On The Way To Arta

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I drove up to Arta the other day for work and it was pouring the rain!  This is very unusual in Djibouti and dangerous on what are already poor roads.  To make matters worse, there was a lot of  fog up in the mountains.  Not only did I have to keep the car on the road, but I also had to look out for pedestrians.  A word of warning, it's not a good thing walking in the middle of the highway during zero visibility.  I've attached a photo of what I had to deal with much of the trip.

Comments

  1. liliaMarch 9, 2011 at 6:18 PM

    Even fog? What a terrible experience!Driving in fog is very dangerous. That reminds me when I used to drive in fog to go to the first school where I taught when I was young. I taught in a village very far from my town called " The fog village". I remember I had to stop driving once...I couldn't see anything and I was petrified :(

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  2. Russ McCoyMarch 9, 2011 at 10:53 PM

    And, if something goes wrong in Djibouti, you're pretty much on your own! In the west, you get assistance but that isn't always the case here.

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  3. liliaMarch 12, 2011 at 1:19 PM

    Well, it depends...the road I had to go across to reach the village I talked you about was completely solitary and there weren't mobile phones in the days when I taught there...You could sometimes meet flocks of sheep or cows and herdsmen. Some of them were untrustworthy. At that time a nurse was raped and killed by some herdsmen in the same poor road I crossed everyday. And once I had to stop my car there since I was surrounded by a flock of cows that pushed my car close to a dangerous ravine. I sounded my horn and finally a herdman came to check his flock. It was a very terrible experience :(

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  4. Russ McCoyMarch 12, 2011 at 7:56 PM

    Sounds terrifying! It also sounds like all of Djibouti and not just one area unfortunately.

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