This could be because I was completely unaware of the atrocities that took place in Ethiopia during the 1970s. It may also be because of the museum’s hard-hitting approach.

Despite its humble appearance, the museum leaves little to the imagination when you step inside.

Established in 2010 as a memorial to the citizens that were murdered under the Derg government, the artifacts include coffins, bloodied clothes, and graphic images documenting the devastating period in the country’s history.

The Red Terror in Ethiopia

Ethiopia’s “Red Terror” took place between 1977 and 1978. During this time, Ethiopian men, women, and children, endured a reign of fear and death at the hands of Mengistu Haile Mariam.

Tragically, this new leader had originally brought hope to the citizens of Ethiopia.

After a coup e’etat on the long-ruling monarch, the military, led by Mariam took over the country. What should have ushered in a new era, quickly spiraled into a brutal dictatorship?

Various ethnic groups were tortured and killed as the General ruled the country under a regime of bloodletting. Students and intellectuals met similar fates.

Anyone that allegedly opposed his party was made an example of. The military junta known as the Derg would murder indiscriminately, dumping bodies into the streets as a message for the public to fall in line.

It is estimated that 30,000 to 750,000 people were killed over the course of the many purges.

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Where is the Red Terror Memorial Museum?

• Address: Africa Ave, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Inside the Museum

As I have already mentioned, the museum doesn’t hold back on what it has for display. Torture instruments, human remains dug from mass graves, and bloodied clothes are just some of the more graphic exhibits.

It is advised that you opt for an English speaking guide as some of the explanations supporting the exhibits lack detail. Unfortunately, the museum assumes that visitors are aware of the atrocities so background context is on the sparse side.

That being said, with a guide you will find out the history leading up to the beginning of the Red Terror.

Then, as you proceed around the various displays you are told of the suffering endured by citizens that opposed the Derg.

The guide also explains how prisoners were treated and the methods they used to get messages to the outside world.

Many of the guides actually lived through the period of the Derg atrocities and their explanations are all the more poignant for it. In some instances they actually experienced the types of torture they are speaking about.

In one section of the small museum, an entire wall is reserved for the photographs and names of some of the victims killed by the Derg.

In another area, the skulls and bones of a murdered victim are on display alongside a photograph of the person before they were killed. In some cases, their personal artifacts are on display too.

Good to know

While signage is in English it lacks detail so an English speaking guide is recommended.

Due to the unreliability of local electrical infrastructure, power can often be lost at the museum. This does make some exhibits difficult to see.

The entrance fee to the museum is free, however, they do rely on donations to keep it running. It would take a special kind of person not to be moved enough to leave something at the end of their visit. Please give generously.

Featured Image: Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada / CC BY-SA

Leon Trotsky Museum [House and Murder Site]

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The Romanov Execution and Burial Sites

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The Skull Tower, Niš [Dark Tourism in Serbia]

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Traveling the White Sea Canal – A Waterway Built on Blood

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Stew Baxter

I have an insatiable wanderlust for the extraordinary. Born with an adventurous spirit, I have spent over the past decade exploring the far reaches of our planet, seeking out the strange and mysterious.

darktourists.com/

A hazy outline of an airplane pointing north towards Paris. It is very real, however, visible via Google Earth and those committed enough to trek out into the desert to see it, the plane is a memorial to a flight that ended in tragedy.

On September 19, 1989, UTA Flight 772, traveling from Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo to Paris, exploded in the sky.

It had been in the air for just over 45 minutes when a suitcase bomb, placed in the hold by Libyan terrorists was detonated.

All 156 passengers and 14 crew members were killed.

The wreckage littered the sands of the desert in Niger. With the Ténéré region being hundreds of miles from the nearest town, the cleanup operation proved difficult.

While several tons of debris was transported away for the French-led investigation, remains of the plane (including engine parts, seats, and even people’s luggage) exist out in the desert to this day.

Some of which have been pieced together to form a memorial to those that were lost.

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The UTA Flight 772 Memorial

At the spot where the French plane hit the ground, the families of the victims have built a poignant memorial for their loved ones.

The light silhouette of the lifesize aircraft that can be seen from space, has been built inside a dark stone circle (depicting a compass) surrounded by 170 broken mirrors.

Each of the mirrors represents someone that died.

The right-wing of the DC10 aircraft (transported from its landing place 10 miles away), is placed at the northern end. It stands upright, pointing towards France, home to the highest number of victims and the intended destination of the plane.

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Where is the UTA Flight 772 Memorial?

• Coordinates on Google Earth: 16°51’53″N, 11°57’13″E

Visiting the crash site and Memorial

Getting to the UTA Flight 772 memorial is possibly one of the most difficult dark tourist destinations we have come across so far.

At the time the memorial was built (2007), the area was deemed too dangerous for western visitors, the Al Qaeda Islamic Maghreb were operating there.

Western members of the build team had received special permissions and were escorted by Niger soldiers.

It actually took 140 locals from the nearest city, Agadez, six weeks to build. They were from the three main tribes: Toubou, Tuareg, and Hausa.

Today the area is marginally safer in terms of conflict, (at the time of writing it is US State Department Level 3: “Reconsider Travel”); however the terrain remains just as inhospitable.

The Tenere is the most remote desert in the Sahara. It is an ocean of sand the size of Spain.

The site is a 3-day drive from Agadez (400 miles in total). Water and wells are in very short supply. If anything happens out there, you will want plenty of reserves plus a satellite phone.

The BBC covered the story of the victim’s families traveling to the site, and from the images taken you can see that Agadez Tours assisted with the transport. These guys would clearly be a good starting point if you planned on visiting the site overland.

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Seeing it by the air

The way most people get to see the memorial with their own eyes is from the skies.

The reason it is lifesize is so that passengers on passing planes (on similar routes to that of the original UTA 772) can look out of the window and think about the lives that were lost. Flying at 30,000 ft is not the best time to consider a fatal aircraft tragedy, however.

Featured Image: Les Familles de l’Attentat du DC-10 d’UTA

Visiting Deadly Lake Nyos [Dark Tourism in Africa]

January 24, 2020August 31, 2020

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A Tour to Pyramiden: Soviet Ghost Town in Svalbard

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Balaklava Submarine Base, Crimea’s Secret Soviet Sub Complex

March 13, 2020August 31, 2020

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Stew Baxter

I have an insatiable wanderlust for the extraordinary. Born with an adventurous spirit, I have spent over the past decade exploring the far reaches of our planet, seeking out the strange and mysterious.

darktourists.com/

Lake Nyos in North West Cameroon managed to kill over 1,700 people and 3,500 livestock in a single night. Not one of the victims drowned.

The communities of several nearby villages were decimated, with the furthest death occurring 15 miles away.

Stranger still, is that most of the victims died in their sleep. Asphyxiation was the cause of death, the lake was a CO2 ticking time-bomb.

The Lake Nyos Disaster

The Lake Nyos disaster occurred on 21 August 1986. It began with the buildup of carbon dioxide within the lake.

In a strange natural phenomenon, the lake’s position inside the crater of a dormant volcano means that gas rises from an underground magma chamber.

To compound the problem, Lake Nyos is unusually still. With little in the way of environmental disturbance, the CO2 gas built up over time and was caught at the bottom of the lake.

This created a highly pressurized layer of carbon dioxide. The depths of the lake became loaded with gas until more than 5 gallons of CO2 were dissolved in every gallon of water.

This, of course, is not sustainable. No one knows what triggered the explosion. It could have been a small landslide that released the gas, or even light rain at the edges of the lake.

The aftermath was catastrophic.

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A Limnic Eruption

Just after 9 p.m on that fateful day, the lake erupted. Here’s some science that will blow your mind. It certainly does mine.

Upon eruption, 100,000–300,000 tons (1.6 million tons, according to some sources) of carbon dioxide exploded out of the lake.

According to scientists, a 100 m (330 ft) column of water formed on the surface sending a 25 meter (82 ft) wave to crash along the shore on one side.

However, the gas cloud was a quiet killer. Rising at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph) it shot up into the air before slowly descending upon the surrounding landscape under its own weight, (CO2 is heavier than air).

People in the nearby villages didn’t stand a chance. The CO2 displaced all the breathable oxygen, suffocating everyone in its path.

(The very few that survived understood what was happening and managed to flee to higher ground in vehicles.)

The normally blue waters of the lake turned a deep red in the aftermath. The water level also dropped about a meter and nearby trees were knocked from their roots.

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Where is Lake Nyos

How to get to Lake Nyos

Even assuming you are already traveling within Cameroon, getting to Lake Nyos isn’t easy. The roads around this part of the country are very under-developed.

Getting to Nkambe from Bamenda shouldn’t cause you too many problems. In fact, from Bamenda, it is possible to organize a Lake Nyos trip with a tour operator.

That being said, the route from Nkambe is pretty much off-road. At times you will even end up driving along the river bed. Because of this, it is recommended that you only attempt the drive during the dry season (December to May).

The dangerous terrain of Lake Nyos and the fact the gas levels are under constant surveillance means that the area is a designated military zone.

Don’t let this put you off, however. It is simple enough to get permission to visit the lake at the nearby military post.

After visiting Lake Nyos you will be able to take a small, semblance of a road onto Fundong or Wum, where beautiful views and many waterfalls are said to line the route.

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Lake Nyos today

It has been over 40 years since the disaster and despite the fact scientists have installed measures to release the buildup of CO2, (the base of the lake now has 3 degassing tubes in place), the area still presents a very real danger.

The lake’s natural dam made from volcanic rock is weakening and could fail at any time. Landslides outside the dam wall are also causing problems. Added to that is the fact Seismic activity has increased in recent years.

Resettlement has taken place over the intervening years, however, the surrounding area remains under constant threat from the lake.

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Featured Image: Jack Lockwood [Public domain]

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The Ruins of Villa Epecuén, Argentina – A Resort Town Submerged

September 2, 2020September 2, 2020

Follow us on Instagram!

Stew Baxter

I have an insatiable wanderlust for the extraordinary. Born with an adventurous spirit, I have spent over the past decade exploring the far reaches of our planet, seeking out the strange and mysterious.

darktourists.com/