Is Mogadishu safe?

[ChamonixMountainBum]

I know extremist group al-Shabaab are known for instigating bombings and the odd kidnapping and other armed militia are not shy of robbery and murder but I hear the beaches are really nice. I suffer anxiety but want to step outside of my comfort zone.

2/10

Yeah, go. Have a brill time!

Have you checked the Foreign Office advice?

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/somalia

lol yeah

There are other beaches without the surrounding threat to life

Why not start with a unicycle?
That can be quite challenging, but once you've mastered that introduce, say juggling or plate spinning, at the same time. You could even turn it into a lucrative career, now that The Crankies are no longer on television.

😋

Does seem have been a bit of an outbreak of "is it safe in XXX " recently..... almost as if there's an attempt being made to dissuade people from travelling.

Mind you I suddenly remembered last night that despite work related world wide travels to all sorts of interesting places (including some on the red list) the only place I was ever literally close to being mortar bombed was Heathrow......

Pack your suncream

This. Factor 2,000,000 will protect you from most bombs, given enough distance and the grease will make you harder to kidnap.

Watch "Black Hawk Down"

Its completely safe.

DH and I holidayed there over Christmas. We've been wintering there for 369 years and have never had a single issue.
We walk around all the areas with our valuables out and wearing matching T-shirts saying "I'm British, Kidnap Me". No-one bats an eyelid. Reports of the city being unsafe are just right wing press ideology.
Go. Have fun.

You have no way to disprove what I'm saying

Plus all the 'should I cancel my holiday to......' posts.

Dubai next week, you probably won't get much of a say in the matter.

Tenerife in October, who could possibly say at the moment and if the war in the Middle East is affecting flights between UK and the Canaries, we've all got bigger problems than someone's lost holiday deposit.

Of course it’s safe. I took my 11yr old there last half term and had a whale of a time

All a lot of fuss and nonsense. Teen girls and I had a marvellous time in Kabul last summer.

We walk around all the areas with our valuables out

i hope you have suncream on, it might be a bit sore without it

OP, kindly, I think you need to be a bit more clued up. Great to go outside your comfort zone, but I think Mogadishu isn't for you if you aren't aware of geopolitical issues. Have you thought about going on a trip which is adventurous but you have support? My son loves Intrepid Travel and some of their trips are adventurous. May be your thing more than completely alone and somewhere the government doesn't advise we travel? Hope it goes well whatever you decide.

Mind you I suddenly remembered last night that despite work related world wide travels to all sorts of interesting places (including some on the red list) the only place I was ever literally close to being mortar bombed was Heathrow

That reminds me of the time that I had to get special permission to do one of my work trips because the overseas travel risk assessment deemed it too dangerous because I was travelling alone to a rural area outside the EU.

Was I going to Tehran, Saudi Arabia or Colombia I hear you cry?

No, the Isle of Man.

Great post, OP.

I do wonder what was put into ChatGPT as a search for adventurous beach holiday destinations that would get Mogadishu as a result ?

DH is very important and goes there all the time. He says yes it’s safe, try the nudist beach if you have time.

He prefers it to Cyprus and has cancelled his plans for Italy but it’s just normal daily life in Mogadishu. Go!

I hear it's lovely at this time of year.

Maybe go on a sailing excursion while you’re there. I’m sure you’ll meet some friendly faces out on the seas.

We really need the 😄emoji back.

More dangerous in London or Paris op. Have a great time!

A friend went to Rwanda for a humanitarian (maybe NGO?) job a good few years ago. She hid in her hotel room for a couple of nights and then arranged to get straight back on a flight home.