Sheikh

Sheikh sits at around fourteen hundred metres on the escarpment above Berbera, high enough that the temperature drops sharply from the coast an hour below, which is why the British administration put a school and a sanatorium here. The Sheikh Secondary School educated much of the region's political and professional class. The road up from Berbera climbs through a series of hairpins with long views back to the coast. The pass the road climbs is one of the few practical routes between the coast and the interior plateau.

What you actually see

• The escarpment road - the hairpin climb from the coast to the plateau.
• The altitude - fourteen hundred metres, cool when the coast is not.
• The old school - the institution that educated much of the region's elite.
• The coastal view - the long outlook back down toward Berbera.

When to go

October to April is the cooler season. The town is cool relative to the coast year round. Summer on the plain below is extreme.

Honest expectations

There is little in the town beyond the school and the setting. Facilities are basic. Travel needs local arrangement.

Nearby

Berbera is north, and Burao is south.