Poverty. Tops off the list of first impressions in Eritrea. I’m sure your sick of me praising all the countries I go to, but Eritrea has so many of its own charms. Massawa where we were, was, like the rest of Eritrea, a war torn city. I’d like to say that the last bullets fired there where sixteen years ago. But they probably weren’t. However, what they will tell you is that the war ended (at least in Massawa) 16 years ago. Nothing has changed since then. Not one new building stood in the places of the town we went to, and all were riddled with bullet holes. The shop fronts and restaurants all had massive doors, and when closed you would never guess what you might find behind them. We found only one notable local dish in Eritrea. I forget the name of it. It’s a massive pancake around 40cm in diameter, served on a tray topped with some sort of meat and roast vegetable compote. It was nice. But maybe more interesting than nice. The people where great and very helpful. We met a local woman who owned a bar called the ‘Titanic 2’. Turns out she is a Swedish citizen and can speak 7 languages fluently including Swedish. Big lesson in never judging a book by it’s cover. The local brew in Eritrea is called ‘Asmara’. It’s an excellent drop and is extremely cheap. It’s so cheap in fact, that you get more than half your money back when you return the bottle. UN trucks passed through the streets every now and then and AIDS was evident. As everyone knows Africa is plagued by it and Eritrea was no different. In Massawa, the week before we got there, trucks came through the town and locked up all young females in the area. Presumably to test them for aids, but in a country as that poor, who would pay for it? None of the girls had been heard from. I must say, I’ve never particularly liked little children. But having Jessica on board has changed that, and one thing that made us all smile where all the happy and healthy looking children that came running to greet us. Speaking no English, they would just copy everything we said with a big smile. Eritrea is yet another country which I wish I could have seen more of. Maybe next time round. Thanks for visiting the site! Enjoy the pictures.