Bertie's Travelogue Part 9 Seychelles - Mogadishu

Bidding a fond chao seselwa (Creole Seychellois for goodbye), I climbed up to 7000 feet for the flight back to Kisimayu in Somalia. To be honest. it wasn't that exciting once I had left the final islands as there is only so much azure sea and little white clouds one can take. Fortunately, the weather forecast was good so I decided to switch on the autopilot. Some would say this is cheating for a pilot but it can take a lot of the grunt work out of a flight. Do I really want to spend 5 hours peering at a heading and making miniscule corrections? I think not. Anyway, alone in the cockpit I had the chance to partake in my latest vice!

Some time ago, whilst looking for iPod Touch and iPhone apps, I noticed the best seller for some considerable time had been a little game called Angry Birds. It looked a bit silly so I took no notice but Miss Bassett decided to download the free trial version whilst tinkering on my iTouch and pronounced it rather fun. Cutting a long story short, I am totally hooked on the stupid game and even paid the princely sum of 59p to download the full version. For anybody that wants to while away every passing free moment, I heartily recommend it.

It certainly whiled away the hours whilst en route and I was relieved to see the African coast looming ahead. Kisimayu , Somalia's third largest city has been contested by many factions since the civil war began and since  UN troops finally left the area it has been held under the  control of local clans. The landing was more than a bit hairy as the strip (the airfield was formerly a Somali Air Force training base) has been poorly maintained. The main building has been abandoned and thoroughly looted but I was able to take fuel on board after a not inconsiderable exchange of US dollar bills. To be honest, that has to be the fastest refuel ever as the place had a brooding hostility with, it seemed, everybody carrying a weapon of some sort.

It's a quick 80 minute flight along the coast to Mogadishu but an equally rapid refuel before my flight to Moori. The trip was flown at low altitude and it made a nice change to see texture and contours rather than large chunks of the Indian Ocean.

Mogadishu Then

Mogadishu Now

Mogadishu itself was leased to Italy by the Sultan of Zanzibar in 1892 and sold (yes, sold!) to Italy in 1905 when it became capital of the newly established Italian Somaliland. After Somalia gained independence in 1960 all was well until rebel forces entered Mogadishu in 1990 forcing the presence of a UN peacekeeping force which stayed until 1993 when the country was effectively abandoned. Mogadishu itself was run by warlords until 2006 when Islamists and businessmen formed a coalition government. Having said that, during the last 18 months, some 165,000 people have been displaced from the capital, with the mayor telling the locals to move away from the city as fighting is rampant and the only "police" presence is private guard hire for those that can afford it.

Next time you read a paper; buried in a corner away from the important news of Katie Price, X Factor or what's happening in Coronation Street, you might just find mention of the mess that is Somalia so spare them a thought. I've tried to find something positive about it but the best I can do is to tell you that Iman, model and Mrs David Bowie was born in Mogadishu.

Oh, and some of the currency used to be rather lovely.

5 shillings 1951

I have to say, that was a pretty depressing bit of the trip so I'm glad to be leaving Africa. The continent is, at times, fascinating, brutal, beautiful and savage ........... but always an enigma.

Next stop is the island of Socotra and the town of Moori, en route to the Middle East. See you there!

If you click on the View larger map below, you'll see the route from Mogadishu.

View Larger Map
NB, Just noticed that if you zoom into Mogadishu (Muqdisho) on the map, just to the northwest is a place called Wankawayn!! Not a Man U fan then?