Review: Flying Ethiopian Airlines To Mogadishu, Somalia 🇸🇴
Intro
Welcome to the very first review on the internet of flying an airline to Mogadishu. Due to how obscure the destination is, this will be written slightly differently from one of my standard reviews.
Following an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Dakar to Addis Ababa, and a relatively sleepless night at the Ethiopian Airlines Skylight Hotel, it was finally time to embark on my mission to Somalia.
There are a number of reasons why I chose to visit Mogadishu, and I'll be touching on them in another post. However, that night before was a rough one. Nerves filled my body, wondering if my mission to visit every country in the world was worth it or not. Wondering if I would make it home to see my family again. Obviously, it's quite mentally challenging to visit a place where the only information you have is from the media, and we know that the media is not always accurate.
So, what happened? Here is the story.
Addis Ababa Airport
I had slept for 2 hours when staff from the hotel came banging on my door as I was just about to leave. For peace of mind, I messaged my family members, took a couple of deep breaths, and exited my room.
The bus was waiting outside to pick up departing passengers, and within minutes, I was in the main terminal of Addis Ababa.
A quick stamp of the passport, and I was on my way to the departures area. Sick from the iron ore and coughing up blood, the first order of business was getting some cough medicine.
And, of course, some food. The one aspect I thoroughly dislike about the Addis Ababa airport is how expensive the food is. 25 USD for some chicken tenders and fries is mental.
8:00 am soon came about, and it was time to head over to the gate. From my experience, we were one of the lucky ones, as most 737s are assigned to remote stands. Today, we had a gate.
When I arrived at the gate area, the first aspect that came to my attention was that the plane was in an all-white livery. Ethiopian Airlines flies twice daily flights from Addis Ababa to Mogadishu with these fully white liveries, and they also fly to the likes of Port Sudan, Juba (as I just flew), Kinshasa, and the more off-the-beaten-path destinations.
Boarding
Boarding commenced at 8:30 am for our scheduled 9:00 am departure. I scanned the area to see the community of people traveling to Mogadishu today and saw a couple of people of caucasian descent. That was fantastic until I realized they all had UN passports. From what I observed on the ground and on the plane, I would be the only Western tourist on the flight to Mogadishu today.
Stepping up to the plane, the mandatory 5 touches of the fuselage for good luck was in order. I realized that this was the point of no return. After all of the months of planning and hard work, the time had now come.
Strolling past the business class cabin, which has certainly seen better days, I quickly found my seat in economy.
The flight was filled to the brim with not a single seat open in economy and very few open in business class. As I settled into my seat, two Somalis sat next to me, striking up a conversation in the local language.
The Ethiopian Airlines Max 8 offers a decent amount of legroom as well as a sturdy tray table.
The flight to Mogadishu is unlike one I have ever experienced. Boarding was wrapped up by 8:45 am, and the doors were closed 5 minutes later. However, we ended up pushing it back to 9:15 am, and my guess is that they wanted to minimize the time the plane spent on the ground in Somalia.
The Flight
Taxiing past one of the four Ethiopian Airlines 777-300ERs, I finally realized, "holy s**t, I am actually going to Somalia. Am I st*pid? Crazy? Adevntrous? All of the above? The only one I am certain of is crazy".
We began our backtaxi as I checked my texts for the last time until I would be back in Ethiopia. 16 minutes after pushback, we rolled out of Addis Ababa in fashion.
For those unfamiliar with the situation in Somalia, one of the reasons I booked the trip is that, at the time, Mogadishu, or Xamar, had been doing a lot better in the years past. Unfortunately, two attacks took place in the capital weeks after I left... Somalia is known to be a bit safer towards the South compared to the North, and thus, our routing took us more toward the Kenyan border (at least what I think).
25 minutes after takeoff, the crew came around to hand out meals and a drink of choice. Physically quite sick, as well as a touch nauseous from nerves, I just asked for a bottle of water. Side note: I had no idea Somalia was a dry country before going.
Somehow, I must have dozed off, as I woke up with the whole cabin chatting loudly as I saw the first sight of the beautiful Somali waters. I've been to a lot of beautiful places on the beach in my life, but the water in Somalia is the most beautiful in the whole world.
Interestingly, the cabin was very noisy, with people talking and laughing most of the flight. It wasn't a problem at all, in fact was awesome to see. But here I was, a nervous Geedi (traveler in Somali) around, laughing and smiling. A stark contrast
I mean, this water is unbelievable...
The next interesting part that I noticed is that we passed over the Mogadishu airport to the South at a flight level of 12,000 feet. Following that, we made our final approach over the ocean instead of land. I have to assume, and I could be very wrong, that is so the pilots can get a visual of the on-the-ground situation as well as ATC clearing the Max 8 to land.
Arrival
This is it: from all the movies and stories I've heard about Somalia, I was landing in the capital city of the Pirate Capital of the world. It's time.
The final approach to Mogadishu was like none I have ever experienced. Waves crashing upon the turquoise water. One moment, you are over the most gobsmacking ocean, and the next, the edge of the 10,000-foot runway comes into sight.
Touching down on the sole runway, you could see the hundreds of aircraft in line to take off. I'm joking; there are few flights a day into Mogadishu apart from the number of UN and WFP planes, as you can see partially in this picture below.
For obvious reasons and not wanting to cause any suspicions, I did not take any pictures of the airport on arrival. I did it in the next report, so stay tuned for that.
Stepping off the plane through the remote stand, I was greeted by the basking sun of West Africa. It was a beautiful day to be alive, but I knew that this next part would be crucial.
I had heard a report online that immigration would often take Western passports away and demand money for the return (more media fed). However, due to my invitation letter and the person who arranged the tour, this was never an issue as he seemed well-connected with the staff. I paid 42$ for the visa and 18$ for the "government fee" (as shown on the receipt). "Government fee", sureeeeeeeee it is.
My guide met me after immigration, and we made our way out of the Mogadishu airport with no issues whatsoever. Stepping into a 125,000 USD Japanese imported bulletproof Toyota Hilux, this would be a trip to remember.
Final Thoughts
Ethiopian Airlines is very impressive in terms of the destinations that they serve. If you happen to be flying to Addis Ababa, flying with Ethiopian offers a good meal, free-flowing drinks (including wine), and, most importantly, safety. The seats are adequate for a flight of this length and provide good comfort.
On a personal note, this was a strange flight to be on. It was a dream come true to fly into Mogadishu, but it was also interesting to see the smaller extra security measures that took place. It was heart-wrenching but exciting nonetheless. As you'll soon find out, Somalia was one of the most incredible places I have ever visited.
Mahadsanid 🇸🇴
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