Dalxiisayaal Cadaan ah oo booqday Puntland halka ay iska galaan Badda Cas(Redsea) iyo Badweynta Hindiya (Indian-Ocean:
Soomaaliya oo leh Dhul Qurux badan oo ku wanaagsan Dalxiiska ayaa waxaa dhawaan booqday koox dalxiisayaal ah oo la magac baxdey kooxda Nabada ee (Extreme East).
Waxay safar dalxiis ku mareen degaano ka tirsan Somaliland iyo Puntland, iyagoo booqday xeebta degaanta Xaafuun ee gobolka bari oo ah meesha ay ku kulmaan badda cas iyo Badweynta Hindiya.
Kooxdan dalxiiseyaasha ah oo u dhashay dalka South Afrika ayaa waxay ku soo daabaceen bartooda Facebook in meelaha Somalia ka tirsan ee ay booqdeen ay ka muuqatay calaamado muujinaya Nabadda iyo taariikhda fog ee dhulka Raasiga kadib maalmihii xukunkii Talyaaniga ee Soomaaliya.
“Waxaanu dareemnay raxmadda iyo saaxiibtinimada dadka Soomaaliyeed ee aan la kulannay, iyadoo waqti adag lagu jirana naga caawiyay in aan gaarno goobaha aan soo booqanay,” ayay yiraahdeen.
Waxaan rajaynayaa bay yiraahdeen in maalin uun nabadgelyo ka hanaqaadi doonto Soomaaliya si dadka kale ay sidoo kale u awoodaan inay soo booqdaan dhulkan Xaafuun ee Puntland ka tirsan oo ah meel aan caadi ahayn oo aad u qurux badan.
”Expedition Mission Accomplished – Bushnote from Ras Xaafun in Puntland, Somalia”
We couldn’t share the build up to our final destination with you – for security reasons, we had to keep it absolutely secret. Now we’re safe, we can give it to you straight – as it happened – from scribbles in the expedition journal….
Our key objective from the start OF THE EXTREME EAST EXPEDITION was to reach the headland called Ras Xaafun… in Puntland, northern Somalia, which as the crow flies, lies 115 Km south of the tip of the Horn of Africa. Ras Xaafun is the most extreme east point on the continent.
But as it happens – it’s bloody bad timing – seems everything is against us. Around ancient Harar and down to the Ogaden on the Horn of Africa, tensions erupt in Ethiopia between the Oromo and the Somalis – a so-called ‘khat war’ – the name given to the hallucinogenic, narcotic weed that’s traded and chewed be millions across this region (horrible green stuff). Elections are happening in Somaliland, there’s ongoing conflict in Yemen and a massive bomb blast in Mogadishu – worst ever – kills 400 people. Then – to add to the tension – as we are preparing to cross the border from Somaliland through a dangerous no-man’s-land stretch of disputed territory, news breaks of a US drone strike on an ISIS base – not far from our end-goal.
Our Somaliland hosts beg us to rethink… but we’re committed; our contacts are in place, we’ve travelled over 12,000 Km through 8 countries from South Africa to get this far…there’s no turning back.
4am, into Puntland – we race non-stop – except for goat meat and diesel stops, our security constantly on high alert – flat out across challenging desert and mountainous terrain. Dust so thick you can’t see the other vehicles, it’s high speed, nerve-wracking, adrenaline-filled driving – swerving around thorn trees and gullies. Jeez – these new Discos go like the clappers – our lives depend on them!
Bruce’s voice crackles over the radio: ‘We’re probably being watched by Uncle Sam right now – bet there’s a pretty surprised drone operator wondering what 3 Landies are doing way out here!’ he jokes. It breaks the tension for a moment – we all get the giggles.
As the sun sets, our convoy slows to negotiate a narrow, twisting, rocky mountain pass into the lowlands that stretch towards the coast. Hours later, we bounce across a 20Km spit of land towards the fishing village of Xaafun, as a huge full moon rises.
Exhausted, we bed down for the night in a grubby compound, our armed escort fanning out around the dust-covered, sandblasted All New Discos, and soldiers on guard inside the compound walls.
Early the following morning – hearts pounding and eyes constantly scanning we tackle the final 30Km stretch to the rocky headland of Ras Xaafun – boulder-hopping the Landies through a moonscape of limestone & coral hills and gullies littered with black volcanic debris. Shova Mike completes the last few kilometres by mountain bike, tucked in behind the leading armed vehicle.
And there it is! Set on towering, 200m-high cliffs above the Indian Ocean, we didn’t expect Africa’s extreme east point to be so dramatically wild, empty and beautiful. After six adventure-filled weeks and now constant danger, imagine the adrenaline as we attach a commemorative plaque of Peace and Goodwill – written in Somali and English – to the crumbling remains of the old Italian-built lighthouse. Quite solemnly, we empty the decorated Zulu calabash of water that we’ve carried all the way from South Africa’s most easterly point near Kosi Bay onto a small cairn of stones that we hurriedly erect. It now marks the most extreme easterly point of Africa. Local dignitaries and members of our tough security detail scribble messages of peace and goodwill in Somali in the expedition Scroll. They too can’t believe it – this place is so raw and untouched – even they have never been here before.
Somehow we’ve made it to Mama Africa’s most Extreme Easterly point. We feel emotionally drained by the realities of the journey. We must be crazy – but it is a dream come true. Reaching the Extreme East point of Africa is the ‘missing link’…we’ve now succeeded in reaching the 7 most extreme geographic points of Africa – north, south, west and now east, Mt Kilimanjaro – the highest, Lake Assal – the lowest, and in 2015, discovering the heart of Africa, deep in the rainforests of the Republic of Congo. It’s a world-first for any expedition team!
As always – we’d never have made it if it weren’t for the solidarity of our tight-knit team of bravehearts (Ross, King, Bruce, Sheelagh and Mike), our incredibly capable All New Land Rover Discoveries (our lives really did depend on them) and the wonderful people along the way who also risked their lives in this crazy humanitarian and geographical quest.
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