It is not the sort of place which has much appeal to the readers of Conde Nast Traveler or Harper’s Bazaar. Unless you have an uncle in the French Foreign Legion or you have been hijacked by Somali pirates, you may not even have heard of it.
In fact it was perhaps better known in the 1920s, when the postcard above was printed, than it is today. At least in those days, passenger liners used to stop there, French ones anyway (British ships would have stopped at nearby Aden instead).
So in case you’re not too familiar with the place, the Republic of Djibouti is a tiny country of around 9,000 square miles, wedged between Eritrea and Somalia on the shores of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
It also borders Ethiopia and there is a railway running from Addis Ababa to the city of Djibouti, providing Ethiopia with its only access to the sea since the latter’s relations with Eritrea are strained.
The country was originally named French Somaliland, then became the Territoire Francais Des Afars Et Des Issas until changing to the current name in 1977 on achieving independence from France.
Afars and Issas by the way are the names of the main ethnic groups living in the country. The Afars are traditionally nomadic herdsman with strong connections to Ethiopia while the Issas have Somali origins.
With very limited economic potential of its own, the country has relied on economic assistance from France for much of its history, serving as a French military base.
In more recent years, Djibouti has also hosted a US military presence who are there to keep an eye on terrorist organisations who might be operating in neighbouring Somalia.
As you might be able to sense from the photo above, Djibouti is red hot, dusty and rather shabby but it’s still more of a civilised holiday resort compared to Yemen.
One of the more memorable haunts there is the Bar Restaurant Du Palmier en Zinc, located on the central Place Menelik, where you can sit on the shady terrace sipping a citron presse and enjoying a jambon baguette.
This bar, which was frequented by kepi-wearing military types and French civilians, was the target of a grenade attack in December 1977, that killed six and wounded 32.
Sadly it seems this building is no more. Information on the internet says it has been demolished and replaced by a hideous concrete apartment block. At least they named the new building after the bar.
This article first appeared on thriftytraveller.wordpress.com