I Ignored Western Media and Went to Mogadishu, Somalia 🇸🇴

Two days in Mogadishu, Somalia, with two local guides, a videographer and an armed security guard whose name is withheld for his own safety.

The question Harry sets is not is it safe but why is Somalia broken — and he answers it with colonial borders drawn across clans, a dictatorship, a civil war and al-Shabaab, before getting to the market, the beach and the boats.

The verdict at the end is the most carefully hedged in the bundle. He refuses to say it is safe, refuses to say it is dangerous, and says danger is a grey area rather than a yes or a no.

Obs: the description carries a travel-card and an eSIM affiliate link; neither provider is recorded here. It also links donations to the foundation running the school he visits, which Harry gave $1,000 to on camera — that is named below, because it is a charity rather than a commercial arrangement.

Key moments

• [00:01] The reputation, in archive: American troops, downed helicopters, civil war, pirates, and al-Shabaab.
• [00:31] His premise, stated before he lands: a government and its people are not the same thing.
• [01:06] The recent attacks, read out as figures rather than atmosphere: 37 killed in a beach attack, 20 killed by a bomb during the Euro 2024 final, 14 killed in a hotel siege, and air strikes in the city the night before he arrives (from video – unverified — the dates he gives don’t line up cleanly).
• [01:37] A voicemail from his mother, worried, asking him to stay in contact.
• [02:07] The colonial carve-up, which is his actual answer to the question: Britain took the north, Italy the south, France what is now Djibouti, and Ethiopia the Ogaden. The borders cut across clans — one ethnicity, many clans — and the colonial administrations played the rivalries against each other.
• [03:11] Landing. Security at the airport is extremely tight.
• [03:43] The security guard, whose name cannot be given.
• [04:18] Camel meat and banana, the first meal.
• [04:33] Hamar Weyne market, the second largest and one of the oldest in the city. Terrible roads, which is his explanation for the number of Toyotas.
• [04:51] People are not happy about the camera, so he keeps it pointed at himself — a routine he says he is very used to.
• [05:35] Around 90% Muslim, conservative and proud of it.
• [06:10] A very young population, which he says you notice in the street before anyone tells you. Donkeys still doing the work of vans.
• [06:44] Italian architecture, or what is left of it, in the part of the city Italy administered.
• [07:46] The history: independence in 1950 (from video – unverified), Siad Barre’s coup, famine and mass starvation in the 1970s, a war with Ethiopia, his overthrow in 1991, and then years of warlord and militia conflict.
• [08:29] Liido beach, where 37 people were killed less than a month before he stands on it. People are swimming; security is everywhere; he is honest that he is still on edge and that the locals are not.
• [08:58] The line he takes from it: start thinking rationally instead of emotionally.
• [09:34] Al-Shabaab: allegiance to al-Qaeda declared in 2012, suicide attacks, harsh rule where it holds ground, and it holds ground even inside Mogadishu.
• [10:25] A family gathering — traditional music, tea, and everyone sharing how the day went. He can’t follow a word and claps along.
• [10:39] Khat, chewed for energy.
• [11:11] What he actually finds hardest: so many armed men, in similar uniform, that you cannot tell who is who. Military bases, private security, helicopters, the green zone.
• [12:17] The fish market, with two armed guards. Sharks dragged across the floor, swordfish, and it is cheap — because Somalis largely don’t eat fish, preferring camel, chicken, beef and lamb.
• [12:55] A fisherman’s earnings given as around $1,100 a month (from video – unverified — the number is garbled).
• [13:36] Turtle meat, and a lot of it. He flags that viewers won’t like it and films it anyway.
• [14:52] The old city: the Italian lighthouse, still standing but dilapidated, and the shell of what was one of the best hotels in the city before the civil war.
• [15:17] A confrontation starts nearby, possibly about him. His rule, stated on camera: in Somalia you keep walking, you don’t stop. See keep moving.
• [15:50] A police ceremony with a famous singer arriving, traditional dress and dancing, at the 14 October monument.
• [16:20] The Black Hawk Down site, refused. Checkpoints won’t let them go — the area could be classed as al-Shabaab territory. He tells the history instead: 1993, two helicopters brought down with RPGs, a 17-hour firefight, 19 American soldiers killed and 500 to 1,000 Somalis killed.
• [17:10] A school for deaf and blind children. Small classes, two per room, and a teacher whose hardest problem is that sign language differs between countries.
• [19:45] He donates $1,000 to the Yasmin Foundation and links donations in the description.
• [20:13] The dunes outside the city, where people come on Thursdays and Fridays, and a camel ride for $3 — a seatbelt included, to his confusion.
• [21:31] Nobody uses cash. The $3 is paid by phone, to a number, with no money changing hands at any point in the day.
• [21:53] A reformed pirate, and the condition attached: the government does not want Somalia associated with piracy, so Harry may not ask him anything about his former life. He talks about the country’s future instead.
• [22:03] Piracy has collapsed since the 2000s and 2010s under naval patrols and prosecutions, though it hasn’t vanished. The economic cost is given as around $7 billion in 2012 (from video – unverified).
• [23:10] A Somali he speaks to on safety, and it is the video’s most honest answer: you cannot say yes it’s safe — it’s a grey area.
• [24:25] Out on a boat of the kind once used for hijackings, now used for tourists.
• [25:31] What people tell him about the war: it technically ended, some areas still feel like it hasn’t, and it has become a war on terror that is being suppressed rather than won.
• [26:06] The verdict, and he refuses to round it off: he won’t paint Somalia as dangerous, and he won’t tell anyone they’ll be fine. Nothing happened to him, and something could have if they’d taken a wrong turn or met the wrong person. Be careful filming, be respectful, don’t be an idiot.
• [26:47] The close: the artists, the innovators and the young population don’t get reported — and his own guide and videographer built successful businesses in these conditions.

Extracted pages

• Country: Somalia
• Place: Mogadishu
• Tips: Keep moving, A government and its people are not the same thing