Destination on the edge: Mogadishu

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Mogadishu is the adventure traveler’s version of sex in public. The risk of getting caught defines the thrill. Unfortunately, the consequences cannot be compared. While a romp on your neighbor’s front lawn might get you a fine or some community service, a misstep in Somalia can cause nightmares for the rest of your life.

So, quiet simply, don’t go. If you don’t believe the United States, then listen to Canada. Listen to anybody who speaks sensibly on this. Don’t go to Somalia.

For every American who remembers October 3 and 4, 1993, Mogadishu’s Bakara Market brings a rare chill to the most resilient of spines. Visions of swarming Somalis rush into your mind, and nobody has forgotten the soldiers killed and wounded in the effort to capture warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid. The situation on the ground isn’t much better today, but if you crave increasingly greater thrills, this is about as crazy as it gets. Despite being one of the most dangerous places on Earth, you can explore Mogadishu without a military or United Nations escort. But, doing so would rank among your most foolish decisions.

The challenge begins when you are planning your trip. Online booking, you’ll realize, is a luxury still. There are some corners of the world that have been sidestepped by the internet age. In some cases, you won’t even be able to rely on the telephone. The hotels in Somalia do not take phone or online reservations, so your best bet is to find a travel agent that specializes in this sort of absurdity.

Work with the travel agent to book your flight, as well. The most reliable method appears to be chartering a flight that will drop you on a private airstrip outside the city. There is an airline that services Mogadishu via Dubai: Jubba Airways. So, if you insist on doing everything yourself, you do have options. The airline claims to have a strong safety record, but it obviously can’t help you once you’re on the ground. These days, a round trip ticket will set you back around $500. You can try to use FareCompare, but you already know that your comparing one airline to itself.

Of course, there’s a catch.

So, here’s the drill. You have to stay in Somalia for a week if you fly Jubba Airways. I tried to book a same day round trip, but had no luck (no, I wasn’t planning to buy the damned thing). Flights only pass through Mogadishu once a week, so you have to be really committed to this trip.

Flights are easier to book than accommodations. You can research hotels, but only a few are listed. So, you’ll have to take what you can get. As you make your selection, don’t sacrifice safety. There is no substitute for coming home alive. Tk appears to b the best alternative, but you will notice that security is not listed among the amenities. Also, there is another hotel with the same name – one that is considerably less desirable. Take notes, and make sure you study every detail. There are pitfalls everywhere, and some are avoidable.

There isn’t much to see and do (safely) when you cruise around Mogadishu. The main attraction is the Bakara Market, a large outdoor bazaar. You can haggle with the merchants and take full advantage of the decimated local economy. This is one place where the exchange rate will always cut your way. Also, you’ll be treading the same turf that was home to the famous operation immortalized in Mark Bowden’s Black Hawk Down. It all started at the Bakara Market.

For a unique type of shopper, the Bakara Market is nothing short of amazing. You can find deals on the basic goods that you’d normally pick up at a supermarket or drugstore, from basic medicines to food. Also, you’ll find the products that CVS just doesn’t want to carry. If you need to buy a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), mortar or antiaircraft gun, look no farther! And, since no toy is worth a damn without batteries, there’s plenty of ammunition for sale in the Bakara Market. If you hear gunfire, someone’s probably just kicking the tires on a new AK-47. Think of it as giving Elmo one last tickle before whipping out your credit card.

It’s not all guns ‘n ammo, however. You can pick up a forged passport (for Somalia, Ethiopia or Kenya), fake birth certificates and diplomas (convince your mother you didn’t drink your tuition cash) and counterfeit currency.

Bakara Market can be crowded, and it is in a dangerous part of the world. So, you need to say alert the whole time you’re on the ground. The entire spectrum of risks – from pick-pocketing to kidnapping – is possible. Your odds improve if you don’t do anything stupid, though you violate that tenet simply by taking the trip.

Want to see what happens in the Bakara Market? Take a look below, unless you aren’t comfortable with graphic. If you can’t handle this video, though, you certainly don’t belong in Somalia.

Condition 1 weather in Antarctica is nasty!

by Jeremy Kressmann on

The current temperature in the Northeastern United States is 25° F and many of my friends are in full “it’s freaking cold outside” complaining mode. But you know what? I feel lucky to be here right now. Especially after checking out the video above of Condition 1 weather in Antarctica. As you might suspect, Antarctica has some of the most extreme weather conditions on earth. During Condition 1 weather, winds gust at speeds of anywhere from 50 to 60 MPH and the wind chill hits anywhere between 75° F to 100° F below zero. Ouch. Not surprisingly, personnel are prohibited from leaving their buildings during these storms.

By the way, have you had a chance yet to check out Gadling’s newest writer, Jon Bowermaster? Jon has been bringing us firsthand reports from earth’s most remote continent, Antarctica. Jon, I apologize in advance for the weather down there – it looks brutal. Stay warm!

[Via Buzzfeed]

The Standard Hotel introduces their staff … on YouTube

by Annie Scott on


Now this we have not seen before. The Standard Hotel New York, a new André Balazs hotel, has created the above video to introduce their staff.

This is clearly a well-done appeal to a younger, hipper generation. The mod-style, ironically-named Standard Hotels, with their upside-down logos, really are pretty cool. The one in New York offers gorgeous accommodations (with “insane” views) in the Meatpacking District on Washington Street between West 12th and West 13th Streets. The hotel is in previews right now, and has declared itself “Openish.” Because some parts of the hotel are still under construction, rooms are available for $195 – $495 per night, but those prices are expected to rise when the hotel is officially open.

Does the YouTube video make us want to stay there? Frankly, it makes us want to work there. But we already have a job. So, yeah.

Hippie Masala – the travelers that never went home

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Have you ever experienced a moment while you were traveling where you decided you wanted to stay (permanently)? Maybe it was particularly idyllic day lazing at the beach. A revelatory meal. A vista of a gorgeous sunset or a chance encounter with some friendly locals. No matter how amazing the experience, we all end up coming home eventually. Why is that? Perhaps its because at heart we still find a line between reality and fantasy – a realization that actually living in your dream vacation spot would involve many of the same trivialities and hardships you experience in your life at home.

The traveler featured in the clip above, from a movie called Hippie Masala, faced a similar dilemma. Hippie Masala, a documentary produced in 2007, follows the current lives of several aging hippies who made their way to India in the 60’s and 70’s in search of spiritual fulfillment, the allure of drugs and the chance to live a supposedly “simpler” life. While many members of their generation took similar short trips to the east, the vast majority eventually returned to their Western lives after weeks or months. This was not the case for a determined few, who set about creating a new life for themselves among their adopted culture.

How are we to interpret these stories? It’s easy enough to write off Hippie Masala as a cautionary tale about a bunch of crusty old hippies who tripped and fell on their idealism. But perhaps there’s something larger at work – an impulse to “leave it all behind” that we’ve all considered acting on but never brought to fruition. You can watch the documentary for free, in its entirety on the SnagFilms website and decide for yourself.

[Via Metafilter]

One Day in Africa: Lives of six ordinary Africans

by Jamie Rhein on

When I watched the trailer of One Day in Africa, the latest documentary of Brook Silva-Braga, the resonance of village and city life in most African countries was immediately evident. It’s a resonance that often doesn’t make headline news. It resides in the pattern of each day that starts before the sun comes up when Africans, in particular women, get busy.

The shot of women pounding grain comes to mind. When I lived in a Gambian village for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer, the thwack of a wooden pestle against a mortar as it removed husks from grain was like a heartbeat.

What Silva-Braga shows about African life is that it has rhythm and cadence and is not totally embroiled with AIDS and poverty. There is another theme to explore, one that involves the complex melding of African traditions with the modern world.

Sure AIDS, poverty and violence do exist, but they are not what Brook Silva-Braga set out to show in his second film project. His first film, A Map for Saturday, was a documentary about around the world travel–his and others. That film included every continent except Africa.

One Day in Africa is a companion project in a way, but the focus is different. In this latest project, Silva-Braga got up close and personal with his subjects– six Africans, both men and women, whose stories are typical of the stories of others who live in this vast continent. [For the trailer, keep reading.]

These six could be like any other six, but in their typicality, their uniqueness also comes through. Athough their lives may not look anything like ours, the essence of what they are after is recognizable. How they resonate in their own lives is an alluring tale.

  • Titus, a store owner in Kisumu, Kenya has just reopened his store after it was ransacked during the presidential election. For him, life is about moving forward.
  • Howa, a young woman in Farge-Fundu, Niger starts her household chores at dawn in a place where it’s hard to imagine that anything could grow in the dry landscape.
  • Bridgete, a pregnant woman in Lilongwe, Malawi is hoping for a son and is unsure how she will get to the hospital since her husband is a bit lackluster about the idea of driving her to the hospital in his taxi.
  • Sali, a university educated woman in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, has high expectations despite living in a mostly male dominated culture
  • Osman, a merchant in Fez, Morocco, has many “brothers” who help him sell his goods to tourists.
  • Brahim, a farmer in N-8, Mali, feeds a family of fourteen from his efforts

From the snippet I saw, part of the film’s charm and interest lies with Silva-Braga’s questioning of the subjects. As they go about their day, his voice is heard asking them questions about how they see their lives. Through the interactions, the viewer is led into the intimacy of conversations that are similar to the swirl of dialogue that happens around us every day. Conversations about life, hairstyles, work and the mundane.

Look for the film’s screening schedule on March 1 at the One Day in Africa website. It will be making the rounds at various film festivals.

Brook Silva-Braga graced Gadling with a stint as a guest blogger in 2007. His posts, grouped together as the series “Across Northern Europe,” are a thinking person’s missives about aspects of travel. Reading them is also a look into Silva-Braga’s head, not a bad place from which to view the world.