Days, I dive by the wreck. Nights, I swim in the blue lagoon.

February 19, 2009 9:18 PM

Socotra. Djerba. Ascension. Recommend other remote, Africa-proximate getaways, please.

So, I'm going on a DXpedition for a week with my shortwave radio sometime this year in order to collect field recordings of Middle Eastern and African signals. Hence, I want to find a remote, electrically quiet, sparsely populated place to raise my antenna.

I have absolutely no interest in touristy places like Ibiza, Sicily, or Malta. Any place that has a remotely metropolitan feel is completely off the list. I want a shoreline view with the bare minimum amenities, no power grids or endless streams of tourists, and - most importantly - the ability to do my radio for days on end with a minimal likelihood of being suspected of espionage.

My "wish list" is above the jump, but I'd like your thoughts and additions. Locations must be proximate to the Middle East and Africa - I have no interest in South American stations and the like, so (for example) the much-vaunted Easter Island is out of the running.

I'm flexible on dates - I know monsoon season starts on Socotra in May, for example. And I'm willing to jump through some administrative hoops, such as the Entry Permit process for Ascension. Ah, yes, and I'm traveling alone.

posted by mykescipark to travel & transportation (5 comments total)

Seychelles is the first thing to come to mind.
posted by thylacine at 9:57 PM on February 19

Tristan da Cunha

St. Helena

Some of the smaller Cape Verdes?

Maybe Reunion? Mayotte?

Also, they do not have to be islands, just shoreline views, right? Laayoun or Sidi ifni is away from the tourist spots, perhaps somewhere on the Mauretanian coast, or where I always wanted to go somewhere on the skeleton coast of Namibia.


But minimal likelihood of being suspected of espionage and having a bunch of radio equipment in the back of the tourist beyond seem to be mutually exclusive, no? And Ascension is a place where you need a reason to go there. No permanent inhabitants, just technicians doing whatever they do.
posted by xetere at 2:58 PM on February 20

xetere, tourists are welcome at Ascension (PDF). Document clearly notes visits "for tourism or recreational activities (e.g. holiday, sightseeing, sportfishing, to visit relatives or friends etc)." Also cf., Wikipedia.
posted by mykescipark at 8:06 PM on February 20

That is interesting to know mykescipark. I've actually had a hankering to go there just because.

I still think, however, that it might be difficult, albiet not impossible, to go to a place meeting your requirements and NOT be suspected of something nefarious. I admit however, that I am ignorant about DX and amateur radio communities. Perhaps a local enthusiast could smooth things. At any rate, hope you post a follow up or a link on the blue. This sounds fascinating.
posted by xetere at 2:10 PM on February 21

I found an interesting workaround to the espionage question by getting sponsorship from a radio colleague at a shortwave broadcaster in Cyprus - which is a far more populated area than I had hoped for, but it has the benefit of keeping me out of certain kinds of trouble. Guess I'll save Socotra and the Seychelles for a different sort of vacation...

(And I might post something to Projex eventually, we'll see.)
posted by mykescipark at 11:23 PM on February 24