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Somaliland Travel
Somaliland Travel Agency (known as SML Travel) is a multiple award-winning local adventure tour operator. As our name tells, we are based in The Republic of Somaliland, a self-declared country. It is here where we have been crafting and pioneering our first trips before expanding to neighbouring Djibouti and beyond. If you are looking for an adventure to an off-the-beaten track, you have come to the right place. Join us on a journey full of discovery.
All Private & Group tours available throughout the Year
Who We Are
The idea started with our Founder Abdirizaq Abdullahi. A young refugee during the Somali Civil War, fortunate to find a new home in The Netherlands. After graduating from Law School, he decided to travel. Fascinated by adventure travellers he had meet, he wondered whether experienced travellers wanted to visit Somaliland, the place where he was born. Inspired by Simon Reeve – Journalist who visited Somaliland for a BBC television documentary called “Places That Don’t Exist“, Abdirizaq years later went back to explore Somaliland. This was the start of Somaliland Travel Agency.
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Client Testimonials
Somaliland is a fascinating country with a very nice feel to it and nice people in general. The services provided were great with good services and the possibility to get close to people and great guiding. Car and hotels were also in good shape.
All around great trip. Company was very responsive with all questions and helped set something up with a short amount of time. Lake Assal was awesome, Akram was a great guide, and everything went smoothly. Highly recommend.
I booked the 4 day / 3 nights highlight of Somaliland tour and loved it. Even we visited Dhagah Guure as my flight left only in the afternoon. My guide Abdillahi was great in arranging everything for me making it a wonderful experience. I fully recommend this agency to anyone coming to Somaliland.
If there was a six star, I would have given it to Somaliland Travel Agency. I had travelled with them to Berbera, Las Geer, Burco, Erigavo and the Dallo Mountains on an eight-day dour It was a perfectly organized trip. The hotels and food were very good and more importantly I had excellent chief guide Abdillahi and co-guide Mohamed with me. They were extremely knowledgeable, polite, gentle and took complete care of their clients. It can be a little expensive because the government mandates a security escort for every foreign tourist. Somaliland is extremely safe to visit. Its fact it is much safer than many cities in the west.
It has been an unforgettable adventure in Somaliland. We have only two days but still managed to discover Hargeisa and unique Las Geel. And Mansoor hotel has met my expectations. I should like to thank my guide Abdillahi and other crew members for an amazing experience with Somaliland Travel Agency. They took care of everything being always (and everywhere) on time. Not a single complains. I take this opportunity to recommend Somaliland Travel Agency to all future Somaliland visitors.
I had an excellent experience in southern Somaliland with Somaliland Travel Agency and would recommend the company to other visitors without hesitation. My guide Mohamed was very friendly and professional, and I felt well taken care of. Everything went smoothly as the agency took care of all the paperwork. No complaints.
Thank you to STA for an amazing two weeks in Djibouti. It’s an unforgettable experience which we will treasure forever. Using this fantastic local company to make arrangements allowed us the low impact but authentic and unique experience we were after. All credit goes to our guide Akram – a fountain of knowledge (including 7 languages!), improvisation, good humour, and great company. Djibouti is not for the faint hearted and you need to be prepared to rough it, but you are rewarded multiple times over. A real gem of a secret.
Excellent tour guide company. Our guide, Akram was awesome! Djibouti is a stunning area we discovered Lac Abe, Lac Assal, Canyon, and Rift Valley
Don’t hesitate to reach them!
I spent some days in Somaliland organized by Somaliland Travel.
Everything was professional from beginning to end thanks to Abdillahi Adam Awale, my referent and driver/guide. He was helpful and constructive. When I asked my questions before the trip, I got the correct answers within 24 hours. The hotels were comfortable, the jeep had got AC. The program gave a lot of experience, especially Laas Geel which is the oldest rock art in Afrika. I liked Berbera very much, it has got a special atmosphere, and the people looked at me as if they saw a miracle. There are not too many tourists in the streets … Somaliland is absolutely safe; I recommend the visit for everybody – of course with Somaliland Travel Agency.
Highly recommended!!
1. Totally underrated destination, so much on offer! (highland/lowlands, busy city & dozens of bookshops/quiet & welcoming port/minds blowing old history & modernity all mixed up), delicious food, friendly & diverse hosts/hub)!
2. Professional, knowledgeable & super friendly crew from the tour agency.
This tour group is absolutely top-notch! Akram is quite knowledgeable and willing to do whatever is needed to make sure you are happy. I travelled with my 11-year-old son and the guides always tried to make connections with him. The ride to the amazing sites was long and bumpy- and Akram drove like a champ! When I was dropped off at the airport, I realized that I forgot my good camera in the back of the SUV. They send it to my country.
I just took a trip with Somaliland Travel and had a fantastic time. Abdillahi was an excellent guide, arranging everything for me and taking me everywhere I wanted to go and more. We went to Laas Geel, Berbera, and Sheikh, which was a nice amount of variety. The rock art in Laas Geel was amazing, and Sheikh was such a beautiful juxtaposition to the rest of the country. Abdillahi did a great job explaining some of the history and culture of Somaliland, and we had a lot of fun. He was more than a guide: he became a friend. I’m so grateful to have had such a nice trip, and I hope to come back someday and see more of this beautiful country.
Somaliland Travel Agency made it very easy and convenient to visit Djibouti and Somaliland on a fantastic, combined tour. They worked around our schedule and preferences, and adapted quickly when our flight options changed, packing a very thrilling itinerary within only eight days. They also did a great job of fitting in all the necessary COVID testing for us to move across borders. And their service went beyond what was expected: hearing that one of the persons in our party was having a birthday, they pre-arranged a surprise ice cream cake for us. Overall, theirs is a friendly and responsive service, and I’d recommend them to anyone hoping to discover this intriguing part of the world.
I went to visit Lake Assal from Djibouti City. The guide and driver were excellent and took great care of me. They brought plenty of cold water for the trip as it gets hot, and tour was incredible to see the lowest point in Africa. The organization is professional, and everything went smoothly. They even took me to get my covid test prior to the tour. I highly recommend them for your visit to Djibouti.
We booked a tour in Djibouti for Lac Assal and Foret du Day. Information was great, guide Akram was on time and friendly and knowledgeable. Great experience!
I had a great time with Abdillahi going to see Laas Geel. Mohamed was incredibly kind to help me get my PCR test as well. A great team all around.
Very professional and organized tour agency. Guides and drivers, both in Somaliland and Djibouti, were very friendly and helpful. Definitely recommend.
We had a perfect tour with this agency. Everything ran so smoothly, and the drivers and guide were excellent.
Excellent and supportive travel company. Our guide Abdillahi made us so welcome throughout our 6-day trip and was kind and attentive. He is rightly proud of Somaliland.
This was a great tour. The cave paintings at Laas Geel are magnificent and so worth visiting. The guide and driver were really professional and helpful. I recommend them highly.
I booked a private tour, and they were very responsive and professional. Our local guide in Djibouti, Mr Akram, was very friendly and made the whole tour enjoyable!
My guide was Abdullahi. A more thoughtful and positive soul, you could not hope to find. Speaking great English, he is well organized, knowledgeable, and super thoughtful. He seems to know everyone;) He is very responsive but typically he was a few steps ahead in anticipating my needs.
Very interesting trip to Djibouti and Somaliland including highlights like Lac Abbe, Volcanic Region, Les Geel Rock Art and the cities of Djibouti, Hargeisa, and Berbera.
Special thanks for the opportunity to do snorkelling at Les Sables Blancs (Tadjoura, Djibouti) and near port of Berbera. The underwater life is just incredible, so many tropical colourful fish to see and you have it all for yourself far away from mainstream tourism!!!.
I did a two-day tour of Somaliland from Hargeisa to Berbera and back and was very happy with how well the trip went. Above all the possibility to speak with locals with the help of my great guide Mohamed was priceless. Thanks to it I was able to have a conversation e.g. with a 60-year-old nomadic woman Fatima, who has never learnt how to read and write, delivered her 6 children under a bush tree and in general had an unbelievably different conception of life from mine. For these experiences I’m thankful.
They arranged for an incredible trip to Laas Geel in Somaliland from Hargeisa. The cave art is beautiful and not to be missed. It exceeded my expectations. Everything went smoothly and they are experienced and knowledgeable. I was especially grateful that they arranged the trip for me on short notice and helped me get a Covid test on the way. They even dropped the test off at the hotel later that day. I highly recommend Somaliland Travel Agency for any tours. They will go out of their way to make sure your trip is perfect.
Somaliland is a unique destination, and I was really lucky to find Somaliland travel agency. I’m a solo female traveller and through all my trip I felt really safe with the guide. He was very knowledgeable and flexible. Before my arrival they shared with me many interesting information that made my experience amazing.
I return totally satisfied with these fifteen days trip to Somaliland entrusted to Somaliland Travel. The guide was perfect, friendly and with a pleasant sense of humour, the driver excellent and his vehicle up to the difficulties that one can meet on the ground. The accommodations are not yet very comfortable everywhere, but the agency knew how to choose the best or the least bad according to the places. I recommend the agency without hesitation.
A+ experience! The Las Geel caves is a must on any trip to Somaliland, but what ulimately made the trip with Somliand Travel stand out is the really informative, thoughtful approach taken by the guides. Ours was Mohammed, who’s a very competent photographer, and would help “set up” each shot so that the beauty of the caves was perfectly captured 🙂 but also his passion for his country, and the way he spoke about the many more adventures possible in Somaliland were very inspiring. Overall, I highly recommend this team of experts to organize any travel in Somaliland, and I will be coming back to visit the other amazing things Somaliland has to offer with Somaliland Travel!
Huge thanks to Somaliland Travel Agency, 200% reliable (safety, ponctuality, professionalism). Abdilahi is an amazing guide, super kind and very attentive to the well-being of its customers. Thank you so much for this memorable experience in Laas Geel !
Excellent tour agency with helpful and friendly staff, comfortable car, guides fluent in English, and flexible to adapt the itinerary according to my personal wishes. Can recommend without any hesitation.
Guys met me in the airport. There was a roundtrip to the Laas Geel, everything was great! I learned a lot of how people live in Somaliland, also we visited local authentic cafe (the goat with rice were very good). Everything I want was completed. I recommend 🙂 Ребята встретили…
Je suis allé à Las Geel avec Awale. Bien organisé et communication très facile. Les peintures rupestres sont bien conservées et surprenantes par leur modernité.
No better way to discover this hidden, authentic gem of a country than with Somaliland Travel. From the high mountains near Sheikh, cave drawings of Laas Geel and Dhaqax Guure, and blue waters and beaches of Berbera, to the high speed (amazing internet) capital of Hargeisa, there is so much to see. Somaliland Travel took care of every details to make our tour of this unique destination seamless and comfortable. The food was memorable and delicious … don’t forget to try Somali tea and pancakes. Our guide Abdilahi was an excellent driver and host!
Had the most amazing off road trip in Somaliland Hargeisa-Borama-Zeila-Lughaya-Berbera-Laas Geel-Hargeisa.
The wonderful people from Somaliland Travel was able to arrange everything during my stay, even my PCR-test and some interviews with very prominent people.
Job well done
Somaliland was perfect! I told them the days I had and what I wanted to do and they arranged everything for me.
Accommodation, food, transport and guides were perfect. I took over toys and clothing and we were able to hand them out along the way.
Laas Geel was something I’ve wanted to see for awhile as the history nerd inside of me and they made this trip a memorable one.
I would highly recommend their professional service, contact and enjoyable time.
I booked a short two night/one full day touring quickie.
Somaliland TA stood out because they got back to my queries quickly, and in perfect English which helped this American.
Stayed in nice hotel, and all was on time in great vehicles, with great driver.
No worries.
Went to Las Geel rock drawings, a rough transit. They made it easy.
Very professional and knowledgeable tour guide and superbe driver; we did the two day Lac Abbé – Lac Assal tour in Djibouti in October 2019 on very short notice and Somalilandtravel set it all up for us in a matter of days. Thumbs up for their customer service! The tour itself I can also highly recommend, especially in October when there are few tourists around.
Used Somaliland Travel Agency to arranged my tours in Djibouti and Hargeisa in Somaliland. The tours were great in these two locations! Special thanks to my guide Akram in Djibouti and Awale in Somaliland, they are great tour guides and Awale is an amazing driver. They are super accommodative and friendly. I have been in contact with Abdullahi who supported me in terms of planning. He is responsive and reply my email within 24 hours and very understanding as well. In Djibouti, I have visited Lake Assal and in Somaliland I have visited Las Geel. I felt safe when I was in Somaliland and really had a great time.
I recommend their service if you are planning to visit Djibouti and Somaliland !!
En rentrant de Djibouti, j’en ai profité pour passer 3 jours au Somaliland; L’agence a été super reactive est m’a proposé une excursion à Laas Geel, Berbera pour finir à Hargeisa. Le guide Abdilahi s’est mis en quatre et à repondu à toutes les questions et m’a vraiment montré tout ce qu’il y avait à voir; présence aussi du garde armé, mais à aucun moment je ne me suis senti en insecurité. Un peu cher quand meme et aurait pu etre un peu compacté, mais dans l’ensemble, rien à redire. Je recommande, en combinant avec un tour à Djibouti.
The dream came tru thanks to the Agency!
They were extremely professional and I didn’t have to worry about anything, from transportation, to security, food, drinks and timing.
I sent them email 1 week in advance to organize everything. They picked me up at the airport and took to the site.
No words to describe how beautiful the Las Geel was, how safe I felt myself in the country.
Only positive words and highly recommended if you’re searching for the new places and destinations off the beaten track.
Thanks to the Somaliland Travel Agency it all went smooth and easy.
We had terrific experiences with the tours we did with Somaliland Travel. We took the 2 day tour to the Abbe and Assal lakes in Djibouti. Great staff, super helpful and friendly, and the structure they offer is of excellent quality. We slept in typical Afar tents on Lake Abbe and were able to see the wonderful sunrise the next day. Then we head to the lowest point in Africa on sensational Assal Lake. A remarkable and wonderful experience!
Very realiable, friendly and flexible. I recommend this agency, our group felt as pioneers in tourism.
A very smooth communication and booking process, trustworthy and reliable. I had an amazing two-day tour in Djibouti with the guide Akram. I will for sure contact them to arrange tours in Somaliland, Erithrea and Somalia next time I am there. Well done guys!
Thank you for taking good care of our clients. Good service!!! Reasonable price! Good choice for traveling in Somaliland.
Thank you for taking so good care of our two business clients in August. Perfect service with hotel bookings and transfers. Pleasant e-mail communication.
We made a combination of Djibouti and Somaliland and the truth is that the agency responded to the expectations being the very professional guides. We were very happy
Just returned from a long weekend trip to Hargeisa, Laas Geel, and Berbera and would highly recommend it for those well experienced travelers wanting to see and learn some new things. We arranged the trip on our own and then connected with Somaliland Travel after arrival for a guided tour. I’d recommend instead booking with them from the outset – in so doing they could, for example, arrange a visa on arrival for you (I flew to Dubai first to get mine). I’d let them arrange a visa on arrival, arrange the required body guard, accommodations, driver, etc. These 3 locations together make for a really interesting 2-3 day trip.
Somaliland Travel Agency was our groups land operator.
We were 7 people from Europe and North America interested in Rock Art and it was the first visit to Somaliland for all of us but one member. We had 3 excellent drivers who took care of us during the 6 days stay in the country. One spoke good English, the remaining two not really, which was too bad but, not very surprising as the country gets very few tourists. We used a rather rough roads in search of the Rock Art and the drivers stood up to the task. Some roads were truly awful. The 4x4s however beaten up were in good technical condition. All was working. We appreciated functioning A/C very much.
I would call the service of Somaliland Travel Agency excellent.
Full professionalism in organizing and preparing the expedition. Flexible and offer tailored to the individual needs of the participants. Easy and quick contact as well as friendly and professional service during the trip. I highly recommend expeditions with Somaliland Travel Agency
Somali travel organised a 2 day trip to Lac Abbe and Lac Assal in Djibouti.
We were very satisfied with the trip and guide, and driver. Guide was knowledgeable about the places we visited
In general, all the good. There are some comments on the work of the guide. But this does not lower the estimate.
Somaliland travel agency tailored an itinerary to suit my travel needs. Communication before I travelled was informative and supportive so that I felt completely prepared for my trip. All accommodation and transport were ideal, especially the driver! Everything was perfectly organised with no hitches including my arrival and visa. I had a wonderful time.
Why Adventure with Us
Learn MoreWe only focus on the destinations that we know and grew up in. This means that we know everything about…
Quality and Service go together. From the first contact until returning home, we will be guiding you…
All our tours are aimed to directly benefit the local people and communities…
We understand better than anyone else that traveling to this region might come with inconveniences…
Create with us your tour on your own pace that will maximize your unique experience.
We are proudly members of Responsible Travel since 2017. We help with the preservations of nature and…