Bradt Somaliland

With this unique guide, discover Las Geel, the most alluring rock art site on the Horn of Africa; the charmingly decayed Ottoman port of Berbera, which provides access to some splendid beaches and offshore reefs; the spectacular Daallo escarpment, swathed in fragrant evergreen forests that support several endemic bird species; and the abandoned city of Maduna, the most impressive of several mediaeval Islamic ruins dotted around the arid interior.

Significantly, this new edition also covers Addis Ababa and eastern Ethiopia - the main gateway into Somaliland.

Somaliland ranks among the world's most obscure and uncharted travel destinations. It comprises the former colony of British Somaliland, which merged with its Italian namesake to form the Somali Republic upon attaining independence in 1960, but unilaterally seceded from the rest of war-torn Somalia in 1991. Now a peaceful and fully functional self-governing democracy, Somaliland still awaits official recognition by the UN AU and most other such organisations more than quarter of a century later. Yet despite its obscurity, this ancient and largely arid land has much to offer the truly intrepid traveller, and the low-key, low-rise capital Hargeisa is easily reached by air or overland from neighbouring Ethiopia.