Bosaso / Garowe

[qygorra]

Good mornin All,

Being a new lad on this forum, quick presentation first ( sorry, I m a bit of a retarded with all forums/laptops,... so if there actually is a " presentation " board, apologizes, I will copy and paste the below presentation on it ^^ )

Working in Africa, in the security industry, last assignement in a maritime security company, good point with this job, you re really travelling to strange but still interesting places.

I have been travelling to Aden ,Yemen, Sri Lanka ( Galle ), Kandla ( India ), Djibouti ( and for quite a long time !), Dar Es Salaam ( Tanzania ), Mombasa ( Kenya ), Madagascar ( as a country manager, being a french speaking lad obviously helped !)

I ve always loved travelling, meeting new people and discovering new people, as well as going in the wild for weeks, taking pictures and just enjoying the lack of civilization ^^ . Will be off to Lima in a month time, as the Mrs got herself a 2 years job overthere as a marine biologist, so good stuff, will be travelling around in South America, planning to do Chile, Falklands, Bolivia in the next year.

However, my next plan is to get to visit the towns of Bosaso and Garowe with mates of mine, basically to discover the place, and then possibly for jobs prospects, but at the first place, it will be more a discovery trip than anything else. But who knows, erg sometimes, good place good time.

I have been wandering about all the visas and hotel, been in touch with the Bosaso Municipality ( I mean, tried, as they didn't reply ), to get the list of available places to stay, but more important for the visas process. Apparently, you get your visa on landing at the airport, but can someone confirm it, or if anyone has been to Bosaso ( first step in the trip ), knows a good ( wey, a " not too bad one" will do the job !) place to stay in ?

I am planning to get there in January next year, as I will have enough time off to do it, and I will post a report of this trip on the BFC Forum.

Hope this will find all of you well !



" He must be the worst pirate I have ever seen "

[Ozymandias]

The security situation on the ground in these places changes quite quickly, so I'm not sure how useful this will be, but check out my story from last year when I visited both Garowe and Bosasso:

http://polosbastards.com/pb/somalia-spa ... d-pirates/

As far as I'm aware you cannot get your visa on arrival in Bosasso. Also, the place is not particularly safe. I wouldn't be emailing the local authorities announcing your arrival! Western journalists have been kidnapped there in the past (admittedly this was back in November 2008). There have also recently been a lot of security issues in Garowe. Best place to find updates on that stuff would be Somalia Report (http://www.somaliareport.com). I wouldn't go rocking up in Garowe without pre-aaranging everything (including security) through a local fixer. I can hook you up if you PM me, but it won't be cheap. The authorities will know as soon as you arrive, and they'll start trying to shake you down. I managed to avoid this on the whole by being able to speak Italian, which meant bonding with the old Somali guys in charge of the security forces. Not sure what would have happened if I'd only been able to communicate through my fixer.

How are you planning on getting into Somalia? I flew into Bosasso on some crappy Antonov.

[qygorra]

Well, sorry for the last reply, I have been out of the radar for the last 2 weeks...!

Wey, I have already read your report (it has been my lecture before heading to dreamsland ), and I would like to pass my congrats for this one, that's a brilliant story, well done...!

I have also done my pre travel researches with every piece of info I could put my hands on, obviously starting with Somalia Report, and on some local news websites.

For the inward travel, we will probably flight with Jubba Airways, that's apparently the more reliable airline from Dubaï or possibly Djibouti (as I have been quite a few times in Djibouti, I still have some friends overthere, and they will probably be quite helpful...!). Heard that Turkish Airlines had opened a line heading toward Mogadisho, but as it's not on the plan (yet...!). Well, if we can't get on with Jubba, we will probably head for Daallo and their so renowned Antonov !

At the moment the first step will be Bosaso, will pm you all the details of the journey, as well as our general planning !

I am now in Cairo, waiting for my flight back to France (will be quite a shock, going from 40° to 5-10°, and with obviously a craghopper shirt, as I still didn't realize that weather in Europe changes a lot from July to November...well hopefully one day I will think about bringing a jacket...hopefully !)

Anyway, thanks for the information, will pm you soon once I sit back home and do a final check...with a glass of red wine and a cheesy baguette !

[obruni]

In theory you need to have paperwork arranged ahead of time for the visa at the airport. I'm sure a hotel could do this for you. You'll need to have someone to pick you up from the airport anyways as there is no transport into town- though you could probably get a lift from someone else on your flight. In practice, in my experience you can show up, handover your passport, and be stamped in with a single entry visa and pay $20 for it. Note that different regions of Puntland are giving different visas- eg. you fly into Garowe you get a "Nugaal visa", you fly into Galkayo you get a "Mudug visa"...not exactly sure if you get a Bari visa in Bosasso- they are all valid for all of Puntland but the immigration officers are a bit clueless and were grumbly about a Mudug visa in Nugaal- so just be aware if you fly into one place and then end up in another, might need some sweet talking.

No security problems in Garowe anytime in the recent past. There have even been American students doing some kind of volunteering/internship here wandering around town at all hours of the day and night. There are two good hotels, trustworthy, possibly could arrange your visa/trasport- Rayan Park and Rox An (I butchered the spelling of that but phonetically that's how its pronounced). Only problem is no comercial flights into Garowe so you'd have to fly to Bosasso and come overland or fly to Galkcayo and come overland, the later option not recommended. I think African Express might also fly to Bosasso from Berbera, Djibouti or elsewhere if you are tired of the pleasures of Daalo and Jubba.

[Ozymandias]

Seems like losing ground in the south is leading al-Shabab to look north for new targets:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20614050

Somalia's al-Shabab targets Puntland military

A bomb blast and a shoot-out between Islamists and troops from the semi-autonomous Puntland region have left 31 people dead or wounded, officials say.

Fighters from the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab group attacked a military base and planted a roadside bomb, the officials said.

Al-Shabab fighters have reportedly moved to Puntland in recent months.

Their move comes as African Union-backed government forces gain ground in their stronghold of southern Somalia.

In October, al-Shabab, which is affiliated to al-Qaeda, lost control of the key port city of Kismayo to AU troops, the Somali army and a pro-government militia.

Puntland Information Minister Mohamed Aydid told the BBC Somali Service that a truck carrying soldiers was targeted by a roadside bomb near Bossaso, the main commercial hub in the semi-autonomous region.

Ten soldiers were either killed or wounded in the attack, he said.