Photos

Surprisingly, Eritrea has very few tourists. Most foreigners we met were UN aid workers or Korean businessmen. The instability of the country is a major factor (in contrast, neighbor Ethiopia is frequently visited).

Yet, despite the instability, there is a quiet pride in its citizens--the only African country, for one, where no one has ever begged from me (and it routinely has famines).

Their independence from Ethiopia was fought for 14 years ago, and the tremendous surge of pride resulting because of freedom can be seen in multiple murals across Eritrea's capital, Asmara. Here was one of my favorites, a depiction of the first Eritrean election.