One of the world's smallest nations, Djibouti is a quiet country located in northeast Africa that was once a French colony. The red sea separates Djibouti by a short 18 miles from the middle east, so as a result Djibouti was one of Africa's first countries to adopt Islam. Today Djibouti is known for brutal summers, and its mix of African, European and middle eastern cultures.
Djibouti Links
	Djibouti is about the size of New Jersey with its main capital also called Djibouti. The population of Djibouti city is roughly 620,000 people and is made up of different ethnic groups from north east Africa. Djibouti is also home to a large American military presence, and France's largest foreign military base. The two countries have good ties with Djibouti, and their base here gives easy access to both Yemen and Somalia. Above are two photos of the city center, on the left is a stand where vendors are selling khat, very popular to chew with effects similar to cocoa leaves. The guy with the paper refused to have his photo taken.
I hate to say anything negative about any country I visit, but Djibouti's African quarters had some of the worst and trashiest areas I have seen. I suppose I had kind of expected the country to be nicer since it has military bases from both France and USA which usually helps the local economy. Above are two photos of some local Djiboutians, below are some of the trashy areas and alleys I came across. On the plus side of Djibouti though, I can say they have a low crime rate and a very friendly population despite their 50% unemployment rate and poverty.
During my visit to Djibouti, Ismail Omar Guelleh was the current president of the country. His picture is often displayed in shops and restaurants around the city. The president practices Sunni Islam like the rest of his country. Above are two Islamic minarets seen in different parts of Djibouti city, though the country is tolerant with other religions and you can find several churches here as well.
Above are some more pictures from the African quarters of Djibouti, mostly of the enormous market area. You can see that the Djiboutian kids on the right look like they come from mixed races, which is the case of most people living in the city. The two photos below are from a part of Djibouti city that is halfway between the African and European quarters. The juice bar was a favorite of mine, and I went several times
No one will travel from a western country to Djibouti to party, however, if you've been spending time in a dry conservative country in the middle east or Africa then Djibouti can be a good escape. Thanks to the American and French militaries, Djibouti has its fair share of night life, and there are dozens of bars and clubs to go out to for drinks and dancing. If you walk down the main street in the European quarters you'll be bombarded with people handing out cards to their clubs seen above. The surrounding pictures show a bar with a pool table, below a picture of the main street and an example of one of the night clubs, and on the top right, a woman serving a friend and I beer.
If you're rich and staying in Djibouti, then you'll probably find yourself at the Kempinski Palace. The cheapest rooms in this hotel begin at $425 a night, but you'll get all the life and luxury from a 5 star hotel and probably completely forget that you're in Djibouti.
You won't see much wildlife in Djibouti unless you count stray dogs and cats. But the heron above and crabs were the only animals that I saw consistently. Had I gone to Tadjoura, I would have used that city as a gateway to Goda mountains. Goda mountains are dense with wildlife and because of their higher altitude, they are filled with dark green vegetation, something hard to find in this country.
Djibouti is also famous for its port, which actually was used several thousands of years ago, even trading spices with ancient Egyptians. I tried to take a boat from Djibouti city to their former capital of Tadjoura but I missed the ferry. The guys loading up the boat with coca-cola on the right agreed to take me and a friend I met, but after waiting several hours they said they had more goods coming and would be leaving at night so we decided not to wait. Unfortunately I didn't make it to Tadjoura for this reason, but when I return it will certainly be on my list.
On another day I was able to take a speed boat to the Moucha Islands, a popular attraction in Djibouti. On the way I passed by two Japanese war ships that were docked in Djibouti port, I imagine they are here to patrol the gulf of Yemen off the coast of Somalia. Though Djibouti itself is one of Africa's safest countries, farther to the south you'll find pirates that control the oceans and are capable of hijacking just about any type of ship. Many countries that patrol those seas refuel and take breaks in Djibouti.
There are several Moucha Islands and none of the islands themselves are very scenic or attractive. They are basically made up of fossilized coral, and because of the dry and hot environment, only cacti and small shrubs live here. Above are some examples of the plant life, below is some fossilized coral that is basically a rock now, and part of a spine of what I assume to be a camel due to its size.
	I was surprised that such a small island had any type of wildlife, but I found two species of lizards running around, not to mention lots of hermit crabs and of course birds who come in go. Since the terrain isn't too scenic on Moucha, you're probably wonder why people bother to visit. No question about it, the main attraction here is the scuba diving. I did a dive but unfortunately didn't have a camera, and the dive master refused to let me use his; the best I could do was to get him to take a picture of me at the end of the dive. I saw dozens of species of fish here, and some of the largest I've ever seen in my life. Most of the fish were similar to my diving experience in Somalia, but I came across lots of giant eels, and even saw an emperor angel fish. Unlike my dive in Somalia, I got a lot more depth here and went down to about 60 feet since there is a large drop off. Of course I wish I had some photos to share, but until I return you'll have to take my word for it. Almost all of the tourists and divers are French by the way, below is a photo of tourists returning back to the city. On the lower right is one of the sandy parts of the beach where you can walk into the water and enjoy some swimming or snorkeling.
I spent the night here on Moucha Island, and found the rooms to be pretty nice. They are simple but have air conditioning to fight the hot weather in the middle of the day, and the island has a small restaurant and even a bar with a few beers on tap.
Next to the scuba diving, I think the most amazing thing on the island was the sunsets and the amount of stars you can see at night. Since you're far from all the light pollution, you can see a lot more stars than you could in most parts of the western world. Above are two sunset pictures I took, below are some night shots. If you know you're constellations, you can recognize orion and the big dipper below.
Back on the main land, the most famous tribal people in Djibouti are the Afar group. These are actually some of the most violent groups in the world, and one Afar man gave the famous quote, "It is better to die than to live without killing", referring to killing other people! To become a man in the Afar tribe, you'd have to kill a man from a rival tribal group and bring back his body as proof. Nowadays, I think they have calmed down a bit, but if you visit the region of where Ethiopian, Eritrea and Djibouti all meet, you'll need a lot of money and an armed escort. These stone buildings above were not built by Afar people, but rather some nomadic tribes in one of the hotter parts of the country.
Djibouti quickly turns from sea to large dry mountains. One guy who was 4 wheeling somehow made it into a rare wet spot and got himself stuck. I'm not sure how he ended up getting help but he was at least an hour drive from the capital so he definitely had a bad day or two.
As I was driving to Lac Assal, I saw some canyons on the side of the road and asked the driver to pull over. I had done some researching on traveling in Djibouti, and no where had I heard of these canyons before. Later, I found most people call them the grand canyons of Djibouti. They are smaller than the ones in Namibia which are the worlds second largest, but somehow I found these more impressive.
Inland of Djibouti is a small lake called Ghoubbet. It's separated by the sea from a small strip of land, and I could tell by looking at the water it wasn't the ocean since it had such a deeper blue to it. I'm still unsure if it's fresh or salt water though.
And just west of Lake lake Ghoubbet is Lake Assal, the lowest point in all of Africa. Lake Assal sits at 512 feet or 156 meters below sea level. Because of its low elevation Lake Assal is also one of the hottest spots on earth, but doesn't hold the record for highest temperature. The lake would have evaporated long ago, but hot springs continuously supply it with water, and because most of the salt remains behind, it has the highest saline content of any lake in the world outside Antarctica. The dead sea is often mistaken as being the world's saltiest lake.
	These final photos are all from Lake Assal. Above on the left is a small island with a salty coastline, and some of the greener regions in the center of the lake. In Bolivia, a green lake there was caused by algae, so I assume that's the same explanation for the coloration here. On the left is myself visiting in March 2010, it wasn't too hot at the time fortunately. And like all places in Africa, there were be a stand in the middle of nowhere and people will try to sell you things. These were at least interesting.

Abdul from Djibouti: Yes djibouti is a very nice Country, thanks for visiting alot of people dont visit this unqiue country:) JAAABUUTEEE

Post a comment or question about travel in Djibouti

Your name: Your email address: Your Country: Comments:

Djibouti Travel

© 2006 - 2012 Travel the Whole World. All rights reserved. The content on this website is copyrighted to George Kashouh and may not be reproduced, distributed, or made available in any form without written permission. Photos on this page may be used for blogs provided they provide a link to "www.travelthewholeworld.com/djibouti.html"