Temporary silence

For many, many years I have wanted to visit Somalia and see its wonderful succulents. I paid many visits to other countries in the area: Ethiopia and Kenya in the Horn of Africa and Yemen on the Arabian peninsula. But for one reason or the other, Somalia was always  out of reach.
In 1991, the part of Somalia that used to be British Somaliland declared itself independent. The fact that it is not recognized as an independent country by the international community makes it a bit complicated to visit and it is therefore a rather unusual destination for tourists.
A while ago an unexpected occasion came up to visit Somaliland, in the company of a few people who have been there before.
And so, the day after tomorrow I will be flying to Addis Ababa, from where we will take a bus and head east to our destination.
I suppose there will not be much time or opportunity to communicate with the rest of the world while being in Somaliland, so don’t expect any posts from me until the beginning of February.