{"id":3306,"date":"2018-10-15T18:59:54","date_gmt":"2018-10-15T18:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.svenlucaworld.com\/?p=3306"},"modified":"2020-06-30T15:18:41","modified_gmt":"2020-06-30T15:18:41","slug":"reisebericht-somalia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.svenlucaworld.com\/en\/travel-report-somalia\/","title":{"rendered":"Travel report SOMALIA - A dangerous travel destination in the Horn of Africa, far away from mass tourism"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Visa and entry requirements Somalia:<\/strong>
\nPassport required
\nSince the tourist visa is currently not issued at the Somali embassy in Germany due to the security situation in the country, you need to book a hotel in Mogadishu and receive an entry permit from the hotel.
\nVisa costs: 60 USD upon arrival at the airport<\/p>\n

Information from the Foreign Office about your trip to Somalia:<\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/www.auswaertiges-amt.de\/sid_5E6BE98A607FC1A611B62A6973BEC3CB\/DE\/Laenderinformationen\/00-SiHi\/SomaliaSicherheit.html?nn=332636?nnm=332636<\/a><\/p>\n

Somalia was by far the craziest and most dangerous trip of my life so far. I landed in the capital Mogadishu on October 14, 2017, at 11 a.m. with the Somali airline Jubba Air, coming from Dubai. There I was picked up from the airport in an SUV by a driver from the Jazeera Palace Hotel, one of the safest hotels in the city, and was at the accommodation around 12 p.m. After I got into my room and got some rest, I wanted to go on a short city tour in the early afternoon. But because this would probably cost a horrendous USD 650 due to the two permits required for foreigners, I decided against it. About 30 minutes after I was lying on my hotel bed in the room because of the canceled tour, I was initially shaken so badly that I almost fell out of bed. Immediately afterwards, only about 3-5 seconds later, there was a loud and violent bang like I've never experienced before, actually unimaginable. At first I thought it was just my hotel room and nothing else. After a few days it emerged that it was the worst bomb attack in the history of Somalia with over 570 deaths. A truck full of explosives exploded at Mogadishu's busiest intersection, obliterating and destroying everything within a 300-meter radius. The attack was only about 800 meters from my hotel and from the hotel roof you could see the huge black cloud of smoke over the city. About an hour later, the next smaller bomb detonated, this time a car bomb just 300 meters from the hotel. In this explosion there were probably \u201conly\u201d two deaths and afterwards my evening program was accompanied by constant shooting from submachine guns. The huge clouds of smoke from the first explosion could still be seen until early in the morning.<\/p>\n

Of course, I didn't leave my hotel for the rest of the day and flew off to Djibouti the next morning. The hotel chauffeured me safely and free of charge to the airport again. The security checks at the airport seemed to be increased in the morning and it took me over an hour to get through what felt like ten security measures. I will probably never forget this story as long as I live.<\/p>\n

Somalia is a country in East Africa, in the so-called Horn of Africa, with around 11.6 million inhabitants and is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world. It borders Djibouti to the north, Ethiopia to the west and Kenya to the southwest. The entire eastern part of the country is surrounded by the Indian Ocean or the Gulf of Aden. The official national currency is the Somali shilling, but paying with US dollars is more popular and common.<\/p>\n

Around 26% of Somalis still live partly or completely as nomads in the desert. The main languages spoken in Somalia are Somali and Arabic. Almost all residents of the country profess the Islamic faith.<\/p>\n

The country's capital and largest city is Mogadishu with around 1.1 million inhabitants. The few sights in the city include the Mogadishu Cathedral, the Bakara Market, the Crypt of the Unknown Soldiers, the Gezira Beach, the Union Mosque, the Jazeera Beach, the Shanghai Old Town in Mogadishu and the Lildo Beach.<\/p>\n

Somalia is very dangerous at the moment and any tourist travel is not recommended.<\/p>\n\n