The Young Pioneer Podcast Season 2 continues with another from-the-field episode recorded during YPT’s recent Horn of Africa tour in Eritrea!
This two-segment episode of the Young Pioneer Podcast opens with an interview with YPT founder and CEO Gareth Johnson. Podcast host Justin Martell and Gareth discuss some exciting tours which YPT has announced for 2024, such as the Kaliningrad: Post Soviet Exclave Tour, Belarus: Back in the USSR Tour, the Myanmar Lighting Festival Tour and SOFEX.
Following Gareth’s interview, we continue with our multi-part interview series recorded in the field during our 2023 Horn of Africa Independence Combo Tour. Last episode, we heard our interview with our local tour partner in Somaliland, and from Somaliland the tour continued on to the State of Eritrea, which also happened to be celebrating its independence day on May 24.
Of the countries YPT visits in the Horn of Africa, Eritrea may be one of the most politically sensitive. Notoriously hard to visit and communicate with, some have called the “North Korea of Africa.” While YPT remains apolitical, we encourage travelers who visit destinations such as Eritrea to draw their own conclusions.
Much time could be spent discussing the ancient history of the Horn of Africa, which encompassed modern day Eritrea, but Eritrea as it exists today was created in the 19th century as an Italian colony with Asmara as its capital. After World War II, Ethiopia annexed Eritrea, and a long war for Eritrean independence ensued from 1961 to 1991. After the defeat of the communist Ethiopian government in 1991, a referendum took place in which its people voted for Eritrea to be an independent state. Eritrea officially celebrated its 1st anniversary of independence on May 24,1993, and it was during the 30th anniversary independence day celebrations that podcast host Justin Martell recorded this episode’s interview with our Eritrean tour guide Tomas.
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