I went to Eritrea (Travel Blog)
My first travel blog, in which I recap my stay in Eritrea
So I recently got back from Eritrea, where I'd been for the past three weeks. The reason I was in Eritrea was because I was accompanying my dad to help him settle in, as he was starting to work there. So imma write about it.
Our flight to Eritrea was super early in the morning, at 5AM. So my Dad and I had to get up at 1AM to get to the airport. Luckily I had checked us in a few hours earlier so that saved us a little bit of time. But the entire process was still tedious. Travelling by plane is already stressful, but the fact that we're currently in a pandemic makes it five times more complicated.
Luckily for us, my dad and I were travelling in Business class baby WOOO! (Well, I think it was because all the economy seats were taken but a W is a W). We got to stay in a cool lounge before both our flights (we had a connecting flight btw) with food and Wi-Fi and everything (I think there was even a shower, what?). The flight itself was awesome, there was so much space and comfy seats, and the breakfast was S-tier. I don't wanna sound like I'm flexing or anything (I didn't pay jack towards this trip) it's just that this is an experience one doesn't get too often.
But for every W, sometimes, there's gotta be an L, that's just how life works. When we arrived in Eritrea, my dad and I found out to our dismay that our luggage hadn't arrived. Apparently there was a delay or something which caused our luggage to be left behind while we travelled. So we had to wait five more days to get our luggage. When we finally got our luggage back, we found out all the ice in the cooler we had carried with us had melted, which meant all the food we carried with us was wet. Luckily most of it was OK, thank God. Although the cake we took with us was spoiled (R.I.P).
My dad and I were staying in Asmara, the Eritrean capital. It's a very small and simple city; pretty much everything you need is within a thirty-minute drive. It was quite a change from the fast-paced and often hectic Nairobi, but it was quite a nice change. As one Eritrean we met put it: "It's a good place to retire."
Asmara has an Italian influence (due to being colonised by the Italians), which you can really feel, from the architecture to the food, to aspects of their culture. One thing that I found really cool is that there's a biking culture in Asmara; at any time of the day, you'll often see people riding bikes, whether they're going to work or just cycling for fun. My dad even got a bike at some point and I would sometimes cycle around the estate we were staying in.
Since I was by myself for most of the day, I had to be pretty independent. I learned a bunch of stuff, like how to prepare meals, do my own laundry and the like. Since I turned 18 just a few months ago, I'll need to learn how to do these things, so it's great that I got this experience (Sounds like something I'd write on a school report lol).
Meals I made by myself. As you can see, I like pasta.
The day before my flight back to Nairobi, my dad and got to see most of Asmara and the surrounding countryside. It was nice to see places in the city I hadn't seen previously; the city was a lot bigger than I'd originally thought. The hills are breathtaking.
I flew back to Kenya by myself (well, not literally, I took a plane). It was the first time I'd travelled by plane on my own. I had to hang around in the Addis Ababa airport for a few hours for my connecting flight. Other than a mishap when I arrived in Kenya (I'd left my Yellow Fever card in Eritrea and had to get a picture of it from my dad), my trip went rather smoothly.
Living in Eritrea was pretty different from living in Kenya, but sometimes it's nice to have a change. I got to spend some time with my dad, get stuff done and visit a new country, so overall, my stay in Eritrea was pretty nice.
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