A Week In Somaliland – Part Two

HARGEISA, 10 September 2009 (Somalilandpress) – Ngonge A. is writing to Somalilandpress about his experience in Somaliland and will be talking about his funny yet true experience during his stay in the country – discover Somaliland from the experience of a person on his first ever trip home.

Read the First Part HERE http://samotalis.blogspot.com/2009/09/week-in-somaliland-part-i.html

As the airplane started descending over the empty plains of Somaliland, I had a strange feeling that I have been there before. That arid land, those shoots of green scattered all over the place and those hills the size of mountains! I have seen it all before, it all seemed familiar to me! Now I know that I was born in the place and left it as an infant but I could not possibly remember things from that far back, could I?

The plane landed in Egal International Airport ( the name is comical to be honest) and it took us less than ten minutes to disembark. My feet were finally on Somali soil (Somaliland to be specific). This airport was no different to the one in Djibouti! Vast grey concrete extended as far as the eye could see, old damaged planes were piled in some corner, fire engines and ambulances were parked on another and a few planes were scattered all over the place. The only difference was that unlike Djibouti, they did not have any fighter jets lying about or American helicopters flying around. If Djibouti's airport can call itself international then Egal's lovely hut must also call itself the same.

I followed the crowd as we walked from the plane to the arrivals lounge ( or should I call it corridor?). A few policemen and airport workers asked us to form a line and go to a window with our passports and money. There were only two windows there. We first had to go to the one on the left hand side and pay them thirty dollars that they converted into Somaliland currency and shoved back to us then we had to give them our passports that they in turn passed to the man sitting on their left and ordered us to go to the second window (on our right). We lined up by the second window (all the while noticing the policemen, porters and various hangers on staring at us), we found that we were now facing the guy who just received our passports from the currency people on his right! He asked us to pay thirty dollars which he said was the entry fee but, of course, refused to accept the Somaliland currency that we got from his colleagues barely a minute earlier. "NO SHILLING! Dollars, dollars" he shouted