Liddo Beach

The final stopping place on our Mogadishu tour is the famous Liddo Beach. This beach was created in the 1930s by the Italians. The colonial power created the beach for leisure and also built a giant hotel to go along with it. These two pieces were a sign of wealth and the idea that the Italians were here to stay. The beach was also a great place for smaller ships and tours to make frequent stops and allow tourists to get an ocean view of Mogadishu.

During the '90s, the beach was closed and never used by the public out of fear. The hotel that was once a signature point in both Mogadishu and Italian history, was destroyed never to be rebuilt again. A similar hotel was created, and known as the "Elite Hotel," but in recent news, the hotel succumbed to the terrorists yet again. In 2020, a car bomb was detonated outside the hotel killing several and destroying the building.

With such a long and drawn out walk, I figured the best place to stop would be Italian made beach for us to stop and rest our tired legs.

“Somalia: Lido Beach in Mogadishu.” travel2unlimited.com. Accessed December 10, 2020. http://travel2unlimited.com/somalia-lido-beach-in-mogadishu/.

Harding, Andrew. “Mogadishu's Lido Beach: Sun, Surf and... Grenades?” BBC News. BBC, May 21, 2015. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-32812543.

Mohamed, Hussein, and Abdi Latif Dahir. “Attack on Beachside Somalia Hotel Kills at Least 16.” The New York Times. The New York Times, August 17, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/17/world/africa/elite-hotel-somalia-mogadishu-attack.html.