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.

Tehran IS lovely in the Spring... it's the Nowruz festival next week and if you can get out into the countryside where all the wild flowers are in bloom it is stunning. Both of my Iranian friends tell me it's the best time to go.

More seriously, on 7/7 my Mum rang in a blind panic because she knew that I always spent Thursdays in the London office (very close to Russell Square) and she'd seen on the news about a terror attack with multiple casualties.

I was, in fact, perfectly safe in the presence of several Johannesburg policemen because I'd just been carjacked there.

The beaches are absolutely stunning there, particularly if barbed wire is your thing.

If you want to get out of your comfort zone, try Croydon on a Friday night.

Raises the question of how one determines the difference between trolling and attempted satire. I'd put this one in the latter camp which makes the not a genuine user report inaccurate.

Not many, but there's always a few over earnest souls.

But look at the fun we're having.

😂

Yeah. Sorry, sense of humour fail, ignore me.

Dunno about the beaches but watch out for the.local airlines..

https://www.reuters.com/world/passenger-describes-panic-board-plane-that-crash-landed-somalia-2026-02-11/

And your sunhat! One of those pith helmet types might be useful.

Yeah, but is Croydon safe?

I went to st Petersburg years and years ago and it was amazing. We were a bit too worried to do Moscow on the same trip and now I would dearly love to go but not safe unfortunately.

still on my bucket list (along with Tehran actually) but very unlikely to go now

Exactly I love these sorts of threads and hate it when they get deleted

I also hate the fact that people have to explain the irony, satire, hyperbole. Ruins the joke

The Duke and Duchess?

So long as you post 4 times a day on Instagram, you’ll be fine.

Christ no. Have you seen the guidance the foreign office have just issued on it?
not without a native guide and you should probably pick one that has a shotgun and isn’t afraid to use it in case anything charges at you.

Yeah, MN, we need a "Should I travel in war zones" forum.

I’ve heard it’s not too busy in Dubai at the moment, could be a peaceful weekend away.

Crumbs. How scary! When you say "charges at you", do you mean, like, rhinos? Maybe Mogadishu or even Paris, would be a better bet.

I do remember the wind whistling round the Whitgift Centre at night... A frightening place!

I’m here now OP…we never holiday anywhere else!

I was in Mogadishu last year. It was safe. It has developed a lot since 2010's. There are new modern buildings and investment properties there. When I was there, there were plenty of tourists from Asia and Europe. I met returning migrants from UK there and people do speak English. There are decent hotels and short-term lets there. There is a holiday resort by the beach. It's fairly stable there.

We went to Nairobi for a wedding. Never again. We found that scary enough. Days of intrepid travel are over. I would be fine if I wasn’t allowed to leave Europe.

That is the question.

Who cares about, 'do we have a soul' 'are we alone in the universe' 'did man ever walk on the moon' 'are the royal family lizard people'...the real question is; is Croydon safe?🤔Only once we have answered that, can we answer 'is Mogadishu safe?'

Mogadishu is so last year, nothing outside the average comfort zone. We are splitting our hols between Chad and the Central African Republic this year.

Pirates,warlords,machetes, automatic weapons. Beaches are nice tho by. You can relive Black Hawk Down possibly