Overview
Geographically Eritrea has two faces, dissected as it is almost
in half by the Great Rift Valley. The western 'half' is fertile
land while the east is a desert descending to the coastline.
Movement under the surface suggests that Eritrea is heading toward
a 3-way divide... but only in another few millennia. It sits
squarely over the Danakil Depression of Eritrea, where three
tectonic plates are pulling away from one another; namely the
Arabian, Nubian and Somali plates. And if the ground pulling apart
underneath you wasn't enough to worry your movements on this land,
getting around in Eritrea once there, is tricky. It currently holds
the world's highest fuel price and even if you could afford a taxi
or rental vehicle, many of the country's roads are defunct or
closed. Instead, the only way to navigate the interior is by
rail.
Still, Eritrea is not without its charm. With the Red Sea
serving as its coastline, diving to see coral and majestic sea life
is a rewarding experience and Eritrea's most popular tourist
activity. The capital of Asmara hosts some of the most intact
colonial (Italian) architecture in Africa, to the south of Asmara
there are site of pre-Aksumite civilisation ruins such as Qohaito's
Ruins, the mysteries of which are thought to have only been 20%
excavated to date.
Unfortunately the wonder of Eritrea will probably remain buried
until conflict with neighbouring Ethiopia comes to a halt. The
current government holds stringent control on all travel, media,
business and other enterprise. Eritrea currently holds the dubious
accolade of being dubbed the 'North Korea of Africa'.
