For David and me, the allure of travel is the way it allows us to understand places different from where we’re from – and the more different a place, the more we gravitate toward it. The less available information around a destination, the better, and travel in Eritrea allowed for new discoveries around every hairpin turn – whether in the form of a well-preserved piece of Italian colonial fascist architecture, or a fast food restaurant with the freshest, most refreshing guava smoothie I’ve ever had the opportunity of tasting. With the following article, I hope to provide some perspective on what to expect in Eritrea from a logistical standpoint so you can enjoy discovering Eritrea without having to stumble through the same roadblock we did when we visited in January 2018.
A quick note: I mention several specific places in Asmara throughout this article. Those listed are included in a comprehensive map at the bottom of the article. When you get bored, skip on down to the bottom!
There are several pitfalls for the traveler visiting Eritrea, though, and due to the lack of information available online, it’s easy to lose precious time on the ground dealing with political bureaucracy or chasing windmills on Google Maps. There are a host of Eritrea travel posts online, but many (even those published as recently as a year ago!) are already hopelessly out of date. Surely, like the others written before this one, this post will become obsolete as Eritrea liberalizes its tourism policies – primarily due to the thawing of Eritrea’s relationships with the nations encircling it.
