Dig out your old vinyl collection... because there might be something there that can get you closer to our essential experiences of Djibouti. Does anyone remember that golden 70's bouncy, beepy tune... the hot and salty one... it's Popcorn!!
There's a lot of it in Djibouti, hot air and salt – and surprisingly, popcorn. I nearly fell off my chair at a café in Djibouti City when a small complimentary bowl of it first arrived at our table with our frosty-cool Desperados. Sitting in the sun sipping down several Despes throughout those couple of afternoons spent in the city, we must have consumed big bowlfuls of popcorn. And why not, as there is not much else to do in Djibouti-Ville than while away the days chewing chat – local style – or having a drink at the terrace cafés – expat style. As our bodies are more familiar with the golden hops than the bitter green bushes we chose to ride the beer wave instead of trying to beat down the bush. As for the hot air, it can get to +50ºC in the summer when most Djiboutians escape the heat to Yemen or Somalia, and a healthy +30ºC even at this time of year if it's a perfectly clear day. The effect of the hot and dry weather on the landscape is most visible in the desert areas of the west (where Planet of the Apes was filmed at Lac Abbé) and in the salt lake of Lac Assal (lowest point of the continent) - apparently. We didn't get to see these parts because we chose to go lounge on the Moucha Island off the coast for Christmas (see video in one of the previous posts) and didn't manage to find the time nor the money for any other splurges. This is 4WD-country with limited public transport services, and we all know what that means for the wallet.
Desperado (L), Desperada (R)
Djibouti City itself could not be called big, and the centre, which is made of the grid around Place Menelik, can be walked around in about 15 minutes. This worked to our advantage not only because we did not have too many days to spend in town but because the cheaper accommodation options can be found outside the centre. For the first night in town we stayed at the Hotel Banadir in the African Quarter, the cheapest one in town at 6000 DJF or 24€ per night with shared bathroom with no running water, and a fan. After coming back from Moucha we upgraded to the Auberge Sable Blanc a couple of side streets off Av. de la République, roughly halfway between the train station and the centre. This was the second cheapest we could find (or had heard of) and came at a price of 7700 DJF or 30€ per night, but was significantly better value with bigger rooms, air-conditioning, en-suite bathrooms with running hot water and towels, and, if you get to pick your room, a TV. The owner also got up from the couch on several occasions to get us soft drinks from the fridge when we were waiting around for our shared 4WD taxi to Hargeisa, which was supposed to come and pick us up from the hotel but which stood us up on the first attempt. This is just to point out the startling difference in value between the 'budget' bracket places here where everything is pricey to begin with. Beer, 4-5€. Lunch in the European Quarter, 6-12€. Taxi in the centre which, I remind you, one can walk around in 15 minutes, starting from 3-5USD depending on your bargaining skills. A round of pool at the bar, 2€.
Then again, Djibouti is a made-up state that exists because its location caters to French and American military and commercial purposes, so it's only natural that the prices should cater to the expats living in Djibouti working for these purposes. After the chat comes out of the bag around midday, everything shuts down and the locals disappear off the streets like a fart in the Sahara (I apologize for the directly translated Finnish expressions), so there would not even be much to cater to. Don't expect to see many tourists either. We heard from a French guy working for a local diving centre that they get one tourist in two weeks on average, the rest of the clientele is made up of the expat community living here.
The qat effect on Place Menelik
We knew what we were in for when getting our visas in Addis, yet we were again swooshed into fantasyland about just how much we were spending after coming from the comparatively rock-bottom priced Ethiopia. During 7 days in Djibouti, of which 3 were spent on the islands, we had managed to spend approximately 700€ just in accommodation, beer and food. Probably in this order. I'd like to say that every sip of the beer in the sun was worth it, but on this continent I just cannot bring myself to do it. All is relative, and that applies here too.
Djiboutians show with pride that irony is not lost on them!
No comments:
Post a Comment