Massawa Eritrea - October 25th 2003

The last day of my visit to Massawa, I will follow the beaches of the first island called "Taulud", where the fishermen maintain their wooden boats and sea life can be observed from the quay.

Another tourist is sitting in a muddy spot rubbing mud into his naked body. Nobody seems to mind. They have told me the Red Sea salt is good for the body. But have the guts to show my naked body to the people of Massawa?

When everything is recorded on my camera, I take the taxi to the bus station. The taxi will stop 500 meters from the bus station. Don't know why. Once made the mistake to take another taxi for the last 500 meters, which was 10 Nakfa, which would be better spend on one of the women in need sitting on the streets of Asmara.

I buy a ticket for the bus. I am lucky. I will have the front seat again, next to the driver. There is some time left to have a drink. Women are making tea, and an old man is selling water-melon.

After a stopover in Ghinda, we arrive in Asmara at 12:30. I have my shoes cleaned and polished. The usual charge is one or two Nakfa's, but I appreciate the diligence of the small boys to work for the money and usually give them a ten Nakfa note. Since my shoes need servicing every time I come from the bus station, I am a regular customer, and the boys know me by now.

I do some visits and enjoy the bars and cafés of Asmara on my way back to the house of Zeuwdi and Gebrehiwot. Tomorrow I will fly back to Amsterdam, so I give up my prudence and eat and whatever I like, trying to arrange as much as possible one Nakfa notes for the women in need.

"The Mazanar Project of the Ministry of Fisheries has discovered new ways to grow mangroves in barren intertidal areas of Eritrea.

Mangroves enhance the beauty of the environment, enrich the sea, and provide fodder for sheep, goats and camels.

The objective of the Manzanar Project is to have the Eritreans create food, wealth and beauty for themselves, using plants that grow in sea water."

In 1987, during Eritrea's war of independence from Ethiopia, Gordon H. Sato went into rebel held areas to assist in food production. The objective of the Manzanar project on the coastal deserts of Eritrea is to have local people in villages use the technology Gordon H. Sato and his team have developed to produce food and wealth for themselves.

Stripped CCCP Antonov 12BP, damaged beyond repair
on landing at Massawa Airport - Massawa bus terminal.

Small scale trade and tea bar at the Massawa bus terminal.
Passengers, cargo and livestock waiting for the bus to leave.