Went To Most Risky Area in Mogadishu & Tried Dating App

Visiting Mogadishu was like stepping into a story I couldn’t have scripted, full of unexpected connections, tension, and resilience. While I won’t go into all the dating app details etc I want you to see the video and tell me what you think about it..?😅🙈

One of the most intense days for me was when we drove past the area tied to the Battle of Mogadishu (the “Black Hawk Down” incident) That zone around the now famous Bakaara Market was once the heart of one of the fiercest urban firefights in U.S. military history, part of Operation Gothic Serpent . To this day, it remains one of the most dangerous corners of the city. So dangerous that I couldn’t even step outside the car.

Later, I found myself at the Mogadishu National Stadium (Garoonka Muqdisho), also home to Somalia’s national football team. The stadium has been through a lot: used as a base by UN and U.S./Pakistani peacekeepers during UNOSOM II, overtaken by Ethiopian forces in 2007-2009, and seized by al-Shabaab militants before being recaptured in 2011. Now, after years of reconstruction and renovation including new artificial turf laid in 2020. it’s once again hosting football matches and slowly reawakening as a symbol of hope for the city .

The match itself was a mixed bag of emotions. Some local fans greeted me with curiosity and warmth but tensions with others. At times, I felt more like a curiosity than a visitor, caught between suspicion and hospitality.
The history of conflict in this space having once been a military base, then under extremist control, and finally a sporting venue againmade everything feel both charged and fragile .

Despite all that, there was something powerful in being at that stadium: a place once filled with sorrow has now been transformed into one of community, sport, and resilience.

#somalia #mogadishu #adventuretravel #dangerousplaces