The Republic of Somaliland was declared in 1991 and with its majority clan of Isaq people, has remained peaceful and stable since then. Somaliland has its own democratically elected multiparty parliament, Hargeisa as its capital, a flag, a currency (that is printed in Libya), a university, and oil and gas potential. Unfortunately, it is not recognised by many nations in the world.
We have found the people to be the friendliest that we have met so far in our travels in Africa. They greet us on the streets, and welcome us to their country. They help us and never ask for money. According to the locals the only beggars on the streets are Ethiopians and there are very very few of those. If the locals see the children following us or asking for money they reprimand them. We hope the tourists who come here don't bring bags of lollies and chocolates and encourage the children to pursue them for these treats. We saw a lot of tour groups in Ethiopia do this and now the children expect you to give them footballs, sweets, pens, buy them school books etc.
We do have to get used to the locals staring at us and crowding around us in curiosity but that is because there are hardly any foreigners here. It is not a tourist destination yet. For those who speak English there are many who know that New Zealand has taken in a lot of Somali refugees and surprisingly they know a bit about our country. There are Anchor milk powder billboards in the street and they know about our milk.
We are staying in the centre of the city in the most-cleaned hotel we have ever seen. When someone checks out the room it is emptied and cleaned from top to bottom. They have free Wifi and we have been using it to death! The restaurant has some nice simple dishes and fresh juices and you can drink the water from the taps! The Oriental is an oasis in the middle of a dusty, noisy, city of 1 million people. The guidebook describes it as a place 'where you can feel the heartbeat of the city from your room'...that means the loud speakers from the nearby mosque will reverberate in your room during prayer time! All Somalis are Sunni Muslims and all the women wear headscarves while some also have veils. Rural areas still have arranged marriages.
The hotel was established in the 50s and there is a photo on the wall of when it was bombed. The staff are extremely helpful. It is the first hotel built here by a local.
There is not much to do in Hargeisa but we have visited the Somali Airforce MIG , a war memorial, in the middle of the street.
There are several goldsmith shops near our hotel and a goat and camel market. A camel costs about $500Us while a goat is $50US. They graze in the Berbera area and get exported to Saudi Arabia.
When we got our visa for Somaliland in Addis Ababa, the staff told us we could use Ethioipan Birr as currency but fortunately we changed some US dollars and had to change these on the streets here for Somaliland Shillings. There are only two notes in their currency; a 500, equivalent to 12 NZ cents and a 100 shilling note. The moneychangers have no buildings, no guns, no guards, and no security systems. The bundles of money sit on the footpath at their feet like paper bricks!
There are several second hand Toyota cars on the streets as well as small buses and minivans. These donkeys deliver water to the street stalls on the road sides.
We only had a single entry permit for Ethiopia and had to get another visa to go back there after Somaliland for our flight to Ghana. First we had to copy our passport, our Somaliland visa and supply two passport photos. Accompanying this we had to write a letter requesting the Somaliland Liason Office help us get an Ethiopian visa. The streets here do not have names so we had to take a taxi to find the place. The Somali office commander was at a meeting so by the time we had got a letter from him to take to the Ethiopian Embassy, it had closed and we were told to return the next day. We got up early the next day and were at the gates at 7.30 and woke the guards who were asleep in a tent by the fence. He shooed us away as it was Prophet Mohammed's birthday and therefore a public holiday. We returned the following day at 7.30 and were pleased when the Ethiopian staff gave us the visa on the spot as it normally takes two days. We have not had so much trouble getting a visa to date as we can usually pick them up at the border posts.
The Ethiopian Embassy is unsigned as there was a terorist attack on it several years ago and this is the entry to the compound with the soldiers tent on the left.
The subsistence farmers are nomadic so houses like this are quickly constructed from branches and covered with plastic bags and cloth and then easily moved to new grazing areas.
Have met a couple of young travellers from US and Holland as well as some Somali girls who now live in Melbourne, Australia. There have been a couple of guys from Italy as well and one of them was unwell with measles and has to stay put in the hotel for at least a week while he is on antibiotics.
We are able to keep up with the protests that are happening in the Arab countries with the BBC World news on TV.
