century buildings, including the Art Deco Cinema Impero (opened in 1937 and considered by the experts one of the world’s finest examples of Art Déco style building, Cubist Africa Pension, eclectic Eritrean Orthodox Enda Mariam Cathedral and former Opera House, the futurist Fiat Tagliero Building, the neo-Romanesque Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, Asmara, and the neoclassical Governor’s Palace. The city is adorned by Italian colonial villas and mansions, one prominent example being the World Bank Building. Most of central Asmara was built between 1935 and 1941, so the Italians effectively managed to build almost an entire city in just six years. At this time, the dictator Benito Mussolini had great plans for a second Roman Empire in Africa. War cut this short, but his injection of funds created the Asmara of today, which supposedly was to be a symbol of colonial fascism during that period.
The city shows off most early 20th-century architectural styles. Some buildings are neo-Romanesque, such as the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, and some villas are built in a late Victorian style. Art Deco influences are found throughout the city. Essences of Cubism can be found on the Africa Pension Building, and on a small collection of buildings. The Fiat Tagliero Building shows almost the height of futurism, just as it was coming into big fashion in Italy.
Asmara is known to be an exceptionally modern city, not only because of its architecture, but it had more traffic lights than Rome did when the city was being built. The city incorporates many features of a planned city.
Asmara has wide streets, restaurants, piazzas (town squares), bars and cafes while many boulevards are lined with palm trees. The Italian-inspired food and culture is very present and was introduced during Italian Eritrea. Countless restaurants and cafes serve high-quality espresso, cappuccinos and lattes, gelato parlours and restaurants with Italian Eritrean cuisine. Common dishes served in the Italian Eritrean cuisine are ‘Pasta al Sugo e Berbere’, which means “pasta with tomato sauce and berbere” (spice), “lasagna” and “cotoletta alla milanese” (Milano cutlet).
Airports Asmara (ASM)
Asmara A Modernist African City WHS.
Day 1 Mon Jan 16
Flight. Hergaisa-ADD-Asmara (Ethiopian Airlines) @12:00-17:10. We left late, had an uneventful layover and charged all my devices.
Immigration. I presented my LOI provided by Teketse, paid $70 cash and got my full-page visa. Teketse was waiting for me and drove me to my hotel. His fee was $70 but I gave him $100 for his immeasurable help.
I walked 2 blocks down to the main street and ate at The Spaghetti and Pizza House. The pizza was good but relatively expensive at 190 EN ($13) including a coke. I paid with dollars and got a change in EN at 15 EN/US$.
I met another traveller, Natalie Leis from Germany who I have chatted with on Messenger many times about trips. She has been here for 10 days and returned from Karen today. She is travelling with a “friend”, an Eritrean who is guiding her around for free. She has about 170 countries and hopes to finish when I do with the YPT Least Visited Countries tour in the South Pacific. We had a coffee just as the restaurants were closing. I returned to my hotel, paid, and exchanged 100 E (15.8/E) so I had some cash.
ON Africa Pension. 450 EN (US$30). In a marvellous old Italian mansion, the ceilings are high, the furniture is old Italian, marble floors and walks. The garden is a marvel of plants and statues. I cleaned and had a good sleep. The electricity went out during the night – blackouts are common here.
I am missing the internet and foolishly forgot to copy and paste my post on Eritrea so have no access to it surprisingly with no internet, all my Chrome disappeared.
ON Africa Pension
Day 2 Tue Jan 17
Up early, I walked down to the main street again, went into the cathedral and had breakfast of a latte and mini-pizza 21EN. Food may be expensive but coffee is very cheap.
Church of Our Lady of the Rosary built in 1921-1923 in the Romanesque-Lombard style, it dates from a time when Eritrea was under Italian colonial rule. A marvellous dark brick building with cupolas on the roof line, it has an outstanding bell tower, a massive square structure with 8 bells weighing 100 kg each. a spire and clockfaces on each side. It is a triple nave with brick/stone columns and arches, painted designs and a dome with a turquoise/yellow stars design. Mass is held in both Italian and Tigrina languages.
Teketse arrived at 08:30 to take me to the permit office. He then drove me to the tank graveyard, we had a long coffee and cake break, and we returned to the permit office at 11:30 to pick up the permit. 51 EN
Tank Graveyard, In the NM The Dark Side series, and a short distance from Asmara, is a field littered with thousands of stacked military tanks, rusting trucks, and worn-out cars, remnants of a devastating, three-decade conflict with Ethiopia. Large cacti sprout within this steel maze, bearing orange and saffron-coloured fruits.
Eritrea’s war of independence lasted from 1961 to 1991 and is one of Africa’s longest wars in recent memory. It killed over 125,000 soldiers on both sides. The war was peasant armies with sandals made out of tires and captured weapons, fighting against this army that had been supplied by the Soviet Union. After Eritrea’s victory in 1991, soldiers collected all the remaining machinery they could find, which was sprawled all across the country, and dumped it into the same site. It grew into a giant scrap yard and public space. There is a complete complement of every type of vehicle involved in a war from a few tanks, trucks, cars, buses, cranes, ambulances and many more. Obtain a free permit to see (available at the Tourism office).
I got directions to the following and had a short walkabout.
Asmara is very different from any other African city – wide streets and sidewalks, no dirt streets, very little traffic, more bicycles than cars, a few people walking around, little garbage, and virtually no informal economy except for a few guys selling sunglasses and watches spread out on a cloth. The original Italian architecture is completely preserved with no modern buildings. They look a little tattered.
Governor’s Palace. A 3-story building with a central tall rectangular column with a clock face and emblem with a camel.
World Bank Building. A 7-story building with a lot of glass and a red/brown marble façade. The corner is rounded. Now the Housing and Commercial Bank.
The Shuq Market. A small market with shops under the colonnaded exterior and a large central area with mostly produce, a meat store and a market.
I stopped for a coffee but there were no expressos available as the electricity was out (it only seems to operate in the evenings).
I continued my walkabout.
National Museum of Eritrea. In a lovely 2-story dark brick building with decorative arches, this museum details the history of the country but has little since 1990 and the autocratic government presently in power. Includes archaeology, ethnography (dress, traditional housing and painting of different ethnic groups. It is only open in the mornings. 50 EN
Sandal Monument. The giant sandals sculpture on a roundabout in Shida Square (Shida is the Arabic word for sandals) are the same as those worn by the Independence fighters, and following the tradition in Eritrea of keeping the shoes of the dead as a reminder of them, and this monument commemorates those freedom fighters killed in their struggle.
The roundabout in which the monument was is empty. The sandals were removed about 10 years ago.
Fiat Tagliero is a Futurist-style service station completed in 1938 and one of the foremost Art Deco buildings of Italian Asmara. Conceived as a simple petrol station owned by Dr. Tagliero (the Fiat concessionary in Asmara), the building was designed to resemble an aeroplane taking off incorporating a central tower with office space, cashier desk and shop — and supporting a pair of huge 15m cantilevered, reinforced concrete wings used as decorative shades for entering the garage.
Sadly, Fiat Tagliero is closed, surrounded by a fence and with weeds growing up through the concrete.
I stopped at a more upscale internet café that had faster speeds – 100 EN for 100 MB but had no business so didn’t use it.
I ate again at the Spaghetti and Pizza House (breaded fish cutlet).
ON Africa Pension
Day 3 Wed Jan 18
Eritrea – North and South Red Sea (Massawa, Assab)
Borders: Eritrea (sea border/port); Eritrea-Ethiopia; Eritrea-Sudan
Tekeste picked me up at 05:30 and took me to the bus station to go to Massawa and another region of Eritrea. A private car costs about $135 and the bus 43 EN. It takes about 3 hours to drive the 115 km. We arrived at 05:40 and the first bus was full. A second soon arrived and we left at 06:30 with a full complement of passengers.
The highway descends from the highland through rugged mountains covered in prickly pear, low bush and some trees. Terraces, mostly unused are common. A railway parallels the road, initially below and then above it as it uses many tunnels. It is not functioning.
The descent traverses and goes down several switchbacks. Lower down, the land is verdant with many crops on terraces. At 9, once we reached the plains (and much warmer temperatures), we had a long stop 43km from Massawa at Gahtielay and had a breakfast of beans, vegies and bread 20EN.
The bus stops 2.4 km from downtown and I decided to walk into town. At the west end of the causeway, I saw a sign for the museum 400 m and walked down to it.
Massawa Museum (Northern Red Sea Museum). Archaeology (stelae, pots, stone tools), natural history (corals, shells, many fish in jars, a dugong skeleton, a Bryde’s whale skeleton 14m long weighing 22 tons, sea turtle shells), ethnography (costumes, baskets, pots, saddles), colonial heritage (railway construction, buildings, furniture), and military sections with many photographs of EPLF fighters, a huge assortment of guns and sandals. 30EN
Central Massawa
Memorial Plaza for Victims of Massawa Battle. In the NM The Dark Side series, this is three tanks on a large black marble platform. They commemorate the 1990 Operation Fenkel. One is the first tank captured from the Ethiopian army in 1977 11 km south of Asmara, another captured in 1976, and another captured in 1988 and all destroyed on the causeway on Feb 11, 1990.
I walked towards the old town to find a hotel. The Central Hotel was long closed. Luna Hotel was 600 EN and I said I would look for another, then they came back with a discount for 500 EN. This Central part of town is empty – no cars, no people, no businesses.
I had a nap then walked down to Old Massawa.
Imperial Palace (ruin). In the NM The Dark Side series, this was a grand building at one time, but it looked like a bomb had hit it in the front center. It is 2-story, completely colonized with white columns and blue tile on the bottom. It is fronted by a huge piece of dirt with two metal lighthouses and a stone wall.
The Dahlak Hotel at the end of the causeway in Central Massawa looked like a 5-star place, but there was no one visible.
MASSAWA OLD TOWN (pop 30,000 and much less now)
Used by the Greeks and Egyptians, it became a major trade outlet for the Turks in the 16th and 17th centuries (slaves, pearls, hides and fish) and drew traders from India and the Middle East. Its ancient title was the “Pearl of the Red Sea” as its port was one of the safest harbours in East Africa. The Sahabas (an Islamic sect) arrived here in the 6th century from near Jeddah. The Shafi Mosque was built in the 7th century and is one of the oldest mosques in Africa.
The narrow-gauge railway between Asmara and Massawa was destroyed in the war in 1975 but was rebuilt using steam engines but it now not functioning.
Massawa expanded significantly during the Italian era and Massawa Island was joined to the Twalet Island by a causeway.
It has many bars, restaurants and art deco buildings with carved wood doors, shutters and balconies. That may have been in the past, but today, it is virtually deserted and I saw almost none of that. It reminded me of “The World Without Us” – what wasn’t a ruin was rapidly becoming one. Many buildings are built using coral blocks and these were in the worst state. I entered the Sheikh Derbush Tomb, a neglected space but with a tomb. Another mosque looked very nice with good coral walls, a hexagonal minaret and green doors and shutters, but was closed and looked never used.
I didn’t see one car. The only people were a few groups of kids kicking around a soccer ball, some old people sitting looking out at space and two guys lounging on a cot. A woman was filling jugs of water from a tap at the bottom of meter square hole in the ground. There were 3 small shops open and the four bars were closed. I didn’t see any hotels or restaurants. It appeared that the port had taken over the entire east end of the island, consuming anything old there including two advertised mosques.
I talked to someone in Asmara about Massawa – now is not the time to come, everyone goes there in June to August for the beaches. I am not a beach person.
The drive here is much more rewarding than the destination. Oh well, there was not much more to see in Asmara (and I had one more night and more than 30 hours to see that) and I got one more NM region and a few sites.
Massawa Central Mosque. There is no central mosque but four were marked on the map. The only one open was the Sheikh Hanal Alansaui Mosque dating from the 16th century. It is lovely with a round minaret, many round columns with turquoise tiles on the bottoms and a large white dome. The mihrab was blue/white tile with a narrow wood minbar. There was no one inside.
I had dinner at the Luna Hotel, possibly the only place to eat in all of Massawa.
ON Luna Hotel 500 EN. This was not nearly as nice as African Pension but it appeared all that was available in Central Massawa. They have a restaurant.
Day 4 Thur Jan 19
I left the hotel at 4:45am and walked the 2.6 km to the bus depot to get the early bus from Massawa back to Asmara 31 EN. It left at 6:30 am with a full load. Arrive before 5:30 to get a front seat for the best view.
Compared to the daytime in Massawa, the place was almost chaotic. The Eastern Orthodox Cathedral was standing room only with people scattered all over outside. The sermon could be heard for blocks. On the walk over the causeway, I passed many more people than when I arrived.
When back in Asmara, I had a walkabout to see the following, all in north Aamara.
Medebar Market. There are 100s of privately owned stalls, most metal workshops (welders, and grinders working full time), and some woodworking shops where everything possible is recycled into rustic objects. Blacksmiths make axe heads, ploughs and other farm tools. Another large section is devoted to grinding hot peppers to which are added other spices, most by hand with mortar and pestles. They can make anything here – it is a hovel of galvanized sheds, all looking very junky.
Enda Mariam Cathedral (St Mary’s Orthodox Church). Built in 1938, it is 1 km north of the centre sitting on a hill. Built of alternating thin layers of red brick and grey/black stone, it has two huge square bell towers. Inside, it is triple nave with Byzantine paintings of Bible stories, angels and religious icons. Piece carpets cover the floor. Remove your shoes to enter, women to the right and men to the left.
Just as I finished seeing the church, a huge procession led by several priests and serenaded in by guys blowing long gold horns approached the church from below. This was Timkat, the big religious occasion of the year. To a slow drumbeat, there were slow songs, intermittent horn blowing and a fluttering chant from the crowd. All the participants (almost all women) wore white shawls and several knelt on the ground praying. I just happened to be here at the right time.
After a few prayers and bowing, the priests entered the church. Pieces of bread were distributed, and the people sat on the steps and low walls bordering the church and then left. So much for that.
Great Mosque of Asmara. Built in 1938 and covered inside and out with small tiles – light orange and green. The dome is lovely with small opaque glass and designs. Women are not allowed to enter.
I was initially not allowed to enter, but said I just wanted to have a quick look and they let even with shorts on. Then a guy approached me and said I needed a permit from the Ministry of Tourism.
I then wandered through downtown but no one had liquid milk. I had lunch at Daniel’s Fast Food. The hamburger was the thinnest possible, the chips cold and the Coke never arrived. The service was awful, but the place was packed with old guys having tea and no food. I paid only for the hamburger. I had dinner again at the Spaghetti and Pizza House, the only place with reasonable food. The carbonara pasta had no pancetta, but some bologna-like meat.
I was in bed reading by 20:30. The electricity had come on at 18:05.
Day 5 Fri Jan 20
I woke up frequently and easily got back to sleep finally finishing Hilary Mantel’s “Mirror and the Light”, the third in her series about Thomas Cromwell.
I went down for a coffee at 8 but there was no electricity for a latte, so returned to the hotel.
Half the people here wear masks outside showing their ignorance of Covid. An old guy at the front door of the coffee shop sat with a bottle of hand sanitizer, something the world stopped long ago.
I passed the same elementary school for the third time. All the little kids wear a lime green shirt with a red bowtie. They all shout “China” at me.
At the hotel, I talked to the desk clerk, the same guy here every day. He sleeps on a mattress under the desk. He is happy with the autocratic leader – there is no war, he has a job, and he can walk around 24 hours a day and not have police bother him. Besides the hotel, he works as a woodworker making furniture and gets great satisfaction from the things he makes. He sees no great problem with not having internet – the world goes on without knowing anything about it.
I checked out at 11:30, left my luggage and walked down to Teketse’s office to give him $100 for all the help he gave me. He took me to a market specializing in baskets and then returned to Medabar Market.
He bought me a wooden coffee pot as a gift and then took me to one of his neighbours for lunch. We had very good single, coffee (freshly roasted over a fire and ground with ginger), homemade beer, salad, orange, banana, and cake – it kept coming.
We then returned to Africa Pension to get my luggage, visited Sembel (hard to find) and then dropped me off at the airport at 4 to get my flight to Addis. He is a wonderful guy. I promised to add “The Meaning of Human Existence” to his large library.
Sembel Archaeological Site. Dating from 800-400 BC, it is a well-preserved village. Travel towards the airport past the Intercontinental Hotel and turn right at the light into Sembel village. Proceed to Kidane-Mihret church and turn right onto a dirt track and then up the hill. Closed but got a look as no gate.
Flight. Asmara – Addis Ababa (ADD) @18:10-17:35. $232
My big worry was getting the boarding passes for my ongoing flights.
FLYING HOME US$1,051
21/01/23
ADD – Vienna (VIE) @01:35-05:15 Ethiopian Air
Vienna prices are ridiculous – 4.10 E for a water and any pop. It was a long wait as the Toronto flight was delayed.
VIE – Toronto (YYZ) @10:50-14:15 Air Canada
YYZ – Vancouver (YVR) @21:45-00:35+1
In Vancouver, at 8 am, I took the Skytrain downtown to Granville St and caught the 2000 bus to Horseshoe Bay. BC Ferries to Departure Bay Nanaimo @10:40-12:20. Island Link Bus to Courtenay. As per usual routine, I walked home the 2km – I love this walk, it is always a great way to end another long travel adventure.
OTHER DESTINATIONS
M@P: Eritrea/Ethiopia (disputed) – Badme Triangle
Qoahito Cultural Landscape Tentative WHS (02/03/2011). Qohaito is a plateau between 2,600-2,700 m above sea level. Situated between the Wadi-Haddas and Wadi-Komaile, the mountain range gives way to a flat plateau, 16km long and 4km and 400 meters wide with a perimeter of about 84 kilometres. There are steep, rocky escarpments on all sides culminating at Ambasoira, the highest mountain in Eritrea (3,018 m).
In antiquity, it was one of the precursors of the Aksumite civilizations and developed a complex society during the heyday of Aksum around 100-700 A.D. and extending from present-day Sudan to the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula. They traded with the Roman and Byzantine Empires.
The ancient port of Adulis on the Red Sea coast had two main routes into the highlands, Wadi-Haddas and Wadi-Komaile. Qohaito intercepted and benefited from trade caravans travelling to and from Aksum. Southern Eritrea was densely populated during the first millennium A.D. with extensive subsistence farming and cattle herding.
The area seems to have been abandoned sometime around 900 A.D.
The village and architecture are preserved practically undisturbed.
XL: Akhran border zone
KEREN
Keren Fort
War Cemeteries. In the NM The Dark Side, a cemetery that houses the remains of British, Italian, Sikh, Muslim, and Jewish soldiers who died in World War 2. The Italian War cemetery contains the war graves of 602 Italian soldiers and 614 Ascari (colonial troops) who fell in 1941.
Mendefera formerly Adi Ugri, is an ancient town which is now the capital city of the Southern Region or Zoba Debub of Eritrea. The town’s name derives from the high hill in the center of the city and it means that “who dared it” as it was a jungle and is a source of pride to Eritreans.
TESENEY
World of Nature
Gash-Setit Wildlife Reserve
Semenawi Bahri National Park
Yob Wildlife Reserve
Rivers
Barka River
Mareb River
Tekkeze/Setit River
Festivals: Festival Eritrea
Experiences
Ashenda
Meskel
Debre Bizen, Nefasit. A monastery perched on a mountain ridge at an elevation of 2,400 m. It was built in 1361 to avoid the temptation of women.
World of Nature
Dahlak Marine National Park. Dahlak Archipelago smaller islands and Dahlak Kebir. Massawa is the departure point for the islands. There are 350 islands in the archipelago. Charter yachts cost $800-1000. They are flat and true desert islands. Divers see turtles, sharks, shipwrecks, and fan, tree and fire corals. A permit is obtained from the Ministry of Tourism in Massawa. This is a good boat ride, snorkelling with good reefs, camp on island. Contact Giuseppe Vaccaro of Giuva Tour. Getting a boat here apparently costs $800-1000 so takes a group to go at a reasonable price.
Filfil Rainforest. Filfil is a town in Eritrea, lying north of Asmara. Based on plantations, it is known for its surrounding rainforest and its animals. It is also within one of Eritrea’s protected national forests
Assab Bay islands. Assab is a port city in the Southern Red Sea. Assab is known for its large market, beaches and nightlife. Assab is about 50 km NW of the ancient city of Arsinoe Epidires.
In 1869 the port of Assab was bought by the Rubattino Shipping Company of Italy from the local Sultan. After the Italian government took over control of the port on 5 July 1882 it laid the foundations for the formation of the colony of Italian Eritrea, which became the independent country of Eritrea following its independence from the Transitional Government of Ethiopia in the 1990s.
Construction of an oil refinery occurred from 1964 to 1967. and expanded in the early 1990s but was shut down for economic reasons in 1997. Ethiopia used Assab as the port for two-thirds of its trade with the world until the Eritrean–Ethiopian War broke out in 1998. Borders between Eritrea and Ethiopia closed and trade with Ethiopia ceased. The port and the port town declined. In 2008, following a border dispute with neighbouring Djibouti and consequently an unsafe border between the countries, the role of Assab diminished further.
During the Tigray War, Chinese-made armed drones were launched by the UAE from its base in Assab. Assab is served by Assab International Airport. Assab has the typical hot desert climate of the Danakil Region. The city’s climate is arid and extremely hot, with an extremely low average annual rainfall of 40 mm (1.57 in).
XL: Dankalia southern (Assab), North (Nakfa)
Archaeological site of Adulis close to Foro. Need permit at the Red Sea History Museum in Massawa or will be refused.
