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Arrived here at noon today, following a long aerial trail from Muscat to Dubai to Nairobi to Addis (hopping) to Djibouti.
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On the map of Africa, this miniscule country is as difficult to spot as Lesotho or Rwanda. It has a population of only 500,000, for God’s sake!
.A very small town, Djibouti. Native language is French. Apparently there are French troops numbering 25-30,000 stationed here. Number of US troops is 5,000 (official figure; actual should be higher). Their economy is almost fully dependent on the fact that following Eritrea’s altercation with Ethiopia, Djibouti has become the de-facto port from land-locked Ethiopia. That, plus a bit of business in salt.
Nonetheless, it is a very expensive place. For a 2-bedroom flat, the rent would be $2000 per month. We have checked into a 3-start hotel, ‘Residence of Europe’, and they are charging us $100 per day..
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.We were picked up at the airport quite literally in a ‘pick-up van’ by one of our customers. Food is a problem here, so our lunch was delivered to our rooms in ‘dabbas’ by the only Indian joint in town. Seven chapatis each plus rice, a dabba of baigan curry, a bowl of beans, a dabba of salad and a dabba of daal. We could eat only half of it!
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After a nap (here also they have a siesta break from 1.30-4.00 pm), we started out wheeling and dealing with customers. The commercial or business area is just a few square kilometres, totally walkable. Taxi would be required only to go out of town or to the port area. The place looks like a B-class town in India – small streets, empty parks acting as squares, buildings no higher than 4-stories. Only the Sheraton hotel (among hotels) boasts of a lift.
.In our course of work, we met people who speak English as well. Many people in Djibouti are from Ethiopia and Somalia and therefore have English-speaking roots. Since French is compulsorily taught in schools, they speak both languages quite well.
.In general, they area friendly and hospitable people, not given to extravagance or showing off. In fact a popular family vehicle to own seems to be a double-cabin pick-up truck! There are a few beggars but not many to speak of, given that this is the capital of quite a poor country. Not enough tourists, maybe ….
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After a nap (here also they have a siesta break from 1.30-4.00 pm), we started out wheeling and dealing with customers. The commercial or business area is just a few square kilometres, totally walkable. Taxi would be required only to go out of town or to the port area. The place looks like a B-class town in India – small streets, empty parks acting as squares, buildings no higher than 4-stories. Only the Sheraton hotel (among hotels) boasts of a lift.
.In our course of work, we met people who speak English as well. Many people in Djibouti are from Ethiopia and Somalia and therefore have English-speaking roots. Since French is compulsorily taught in schools, they speak both languages quite well.
.In general, they area friendly and hospitable people, not given to extravagance or showing off. In fact a popular family vehicle to own seems to be a double-cabin pick-up truck! There are a few beggars but not many to speak of, given that this is the capital of quite a poor country. Not enough tourists, maybe ….
Djibouti: 1.12.2004
A working day here is pretty much a walking day, as the main business area can be crossed in 10 mins. The sun is quite warm (around 30-32 degC) compared to the 16-17 degC running in Nairobi and Addis. The ‘far-away’ customers whom we visited were a couple of kilometres away..
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.Tonight we went our for dinner with one of our customers Omar, his old flame Linda (also married now) and a common friend who was in the Djibouti army. Out of deference to us, they took us to ‘Le Santal’, an Indian/Chinese restaurant. The waiter there spent 10 mins over their order and then hearing that two of us were Indian vegetarian, simply said: "I know,” and went away.
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Although all the other three knew English, their internal conversations and jokes were all in French. Omar, while wiping tears of laughter from one joke, would start translating it for us, and then break out into fresh tears at the next joke. We ended up making intelligent guesses as to when to slap our thighs …..
.Food was good. After we wrapped up at 10.30 pm, a whispered French conversation took place and we were driven to a by-lane near our hotel and herded down to a basement, ‘Le Hermes’, a nightclub of repute in Djibouti. Now we could at last see some whites in town. The place was fully packed with young (and middle-aged) bodies, dressed in the height of fashion, though some of it was quite gaudy. I learnt gradually that this was also a pick-up joint and a lot of girls hanging around were there for commercial reasons. A few of the guys were in white shirts and grey shorts and were probably from the French Navy. Today being Wednesday, the crowd was thicker and the music louder.
.Tomorrow we check out at 9.00 am for going around the port area and then being dropped at the airport to catch the 12.30 pm flight to Nairobi.
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Although all the other three knew English, their internal conversations and jokes were all in French. Omar, while wiping tears of laughter from one joke, would start translating it for us, and then break out into fresh tears at the next joke. We ended up making intelligent guesses as to when to slap our thighs …..
.Food was good. After we wrapped up at 10.30 pm, a whispered French conversation took place and we were driven to a by-lane near our hotel and herded down to a basement, ‘Le Hermes’, a nightclub of repute in Djibouti. Now we could at last see some whites in town. The place was fully packed with young (and middle-aged) bodies, dressed in the height of fashion, though some of it was quite gaudy. I learnt gradually that this was also a pick-up joint and a lot of girls hanging around were there for commercial reasons. A few of the guys were in white shirts and grey shorts and were probably from the French Navy. Today being Wednesday, the crowd was thicker and the music louder.
.Tomorrow we check out at 9.00 am for going around the port area and then being dropped at the airport to catch the 12.30 pm flight to Nairobi.
Djibouti: 2.12.2004
A very impressive drive around the new port and Free Trade Zone coming up, under financing from Dubai Port Authorities.
Apparently they are trying to bracket Salalah Port and also gain an entry path into Africa. Djiboutians are quite upbeat about this development.
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