Eritrea is a small northeast African country on the Red Sea coast. It’s bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south and Djibouti in the southeast. I was extremely lucky to spend 3 interesting days in Eritrea!

Africa’s Most Secretive Country By Far

Eritrea is called Africa’s most secretive country, and I can assure you the State of Eritrea is one of the hardest countries in the World to get a visa for. I personally had to fly to Stockholm and fight to get the visa over several days, and it was several months in the process. For my Norwegian friend it took 6 months to get the visa, so yes, this small African country is super difficult to visit, especially because of the war of independence with Ethiopia, which lasted nearly three decades. The Eritrean Government doesn’t really want foreigners to come.. Prolonged periods of conflict and severe drought have adversely affected Eritrea’s economy and it remains one of the poorest countries in Africa. I was told there still is a lot of land mines in Eritrea from the war, so you have to watch your steps when walking off-the-beaten path.

3 Things You Didn’t Know About Eritrea

1. Eritrea (after Egypt) has the second highest archeological historical discoveries in Africa

The number of archeological sites in the country which was 45,000 previously has now increased to 80,000. Eritrea is an ancient civilization dating back thousands of years ago. It is a land that had been inhabited by early humans for long. This informs its numerous archeological sites as proof of the early human habitation. It is considered the world’s archeological Eden.

2. Isaias Afwerki has been Eritrea’s only President since independence to present

How many countries only had one President? Not many! Since Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia through a UN-supervised referendum, there has hardly been any elections despite the first one having been scheduled in 1997 after the adoption of the Constitution that declared Eritrea as a democracy.

Wars with Ethiopia was used as justification for postponing the first scheduled elections. Afterward, there have been mountains of excuses not to hold another one to date.. Therefore Isaias Afwerki is the only President Eritrea has ever had!

3. Eritrea has 10 languages such as Tigrinya, Arabic, English, Saho, Bilen, Afar, Kunana, Nara, Tigre, and Hedareb

Being a multi-ethnic nation, Eritrea has many languages. Constitutionally, there is no preference for one language over another. However, practically, Tigrinya is the most widely spoken local dialect and English is very rarely spoken in the country from my experience.. I met only few people during my 3 days around the country, who could speak a little bit of English. People who could speak English had lived outside of Eritrea and was back there to visit.  So learn yourself some Tigrinya, remember you can use it in Ethiopia too!

Conclusion

Eritrea is a country with rich history and an old civilization dating back several thousand years ago. It has one of the ancient human habitats, evidenced by the high number of archeological sites that reaches almost 80,000. Public transport was illegal for tourists to take until 2018 and it’s very complicated to get around the country to say the least.

Should You Visit Eritrea?

However most people I met in Eritrea was nice despite the language barrier, and despite not having my phone in these region for a week, which didn’t make anything easier. Read about that story here! Eritrea’s capital city Asmara has been branded by UN-Habitat as a world heritage site and Eritrea has great marine tourist sites, plenty of flora and fauna and scenic terrain. Eritrea is a place worth visiting to learn more about the hidden treasures of Africa.

It was overall an interesting visit to Eritrea, which has went through so much brutality and still is suffering. I hope to come back one day, when the country is more developed, it was however fascinating exploring Eritrea at this time (it seemed to raw and pure) with no tourists whatsoever. Very unique experience!

Thanks for this time, Eritrea! See you again one day for sure, and I can’t wait to see the positive direction you guys are hopefully heading towards. Will follow this country closely and I’m sure thing will get better.

Gustav

gus1thego.com