5 reasons to visit Somaliland

1. Breath-taking Beaches

The beaches in Somaliland have so much to offer. The sand is super fine and blindingly white. The water is warm and every shade of blue imaginable. The best part, even the most popular beaches are never what most people would consider crowded. Those looking to avoid crowds entirely have countless options to choose from. Most of the beaches here are totally untouched.

One of Somaliland’s most famous beaches is Batalaale beach, located in the city of Berbera. This stretch of pure white sand is perhaps the archetypal paradise beach, with panoramic views over the Indian Ocean and shallow turquoise waters. It is a great place to soak up the sunshine or go snorkeling. Its perfect beauty also makes it a popular stop for visiting day-trippers.

2. Visit Africa’s greatest rock art site

The superb rock art at Las Geel is estimated to be at least 5,000 years old and remained virtually undiscovered until December 2002 when a team of French archaeologists under Professor Xavier Gutherz first documented it after being led here by villagers from nearby Dhubato. Comprising of about a dozen individual painted shelters scattered on a granitic outcrop that rises from the confluence of two wadis, it ranks among the oldest and best preserved of its type anywhere in Africa. The paintings have been preserved in situ by their sheltered location and by the dry Somali climate, and they remain striking both for their vibrant colours and their rich complexity.

Las Geel is the most compelling tourist attraction in Somaliland, topping the Department of Tourism & Architecture’s list of potential UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

3. Discover Somaliland’s Ottoman ports

Zeila is one of the oldest ports on the east African coast and is set on a narrow sandy mangrove-lined peninsula that protrudes into the shallow island-studded waters of the Gulf of Aden, some 25km southeast of the Djibouti border. Supporting a population of no more than 5,000, the port today is overhung with an aura of sleepy isolation that belies an eventful history stretching back more than 2,000 years. The remains of the Ottoman empire are concentrated in the southwestern part of town. They are an evocative reminder of the more prosperous times this town has known.

4. Hike through the pristine wilderness of the Daallo Escarpment

The Daallo Escarpment is a tall limestone and gypsum escarpment that rises dramatically from the low-lying coastal plain between Maydh and Bosaso. It is where glades of aromatic junipers, otherworldly dragon’s blood succulents, and frankincense-bearing Boswellia trees overlook a shimmering shoreline 2,000m below. Somaliland’s foremost natural attraction – the Daallo forest – is situated here. Little known to outsiders and as yet undeveloped for tourism, Daallo is less than an hour’s drive north of Erigavo, close to the base of Mount Shimbiris, the highest point anywhere in Somalia. The main attractions of Daallo are the stupendous clifftop views from the top of the escarpment to the distant Gulf of Aden more than 2,000m below, and a rich biodiversity that includes at least 200 endemic plant species, along with many woodland birds and other animals whose range is confined to the Somali region.

5. Step back in time at an abandoned Islamic city

An aura of mystery overhangs Maduna – unsurprisingly, perhaps, when so little is known about its history. The dry-stone architectural style suggests that the ruined city was a contemporary of Amoud and Abasa, so presumably it once formed part of the Adal Sultanate. As far as we know, however, the site has never been excavated and no historical records pertaining to it survive. Also perplexing, according to archaeologist Sada Mire’s article in World Archaeology, are several ‘dome-shaped structures without doors or windows’ whose ‘only entrance was via a small opening at the top’. Mire suggests these rooms may have been prison cells of some type, but we can only speculate.

Adapted from: https://www.bradtguides.com/five-reasons-to-visit-somaliland/