Hagen Friend
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Contents
Forward
Pg. 7
Mogadishu
Pg. 8
Acapulco
Pg. 20
Port Moresby
Pg. 30
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Forward
Man has made travel really fast and safe, an it’s easier than ever now to travel to any location on the planet, near or distant. But as we can imagine, not all places are as safe as we would like them to be. The ideal trip that most people would like to take is where they can rest in the sun and smell the pristine air from the sea with someone waiting you with the perfect cocktail, maybe with a slice of coconut which has been cut down from the tree you’re sat under. The thoughts of travelling the world and seeing things you thought weren’t possible are astounding to some people. What happens if you would like to visit a picture set scene to relax, but there are certain problems with the destination which is restraining you from going.
Paradise Lost is showing you that there are places around the world with such natural beauty, from mountainous landscapes to gorgeous palm tree filled beaches, yet there seems to be something standing in the way, a huge brick wall which is stopping you from visiting. On the other side of this brick wall is terrorism, drug and gang related crimes, piracy and many more things which you would not expect to come to a paradise and see therefore holding people back from exploring these locations.
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Somalia is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, the Gulf of Aden to the north, and Kenya to the southwest. Somalia has the longest coastline on the continent’s mainland, and its terrain consists mainly of plateaus, plains and highlands. Mogadishu is the largest and city of Somalia. Located in the coastal Banaadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries. As of 2015, it has a population of 2,120,000 residents. Somalia was without a formal parliament for more than two decades after the overthrow of President Siad Barre in 1991. During this time Somalia grew to have a civil war.
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The country has many landmarks ranging from palaces to museums to markets. Villa Somalia is the official residential palace and principal workplace of the President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. It sits on high ground that overlooks the city on the Indian Ocean, with access to both the harbour and airport. A notable landmark in the city is the Bakara Market, where vendors offer street food, clothing and other native merchandise at low prices. Shanghai Old City, with its white houses and narrow streets, and Mogadishu Cathedral are scenic landmarks that are vestiges of a time the city was under the control of the Italian government. The side of Somalia that is often portrayed is riddled with piracy, corruption and terrorism, but there is more to Somalia than this.
“Mogadishu the beautiful - your white – turbaned mosques, baskets of anchovies as bright as mercury, jazz and shuffling feet, the blind white of your homes against the sapphire blue of the ocean” – Nadifa Mohamed, The Orchard of Lost Souls
Kidnap and ransom, improvised explosive devices and suicide bombings are still an
A devastating civil war has ruined this once beautiful city for almost twenty years now, leaving little but ruins. Since, various Islamist clans or warlordaffiliated militias have had control over different parts of the city. A few months of relief were given in 2006 when the Union of Islamic courts took full control. Somalia was however invaded by Ethiopia just six months later and re-instated the western-backed Transitional Federal Government. The hard-line Islamist group Al-Shabab gradually took control over Mogadishu until the government only controlled a few square blocks.
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A counter-offensive, supported by large amounts of African Union troops cleared the city of militants. Bombings and shootings are still commonplace, but open warfare has, for now, ceased. A major shortage of food and thousands of refugees put enormous stress on the few government offices that are able to function. The decades of fighting between rival warlords meant that the country was ill-equipped to deal with natural disasters such as drought, and around half a million people died in the Somali famines.
everyday reality in Mogadishu.
As Mogadishu is on the equator of the earth, the climate is always hot year round. It is a picture set scene with beautiful landscapes inland and on the coast. The sea is crystal clear with palm trees on beaches, and the scenery of the interior is sparse with mountainous ranges
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There are a number of luxury hotels and modern restaurants that have opened throughout the city. Lido Beach Seafood restaurant, a base strip of gorgeous white sand, with its beautiful viewpoint is one of those typical beach restaurants that stands strategically postured to the azure of the Indian Ocean waters.
Many people who are not familiar with Somalia and Mogadishu think that it is one big flat desert. Well, it is not. Somalia has varying landscapes including a mountain belt that stretches from West to East across the country’s northern regions. Its a very scenic landscape to drive through.
There is the Shanghai Old City with its white houses and narrow streets which has taken some severe damage due to the civil war, but still has remanence of what was a beautiful part of the city.
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Somali Piracy has been a threat for more than
Piracy in Somalia has been a threat to international shipping since the second phase of the Somali Civil War. A report by the United Nations and other news sources have suggested that the piracy off the coast of Somalia was caused in part by illegal fishing, which resulted in lost fishing income to local communities. Also the dumping of toxic waste in Somali waters by foreign vessels also severely constrained the ability of local fishermen to earn a living. In response, the fishermen began forming armed groups to stop the foreign ships. They eventually turned to hijacking commercial vessels for ransom as an alternate source of income.
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A hostage from a Somalian piracy attack says “They kept us in a state of terror. Even when I could not see the torturing, I could hear the screams�. In the 4 millions square kilometres that Somalian pirates operate they have ransomed 149 ships to date which has resulted in a huge amount of kidnappings and casualties.
two decades.
Acapulco is a city, municipality and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, 380 kilometres (240 mi) southwest from Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semi-circular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico's history. It is a port of call for shipping and cruise lines running between Panama and San Francisco, California, United States. The city of Acapulco is the largest in the state, far larger than the state capital Chilpancingo. Acapulco is also Mexico's largest beach and balneario resorted city. With stunning topography of soaring cliffs, curling into a series of wide bays and more intimate coves, fringed with pearl beaches, backed by jungle-green hills and crowned with 24-hour nightlife. It was dubbed the ‘Pearl of the Pacific,’ during its heyday when Acapulco was the playground for the rich and famous.
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Acapulco borders the 11km shore of the Bahía de Acapulco (Acapulco Bay). Old Acapulco – centered on the cathedral and adjacent zócalo – comprises the western part of the city; Acapulco Dorado heads east around the bay from Playa Hornos to Playa Icacos; and Acapulco Diamante is a newer luxury resort area southeast of Acapulco proper, between the Bahía de Acapulco and the airport.
“Stunning topography of soaring cliffs, curling into a series of wide bays and more intimate coves, fringed with pearl beaches, backed by jungle-green hills” – Lonely Planet 21
It is early evening and a crowd has gathered on Acapulco's palm-lined beach road. People are staring at an empty public bus, empty apart from a pair of legs sticking out near the rear stairwell.
This is Acapulco's latest crime scene. Less than an hour before we arrived, a man was shot dead as he was getting off the bus. Police take notes and photographers take pictures.
The city is best known as one of Mexico’s oldest and most well known beach resorts, which came into prominence in the 1950s as a getaway for celebrities, Hollywood stars and Millionaires. Most beaches are in the bay area fronting the main boulevard ‘La
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Costera’. This bay area is what made Acapulco famous and its beauty and majesty have not faded over the years. Some of the most popular beaches inside the Bay and lining the Costera are Hornos, the traditional ‘afternoon beach’, Papagayo, Tamarindos, and Icacos.
The exotic mix of golden beaches, Sierra Madre Mountains, tropical jungles and lagoons, along with Mexican warmth makes Acapulco a very ideal destination to visit.
It’s hard to think of Acapulco having gang and drug related problems when you have been told that there is such exotic features to this Equilateral country.
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Over the years Acapulco has been a renowned tourist hot spot for it’s beaches, activities and weather. Nowadays it has brought up some what of a reputation for violent drug wars. Police patrol the streets night and day waiting for the next drug related crime, which usually ends up in blood shed. Once the most famous and glamorous beach spot in Mexico, Acapulco has long struggled with drug violence and gang warfare that have sullied the sun and sand image.
“In the city of Acapulco, we definitely have security problems,” said Luis Walton, the former mayor and current gubernatorial candidate. “We hardly have any international tourism now.” Much of the crime and nearly all of the deaths that I have heard about in Acapulco somehow involve drugs. It is said that walking along the main strip and the beaches, you will be approached by small-time drug dealers whispering and sometimes boldly offering you drugs.
The transformation from international hot spot to domestic weekend getaway has been accelerated by the city’s drug wars. 28
“But closer up, you can’t miss the guns. There are state police with black masks in trucks with gun mounts. Roving pods of armed federal gendarmerie on souped – up three – wheelers. Assault rifle – toting Mexican marines on foot patrols with armbands that read Tourist Protection” – Joshua Partlow and Gabriela Martinez for the Washington Post
Port Moresby is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea (PNG). It is located on the shores of the Gulf of Papua, on the southeastern coast of the Papuan Peninsula of the island of New Guinea. The city emerged as a trade centre in second half of the 19th century. During World War II it was a prime objective for conquest by the Imperial Japanese forces during 1942– 43 as a staging point and air base to cut off Australia from Southeast Asia and the Americas.
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In 2000 it had a population of 254,158 As of 2011 it has a population of 364,145, giving it an annual growth rate of 2.1% over a nine-year period. The place where the city was founded has been inhabited by the MotuKoitabu people for centuries. The first European to see it was Captain John Moresby in 1873. It was named in honour of his father, Admiral Sir Fairfax Moresby.
“I LOVE Papua New Guinea. Sure, its capital is infamously crime-cursed, but it should be known that a large, inviting nation lurks beyond Port Moresby’s lawless boundaries. One in which grins – not guns – greet the intrepid explorer.” – Chris Pritchard, Smart Travel Asia
There are many sites to see in Port Moresby. Papua New Guinea is situated in the middle of a coral reef which is would be amazing for diving. Crystal clear waters, and versatile wildlife. The culture is rich within the country as well, it is many-sided and complex and it is estimated that more than 7000 different cultural groups
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exist in PNG and most groups have their own language. Because of this diversity, in which they take pride, many different styles of cultural expression have emerged.
The Motuan people of the area now known as Port Moresby traded their pots for sago, other food and canoe logs, sailing from Hanuabada and other villages built on stilts above the waters of the bay.
On the southern side of Town is the long, sandy stretch of Ela Beach. The beach front promenade is a popular walk during the day, though the sands are not full of sunbathers these days. Even locals perceive this area as potentially unsafe.
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An average week consists of
Port Moresby occupies the 137th place in the list of 140 of the least liveable cities in the world, it is famous not for its picturesque surroundings but for it’s excess of rapes, murders, carjackings and mass outbreaks of HIV infection. Those who are supposed to protect citizens and to combat violations of the law (the police), often are themselves criminals, corrupt officials and members of the gang. Since Australia granted Papua New Guinea independence in 1975, its capital has become synonymous with violent crime carried out by raskol gangs. Although much of the crime is driven by poverty, tribal allegiance also plays a part in the ethnically diverse capital. The raskol street gangs control much of the city of 250,000 inhabitants, some armed with automatic weapons and machetes. Raskol raids on businesses and compounds are common. Unemployment has been estimated between 60 and 90 per cent in the city.
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Raskol gangs first emerged in Port Moresby in the 1970s, largely associated with the growth of urban squatter settlements in Port Moresby that consisted of recent migrants from the rural areas of the country and their children. Unemployment was (and remains) high in the settlements, with most employment in the informal sector, and educational opportunities very limited. Crimes such as rape, murder, and carjacking are common in a city that has a 60 percent unemployment rate. The raskol culture has merged with the local history of cannibalism, marijuana cultivation and usage, tribal feuds, and piracy. Hijacking of boats and even kidnapping or murder of the owners is becoming more common. Even the New Guinean captains of small supply boats in small island villages run the risk of being beaten, robbed, or murdered for the sake of their limited cargo of instant noodles, clothing, and disposable batteries.
3 murders, 4 rapes and 28 car robberies.
Mogadishu, Acapulco and Port Moresby have so much potential to be what they once were, the pearl of each country, the paradise that everybody is looking for to go and visit, but because of the human footprint, which brings war, crime and distraught, it then starts to deteriorate, and soon we will not have somewhere to run away to when we want that cocktail on the beach. —  Paradise Lost
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