SEA FRONT

Tadjourah's beach and jetty will delight travelers looking for that very special atmosphere on the shores of the Red Sea. This is the city's liveliest spot, where you really get the feeling that everyone here knows everyone else. Along the beach, low-slung houses with sometimes beautifully painted walls stand close together. They house small restaurants or cafés, stalls selling building materials and school supplies, a bank... It all looks very modest to visitors, but this is where the city breathes. Narrow alleys lead down to the waterfront, bustling with vendors and free-moving goats, colored by the shimmering outfits of the women. The "white city" is an important center on the scale of Djibouti, at the crossroads of cultures. On the muddy beach, boats are beached, fishermen mending their nets. When it's too hot and the children aren't swimming, the local cats, goats and Egyptian vultures take advantage of the opportunity to forage for food. The site is often sweltering in the sun, its activity slowed by the humidity. Particularly from May to September, when the air becomes heavy and the torpor so typical of the region sets in. This doesn't stop a few men from playing a game of pétanque. And every day, the arrival of the qat creates a lively atmosphere. The beach is also home to the fishermen's boats, while rarer commercial dhows are sheltered near the jetty.