Eritrea - Worlds worst place to backpack #9

Eritrea - Africa's youngest country



The country hugs the north east coast of the African continent with the Red Sea combing its entire length and one of the worlds longest mountain ranges dissects the country in half.



Dry desert scatters the coastline where archipelagos lie out in the Red Sea and highlands rise up to 3000m. Although it looks small on the map, small for African country standards, its actually just as big as England.



Unfortunately this beautiful area is also one of the most volatile regions in Africa.



Eritrea is officially one of the worlds worst police states. The president is constantly ranked in the top 10 worst dictators of our time.
The government control everything and will certainly know about your presence in the country if you dare to set foot. You need a tourist visa from one of the few embassies scattered around the world, you cant just expect to turn up on one of its borders. Speaking of, the border with Ethiopia and Djibouti are closed indefinitely meaning you have to enter via Sudan, which is in the middle of a country being spit in two.

Visa restrictions mean you have to inform the time and date of your arrival at the exact overland border post, this means your plans have to be quite stringent, and traveling through Sudan at the moment, a country on the brink of war, things may not go exactly to plan.

Expect bureaucracy at the borders to take you hours, its impossible to cross after dusk so dont get the late bus from Sudan or you could be sleeping rough in a sketchy African border town.

Can you believe that Eritreans actually need a visa to leave the country!?! They rarely get granted one. Every movement within the country feels like you are being watched. Travellers describe it as eery and constantly lurking uncertainty.


'Postcard from Eritrea'

According to the BBC, "Eritrea is the only African country to have no privately-owned news media." Ranked worse than North Korea for the tightness of its media control by the internationally acclaimed Freedom of Press Index. Could be quite difficult to find a flashpacker hostel with free wifi?



In fact, there are plenty of hotels in Eritrea. Hotel suites with cliche 1970s decor go for around $30US. You wont find the best deals on hostelworld or hostelbookers, you have to go straight to the source, the hotels website.
The Lion Hotel looks like your best deal with its outside areas and its 'internet service room'
http://www.asmera.nl/lion/index.html

No elections have ever been held here, yet the ruling government, and the only party allowed to run is ironically named the The People Front for Democracy and Justice. Go figure....


'Check out this rare yet very bizarre interview with the looney president, he is so arrogant, defensive and calls the journalist insane'

The UN see Eritrea as a destablising state in the Horn of Africa. Across the Red Sea lies Yemen, another 'destablising' state. The government who rule with an iron fist. They use their security forces to commit gross violations of human rights throughout the country. They have been accused of arming militas in Somalia and other insurgent groups in the region. Systematic beatings and arbitrary arrests are the norm for people who try and exercise their universal lawful rights such as speaking out on religion, gathering in groups in public and god forbid you get accused of taking the piss out of the president.....woooo weeee you gonna get a slashing son!!

Nah, its not funny, people die. Not cool.



So with some serious military buildup in neighbouring Sudan to the west, a country on the brink of civil war, to the south remnants of the 30 year war with Ethiopia still linger and no entry nor exit through Djibouti either, chances of your travel plans being ruined are pretty high.

Dont mess with one of Africa's most secretive regimes....it's Eritrea, worlds worst place to backpack #9

Congo - Worlds worst place to backpack # 10

bongo bongo its the dirty olde democratic republic of congo (DRC)



well, its not that dirty, its actually known the world over for its vast quantities of natural resources. gold, copper, silver, timber, tin you name it, its probably in the congo. no guesses, that this is a country rich in minerals and blessed with mother natures sparkle.
on closer inspection, its rotting from the inside out. its a decaying mess.



formely known as zaire back in the day, this central african country is often confused with its neighbouring country, congo.

they are quite different. there is the democratic republic of congo....



and then the congo...



for one of the worlds richest nations, in terms of its wealth of untapped natural resources,(estimated at $24trillion) the congolese people are amongst the poorest in the world. the average wage is 300 per yr, thats under $1 a day for the majority of the 71 million people who call it home.
now seriously, i know the $1 a day call is hard to imagine, but come on, under a $1 a day, and the majority of the country? get real democratic republic of congo. the so called leaders of this country deserve to be pegged to a stake and left to lie under the congolese sun, then have the vultures have their wicked way with them. beak hook to the left eye ball. howwzzzaaat?

the internal conflict has dragged in neighbouring countries rwanda and uganda. perhaps the most famous are the LRA, Lords resistance Army. the notorious child solider renegade movement. 90% of the children arent there by choice, but that doesnt seem to deter them from snatching new recruits.
there are some great books and even movies on the LRA from children who have escaped and lived to tell the atrocities that were forced to commit. the documentary below is definitely worth a watch, the story is compelling and revealing of the honest truths, shame about the 3 annoying guys that made it. good job, but they just annoyed me.



Joseph Kony, the hunted leader of the elusive LRA is a sicko, a lunatic, an evil person. just watch this interview with him to gauge his mental well being.



who can forget the infamous joseph mobutu, installed by a CIA coup. he was about as good as it gets as a kleptocrat.

in 1998, the second congo war broke out, a war that is often referred to as Africa's world war. it is the worlds most deadliest conflict since world war II. 5 and 1/2 million people killed. staggering. yet most people are unaware of its brutality let only scale.



rape and sexual violence are described by the UN as the worst in the world. the way in which this weapon of war is used is exasperating. women are raped in what could only be described as a public stage, gang raped in front of their families and other villagers, so as to gain the maximum effect possible.
if this is not reason enough for single women travelers to stay away then i dont know what is.
and dont think the army will intervene to help you, they are some of the most aggressive perpetrators. just when you thought help was on the way, you hear that ceremonious chorus of a battalion of zips being unzipped.

when the genocide in Rwanda took place in 94, the hutu militias who carried out the atrocities fled into neighbouring DRC. this gave rise to a renegade band of tutsi fighters who claimed to protect the tutsi poplulation from the still raging hutu death squads.



the reality is, no side is innocent of atrocities. so theres a real chance as a backpacker traversing through this naturally abundant paradise, you may stumble upon some sickos who want to touch you up in front of their mates. not such a cool outcome. avoiding the democratic republic of congo is probably better for your physical and mental health.

before you pack up your backpack and head deep into the democratic republic of congo id advise you think twice about how you value your life.
check out this recent doco on events that have been unfolding....

Congo, the worlds worst place to backpack #10