Somaliland, again – Hargeysa

I am awakened by the sound of the bucket filled with very hot water plunked down outside my door for morning ablutions. Fawsi is right on time, I assume, as he is one of the few Somalis I have met with a respect for the clock. It must be 5 a.m. or close to it, but I have no watch. We are up early to drive to Berbera to catch a Dallo flight to Mogadishu. The flight will leave at 0800, or so. There is no schedule published, but they have been flying close to on time recently, that is every other day at 0800. The old Illyushin 18 is on a good streak.

I get up and quickly light a candle so that I can see enough to find my way to the shower, such as it is, and then to the clothes laid out last night in anticipation of the early departure. It is amazing how complete and satisfying a shower one can have with a simple bucket of hot water and a good ladle made from a can nailed to the end of a stick. I do not dally, and in short time join my colleagues at the jeep. There will be no lemon crepes this morning, but Raghe has found some coffee and bread and that seems just right.

We head down the bumpy track from the hotel through the center of Hargeysa in the dark. There are virtually no lights save he occasional lamp of an early riser. It is cool and pleasant, with a faint sweet smell in the air from the chevrefeuille (honeysuckle) flowers that are rare but potent. We arrive at the intersection where the road to the airport takes off to the right, and to my amazement, a traffic light. Raghe tells me that they have been installed two days ago, and run off batteries that are recharged by solar power. The light turns to red and Ahmed, our driver, obediently pulls to a stop. There is no one in sight, not to mention any other vehicles. We wait, and wait, and wait…this modernism is to be respected! Finally , the light changes to green, and we move on.

The road twists and turns between rocky escarpments, with a faint glow in the East turning first pink, then rose, then orangey red. The sandy landscape picks up the colors and honors them, and the land and sky merge. After an hour or so, we turn a corner and crest a small rise and suddenly there is a whole new vision before us as the land sweeps down in a long incline from the high plateau (1500 meters) to the sea. The road too has become a quality highway, still two lanes, but now smooth and solid. This is the main route out of Berbera towards Ethiopia, a land locked country. It is in everyone’s interest that it be well maintained.

We drop down quickly, losing altitude and gaining heat with unexpected speed. From the comfortable sweater temperature of the morning in Hargeysa, we have plunge into the humid sauna of the Barbary Coast. (More tomorrow)