I'm heading to Djibouti!

  Today is Monday, January 10. Happy Birthday, Tee Z. The world is a better place for having you in it.  I haven't mentioned this before, but though not illegal, it is widely known that photos are not wanted or allowed. When researching Djibouti, the horror stories of the police confiscating cameras and people shouting and chasing amateur photographers and demanding money for taking a photo have made me hesitant to pull my "real" camera out of my suitcase. Therefore, my photos are taken on the sly and with my iPhone. The better photos I have posted on this site may be downloaded from stock photos. True confessions :) Yesterday, Sunday, January 9 Katherine and I went to Casino yesterday. Ha! That is the name of their grocery store. I love saying, "I'm going to spend a few hours at the Casino this afternoon." It makes grocery shopping a little less painful. And, it was superly air-conditioned, which didn't hurt a bit. Casino is large. And, it is well stock...

Photo of a Porcupine I had a request to post a photo of a porcupine. Here is one of the porcupines we saw at the refuge. This 'pine is huge. He looks like a little rabbit here because my photo does not do it justice. Those quills were weapons of mass destruction! I was very happy he had an apple to munch on, although he does look like he's watching us...

KHAT After several questions about Khat, I decided to look into it more deeply. Fast Facts Khat is a slow-growing  s hrub   or tree that typically attains a height 3 feet 3 inches–16 feet 5 inches. However, it can reach heights of up to 33 ft in equatorial areas. The plant usually grows in   a rid   environments, at a temperature range of 41–95 degrees Fahrenheit. It takes seven to eight years for the khat plant to reach its full height. Other than access to sun and water, khat requires little maintenance. T he plants are watered heavily starting around a month before they are harvested to make the leaves and stems soft and moist.  A good khat plant can be harvested four times a year, providing a year-long source of income for the farmer. Khat is  a stimulant drug , which means it speeds up the messages going between the brain and the body.  The effects of khat (also known as qat, qaad, Arabian tea, kat and chat) are similar to...

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...

AM I EVER GOING TO GET TO DJIBOUTI? I'm picking up the blog where I left off this morning --stranded in QATAR and unable to leave the airport because of Covid Protocols. Damn Covid. I spent 16 hours in the Doha Airport. It is a beautiful, upscale, bustling airport, especially at night. I arrived too late for my connection at 7:50 am on Thursday, but not knowing that, I busted it down the gangway in case the flight ran late. As soon as my feet crossed into the airport building, I noticed a Qatar representative holding up a sign with my name on it. She explained that the plane had already closed its doors and the next Qatar flight wasn't for two days.  I was elated when she showed me the piece of paper in her hand with two alternative flights that arrive on Friday, January 7.  The first flight I nixed quickly: fly to Turkey on Turkish Air. Spend 8 hours in Istanbul, then fly straight to Djibouti.  I would be at the mercy of Turkish Airways, o nce I left Doha and the Qatar h...