As the end of the academic year looms and summer draws to a close, the number of EYFF members steadily declines, until the next batch of volunteers or holiday goers come and make a home out of Eritrea. As people leave, the urgency to complete plans that have been repeatedly put off becomes imminent; For us, that was a day trip to Durfo.
The meeting point was set at Bahti Meskerem, a spot everyone was familiar with and a morning trip was agreed upon to avoid the harshness of the midday sun. The day of the trip fell at a time where there were widespread fuel shortages, subsequently causing a scarcity of transportation which marginally delayed the timings of the trip. Fortunately, ways around the taxi shortages were found; such as hitchhiking, using the bus or even just pure good fortune in finding an available taxi.
Once at Durfo, a walking route was quickly decided and enacted. Which started with us going through a well-trodden path down a gentle decline where we reached a section of the railway track and our walking route followed the trackway. In true Gen Z fashion, our attempt to capture the moments we were experiencing together was by taking selfies. As we were taking pictures, we were encouraged by a man to capture the beauty of the landscape, something that often goes unnoticed and unappreciated.
We tried our hand at balancing on the railway track and changing the course of direction of the train track, before returning it back to its original positioning. Towards the end of our walk we noticed a rock face with writing on it and decided to scribe our names to commemorate our visit to Durfo. At this point the heat and abundance of flies prompted us to head back up to our starting point.
After our walk, we sat down at Bar Durfo, marveled at the sight of the view, and held some good conversation over a few soft drinks. We watched as fleets of camels walked by and groups of friends arrived to spend quality time with one another. As our time at Durfo came to an end, we left content, knowing that we could finally cross this trip of our bucket list.
Written by Mekseb Eskender
