Afrinkong
Nature & Landscapes
Cal Madow
A mountain range behind Bosaso with cloud forest on top and frankincense on the slopes.
East Africa · Afrinkong
Somalia
The longest coastline in mainland Africa.
Three thousand kilometres of Indian Ocean, the painted rock shelters at Laas Geel that are among the oldest in Africa, and the Cal Madow mountains — a country with real destinations and real constraints on reaching them.
Where it is
Africa · East Africa · Somalia
The land in brief
- Spans
- 1,070 km E–W, 1,590 km N–S
- Latitude
- 12°N to 2°S — the equator crosses it
- Borders
- 3 countries
- Sea
- Has a coast
- Best time
- The cool season, November to March. Take current advice seriously; Somaliland and Puntland are the practical routes.
Also in East Africa
BurundiThe southernmost source of the NileDjiboutiWhere three plates pull apartEritreaArt deco Asmara, and the Dahlak islandsEthiopiaThe roof of AfricaKenyaWhere the safari was invented
Compare Somalia with another countryAll fifty-four, worked through the same twenty-seven categories.When to come
JFMAMJJASOND
The cool season, November to March. Take current advice seriously; Somaliland and Puntland are the practical routes.
01Highlights
What Somalia is known for.
Six of the twenty-seven, and the ones most people come for. The rest are below — and none of them is filler.
Nature & Landscapes
Wildlife
Speke's Gazelle and the Sea
Speke's gazelle and dibatag inland, and turtles, dugong and whale sharks offshore.
Mountains
Shimbiris
2,460 metres in the Cal Madow, the highest point, with juniper and cycads near the top.
Berbera and Beyond
Berbera's beaches on the Gulf of Aden, and a reef wall a short swim from the sand.
Frankincense Country
Boswellia trees on the Cal Madow slopes, tapped as they have been for four thousand years.
Culture
Poetry as the National Art
Somalis are called a nation of poets, and the reputation is deserved and enforced.
02Experiences
25 ways to spend the time.
Every country we cover works through the same twenty-seven categories, so you can hold two of them side by side and compare like with like rather than one brochure against another. Compare Somalia with another → The two not listed here are the hero picture and the case for going, which has a section of its own below.
Landscapes
- Cal MadowA mountain range behind Bosaso with cloud forest on top and frankincense on the slopes.
- Shimbiris2,460 metres in the Cal Madow, the highest point, with juniper and cycads near the top.
- Seasonal, and SuddenThe Shabelle and Juba run south; everything else runs for a fortnight after the rains.
- The Juba and the ShabelleTwo rivers off the Ethiopian highlands that make the only irrigated farmland in the country.
- Berbera and BeyondBerbera's beaches on the Gulf of Aden, and a reef wall a short swim from the sand.
- Frankincense CountryBoswellia trees on the Cal Madow slopes, tapped as they have been for four thousand years.
Wildlife
- Speke's Gazelle and the SeaSpeke's gazelle and dibatag inland, and turtles, dugong and whale sharks offshore.
- Not the CircuitThere are no game lodges. The wildlife here is coastal, and the interior is for those who know it.
- Frankincense and the LandBoswellia grows on bare limestone where nothing else will, and it holds the slope together.
- Walking the Cal MadowCool forest, cycads and views to the Gulf of Aden, from Erigavo.
People and culture
- Poetry as the National ArtSomalis are called a nation of poets, and the reputation is deserved and enforced.
- Nomad and PastoralistCamel herding is the oldest way of life here and still a large part of the economy.
- Weddings and BuraanburBuraanbur — women's poetry with drumming and dance — carries the celebration.
- Weaving and WoodcarvingAqal nomadic house frames, carved wooden headrests, and woven mats from the north.
- Camel Milk and BariisCamel milk, bariis iskukaris spiced with cumin and cardamom, and Somali tea with ginger.
- Beaches, and CareLido beach in Mogadishu fills at the weekend. Go with local advice, always.
- The Camel MarketHargeisa's livestock market on a weekday morning, and the money that moves through it.
Places
- Mogadishu and HargeisaA white Indian Ocean capital rebuilding, and a highland city that has been quiet for thirty years.
- Coral Stone and Carved DoorsSwahili coral-rag architecture along the southern coast, with heavy carved doors.
- Laas GeelRock shelters near Hargeisa painted with cattle and people, five thousand years old and unfaded.
- Ports of the Indian OceanMogadishu, Merca and Barawa were trading cities when Europe had none on this ocean.
Ways to travel
- Diving BerberaUnfished reefs in the Gulf of Aden, and almost no one to share them with.
- Beginning to ExistNew hotels in Hargeisa and Mogadishu, mostly for business travellers, some of them good.
- Ochre on RockLaas Geel in the morning, when the shelters are lit and the cattle look painted yesterday.
- Berbera's Ottoman QuarterA decaying Ottoman and colonial old town by the harbour, being slowly repaired.
03Why go
The case for Somalia.
Why Visit This Country
Why Somalia
Rock art older than the pyramids, an unfished ocean, and a poetry tradition still practised daily.
Hidden Gems
Berbera's Ottoman Quarter
A decaying Ottoman and colonial old town by the harbour, being slowly repaired.
Eco Tourism
Frankincense and the Land
Boswellia grows on bare limestone where nothing else will, and it holds the slope together.
Heritage
Ports of the Indian Ocean
Mogadishu, Merca and Barawa were trading cities when Europe had none on this ocean.
04Go deeper
All of Somalia, four ways in.
Who would take youAfrinkong
The ground is ours right across Africa: your vehicle, your driver for the whole journey, and the days shaped around what you came for.
In Cameroon, Uganda and Namibia you travel with companies of our own as well.
Plan your journey →
Begin
Your Somalia starts here.
Tell us the month, or simply the thing you want to see, and a guide who works there will answer.