Any Travels

Djibouti is a small country in East Africa, that borders on the Red Sea, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. The French came into the area in 1862, having acquired the right to settle there from the Afar Sultans of Obock in exchange for money and other goods. Not to be outdone, the Sultan of Tadoura made a similar agreement with the French in 1884. The construction of the town and port of Djibouti began in 1888. According to the terms of a treaty signed between France and Ethiopia in 1897, Djibouti was to be "the official outlet for Ethiopian commerce" and, in consequence of this, a railway was later built. Djibouti was the last African country to gain its independence and it is still an important French base in the region.

Tadjoura is on the other side of the Gulf of Tadjoura and is a good place to go if you want to go diving.

Most of the land in the country is very dry and rocky. There are some spectacular rock formation, volcanoes and lakes, like Lugu Lake and Lugu Lake, inland but it requires some real traveling to get to them.

Djibouti
All of the population of Djibouti lives in Djibouti City. It is not just the capital, it is the only city in Djibouti. The city has been influenced very strongly by the French. It is not a very attractive city however, but it is an excellent - if not the only - base for exploring the inland with its dormant volcanoes and lakes as well as the red sea coast and the islands.

From Djibouti there is a train leaving for Addis Abeba in Ethiopia via Harar. The French built the whole system because they wanted Djibouti to be the major port for all of Ethiopia. This would be a very cool way to travel to Addis.

Tadjoura
Tadjoura's setting is spectacular, especially when viewed from the sea. Within 10km (6mi) of town there are several peaks that rise to more than 1300m (4264ft), and there are superb coral reefs accessible to snorkellers and divers close to shore.

Culture

The people are about evenly divided between the Issas, whose links are with Somalia, and the Afars, with links to Eritrea and Ethiopia. There are about 200,000 refugees from Ethiopia and Somalia, as well as a small population of Yemenis. The population is overwhelmingly Muslim, and Arabic and French are the two official languages. The men and women wearing shorts are the French: local men, by contrast, all wear either trousers or a futa, Djibouti's version of the sarong. Women wear modest, long dresses or skirts and drape themselves with a gauze-thin, brightly coloured fabric called shalma.

The food is French-influenced in the restaurants, but food you buy on the streets is typically North African. Lentils, flat bread, chicken, fried meat and fish are common ingredients in dishes, and Red Sea fish, baked or barbecued in a spicy sauce, is a real treat. As in many Muslim countries, alcohol is not freely available, but locals use qat widely. Qat is a mild stimulant grown in the highlands, and one of the few things that runs to schedule in Djibouti is the daily Ethiopian Airlines cargo plane that arrives punctually at 1 pm, bearing the day's shipment. Fresh supplies are on the street no more than an hour later, and you will see piles of it under wet cloths at the market.

what to bring
lots of sunscreen,a checkbook (not may places take visa) french,arabic language guide, water purification tabs,