I'm heading to Djibouti!

DAYS ONE AND TWO  Djibouti is nothing like what I thought it would be like, but nothing surprised me. Before coming, I had delved into the internet to research the country, customs, and history. There is exactly one book on Djibouti other than a Lonely Planet guide. Both were outdated. Djibouti is lumped with Ethiopia, and geographically I can see that, but I cannot see it in many other ways. I  finally  arrived in Djibouti, the capital and largest city in Djibouti. Yes, Djibouti, Djibouti. Taxiing down the runway, the first thing I noticed was an American Flag off to my right-hand side. I now know that the American "base" and all the foreign bases use the commercial airport. The American base is by far the largest. It is primarily a naval base planted strategically to defend our interests in the Red Sea/Suez Canal. I am told that there are other branches of the military, too, except Space Force and Coast Guard.  Down the movable stairs from the plane to a Covid Hold...

GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE Occupying an area of around 8,958sq miles, the country ranks 151st in the world, around the size of the US state of New Jersey. It is the third smallest country  in continental Africa after  Swaziland and the first smallest is the Gambia.  . It shares borders with Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia and has just over 230 miles of coastline along the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Djibouti is 90 percent desert, 9 percent pasture-land, and less than 1 percent forest The country’s landscape is varied. Djibouti has an elevation range that runs from Lac Assal, at 508 ft below sea level, to Moussa Ali, at around 6654 ft above sea level. The interior plateau is separated from the coastal plain by a central mountain range. Parts of the country are susceptible to seismic and volcanic activity. Djibouti shares 78 mi of border with Eritrea 240 mi with Ethiopia, and 37 mi with Somalia. It has a strategic location on the Horn of Africa and the Bay el Mandeb, along a route t...

Fast Facts: Djibouti takes the title of the third (3rd) smallest country  . Approximately 90% of Djibouti’s land is desert. Djibouti has no permanent rivers, only salt lakes in the desert. It has the Grand Bara Desert which covers the southern part of Djibouti. Outside of Antarctica, the saltiest lake in the world is Lac Assal which is located in Djibouti. This lake is even saltier than the famous Dead Sea. This lake is the lowest point in Djibouti, but it is also the lowest point on the entire continent of Africa. Djibouti has two areas of closed forest, Mount Mable and the Foret du Day National Park. The latter is the largest forest in all of Djibouti. Within this forest is a very large stand of East African Juniper trees (Juniperus procera) which grow to be more than nine hundred and fifty (950) meters high.   Interesting fact about Djibouti is that it is one of 16 countries on Earth where there are almost no trees. According to information from the World Bank Open Dat...