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Eritrea, land of endless horizons

Eritrea is a land which beckons to all who yearn for new horizons - a land of fascinating cultural heritage and of staggering natural riches.
Eritrea is also a land of contrasts: within a few hours, for example, you can travel from the cool air of the rugged mountains to the and reaches of the Danakil Depression, one of the hottest places on earth.
Some Eritrean journeys are easy, some difficult, but all offer a taste of the unique experience that is Eritrea.



Semienawi Bahri

Semienawi Bahri - "the Green Belt" - lies to the northeast of Asmara.
Its scenery is stunningly beautiful - many reckon the most beautiful in Eritrea. Permanently green, Semienawi Bahri is covered with lush forests and plantations, and the steep road from Asmara winds its hairpin way past spectacular views over the mountains and valleys that reach out to the Red Sea plains. On the slopes of the eastern escarpment, at altitudes from 2,400 metres down to 900 metres, evergreens abound. The region is an outstanding venue for bird-watching. Baboons, vervet monkeys and bushbuck are also to be seen, and sometimes leopard, kudu, duiker, klipspringer and warthog.

Semienawi Bahri has two rainy seasons, one in the highlands and one at the coast, and the most luxuriant growing season lasts from October to March.
This is the time when the local plant life, including the beautiful aloe, unfolds in flowering splendour.
Coffee is the local crop and, if you are lucky, you might be invited into someone's home to enjoy the unique flavour of the Eritrean brew, picked right at your host's doorstep.


The Danakil Depression

Far in the south of Eritrea lies Assab, Eritrea's southern port, some 700 kilometres from Massawa on a road of rock, gravel, lava and sand. Though difficult, and best attempted in the coolest season of the year, this journey, with careful preparation, can be outstanding. The prize at the end of it is the chance to explore the wild and beautiful scapes of Eritrea's coast, unspoilt and untouched and extending for more than 1,200 kilometres - endless isolated beaches standing in the shadow of the distant mountain ranges. Few roads or trails penetrate the rugged hinterland, so exploration here is not easy - but it is rewarding.

Between Assab and Asmara lies Denkalia, and the Danakil Depression, a scorched moonscape isolated by a mountain barrier and extremely hostile to human life. The Depression is one of the lowest dry-land points on earth, at 120 metres below sea level.
Denkalia is starkly beautiful, and the depression is compellingly savage and dramatic, dried by the fierce heat of a sun that burns without mercy.
Only the nomadic and fisher Afar people manage to survive here, in what is one of the most inhospitable regions on earth - and one of the last remaining great wildernesses.


The Buri Peninsula

The Buri Peninsula is also well worth a visit.
It lies to the southeast of Massawa on the eastern flank of the Buri Peninsula, and is a region of vast salt flats, limitless desert plains and volcanoes, including the still active Mount Dollah and Mount Erta.
The peninsula is home to several species of wildlife, including large herds of Dorcas and Soemmering's gazelle, ostrich, kackal and wild ass.

At the heart of Eritrea, along 91 kilometres of good - if steeply curved - road to the west of Asmara, lies Keren, and at about the same distance west of Keren lies Agordat, a bustling town with a strong Arab influence and mostly Muslim inhabitants.
The road from Keren follows a difficult path as it descends to these lowlands, but it offers attractive views of dry riverbeds and interesting rock formations. The landscape is savannah, with little vegetation apart from the ubiquitous acacia and the branched doum palm. The latter provides much-needed shade, and matting and building materials, as well as the ingredients for the local palm wine. Settlements are few, but farmers can be seen along the route, ploughing their fields with the traditional pair of oxen.


Aloes in flower

The road south from Asmara to Senafe, along the eastern edge of the highland plateau, at more than 2,000 metres above sea level, offers some of the most spectacular and panoramic scenery in Eritrea. Some 100 kilometres from Asmara, the fertile Mendefera and Abba Selemma Valley gives way to the market town of Adi Keih, at an attitude of 2,500 metres. From Adi Keih, there are breathtaking views over the long, narrow Kohaito Plain, the highest point of the Eritrean plateau.
Senafe lies 135 kilometres from Asmara. About a kilometre beyond the town is the village of Metera, where imposing rock formations rising to some 300 metres offer a challenge to the rock-climber. Houses and graves and ancient tombs are lodged and carved in the rocks and in hermits' caves, many of them sealed with stones. The view from the summit is aweinspiring - history laid at your feet. For the traveller, Eritrea is truly a land of discovery and exploration. It remains natural and unspoilt - a glimpse of a different Africa.



Eritrea Horizons, Vol 2, No 1 , 1998




 

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