Eritrea

Country with high security risk and a rich history – it challenges only the most courageous explorers and adventurers.

Eritrea extends to about 117 thousand square kilometers in northeastern Africa on the Red Sea coast. It borders with Sudan in the northwest, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast. Eritrean landscape is in extreme contrast- a mountain range nearly halves the country to the dry a and desert east, and fertile and moist west.

It has about 5 million inhabitants, who belong to different ethnic groups and cultures. They mostly gather in the coastal lowlands.

The largest and capital city – Asmara – is situated at an altitude of 2325 meters on the northwest edge of Valley of big rocks. It represents the economic and cultural center of the country.

Like the landscape, Eritrean cuisine is divided in two parts. Highlander area around the capital prefers spicy food that is served with the injera (spongy bread in the form of pancakes), that very much resembles the neighboring Ethiopia. In the lowlands Middle East specialties are served, and there is also Italian influence  - so they like to consume  pizza and pasta.

Erithreans like to drink beer, fruit juices, and sowu which is made from fermented old bread, water and honey.

5 memorable tourist attractions in Eritrea:

1. Pearl archipelago

Popular tourist attraction is the Dahlak archipelago – the largest in the Red Sea – which belongs to Eritrea. It consists of two larger and a hundred smaller islands which offer many fun activities. Here you can swim, dive, sunbathe … or discover how to emerge from the sea pearls.

2. Capital city

Asmara is currently the safest tourist destinations in Eritrea, where you can explore many interesting cultural and historical monuments. Take a look at Asmara cathedral, mosque Al Khulafa Al Rashiudin, ethnographic museum, opera house, and archaeological site Sembel that includes residues of Eritrean village from the 8th century BC.

3. Men Only

One of the special tourist attractions in Eritrea is the Monastery of Eritrea Orthodox Church Tehwado – Debra Bizin. Established in the year 1350, it is situated on the hill of the same name – at 825 meters above sea level. Women were banned from entering the monastery.

4. Archaeological treasures of Eritrea

Matara is an archaeological site and is located about 130 kilometers southeast of the capitoll. Here are the historical and physical evidence that implicate the existence of two major cities of the aksumit kingdom, and it is assumed that they originated from the 8th century, or even earlier.

5. Keren

Tourists like to visit and the second largest city of Eritrea – Keren – which is located ninety miles northwest of Asmara. Here you can see the Egyptian fortress from the 19th century, the mausoleum of Saida Abu Bakar, an old mosque, but also visit the local market, which offers an array of interesting artifacts.