We spent a few more days in San’a before heading out to some of Yemen’s oldest towns, situated in the surrounding highlands. We eventually made our way to the port town of Al Makha (on the red sea coast), our jumping off point for Djibouti (or so we thought…). For four frustrating days we arrived at the port, were told that the boat to Djibouti is leaving that afternoon, only to hear “Djibouti tomorrow” by the evening All these port visits meant we became pretty chummy with the security guys…

Al Makha is a tiny town with one main street, one hotel and a couple of cafe’s. Not somewhere you imagine spending more than a few hours, yet here we were on the fifth day being told that even when the boat to Djibouti does sail, we will not be on board because the owner does not want to risk having foreigners on his small vessel. Apparently the threat of pirates and rough seas was too great to risk losing a couple of white folks! We later heard that a Yemeni boat was in fact captured by pirates, but we’re not sure if it was the same one…

Anyway, we needed a plan B! There was one other boat leaving Al Mahka that day, but it was to Berbera in Somaliland (a safer part of Somalia)! The main thing was that it was in Africa and at this stage, we didn’t care which part Somaliland is not far from Djibouti or Ethiopia, so we could ride across once we got there. We didn’t have visas for Somaliland but were assured by a fellow passenger that he could help arrange them through his ‘contacts’ once we get there. So with immigration and customs completed, our bike was loaded up and we were on our way. Finally….

24 hours later we docked at Berbera (Somaliland). Our first glimpse of Africa!! While the cargo from Yemen was offloaded and 14,000 goats were squeezed into its place, we waited on board while our new friend went to work. Unfortuntely despite his best efforts which included a verbal OK from the minister of interior affairs, we could not be issued a visa in time before the ship departed (with us aboard). Luckily its next destination was Djibouti.
So 16 hours later and a full two days of sailing since leaving Yemen, we find ourselves in Djibouti (our original destination). It seems things always work themselves out…

Djibouti is one of the most expensive places in Africa, so as soon as we get our Ethiopian visas we’ll be on our way. The African adventure has finally begun…