Return to Asmara

Typically I refuse any offer to participate in “slum” tourism, but this man selling jewelry randomly approach our group at a remote beach restaurant and for $25 he offered to introduce us to his home, family, provide coffee ceremony and show us a traditional dance. At first I was extremely skeptical, but it turned out to be pretty chill. A lot of laughing occurred. It appeared like being entertained by the fact we were paying them to visit their home. They were Arabic nomads. They owned very little, as a nomad family should. Their average length of stay in one place was about 3 months. The entire experience felt very natural. There was no middleman or tour company offering the tours exploiting the nomadic life.