Is it safe to travel to Yemen?
Travel to Socotra (2024): All You Need to Know
Work only with experienced and trusted local fixers, guides and drivers
First off, having an experienced, trustworthy and well-connected local fixing team is essential for travel in Mainland Yemen. Full stop.
These are the people who will be responsible for your safety and security, accommodation, transport, permits, paperwork, and visa. They are your first line of defence in the country.
If things go to hell, these are the people you must rely on to help you and protect you– don’t expect a foreign government to send some rescue squad to bust you out of a tricky situation in Yemen.
And don’t count on your insurance and rescue companies– being in a country with a pretty strong travel warning negates most of your coverage and even if it doesn’t, you can expect significant delays. Remember, even if your policy is valid, insurance is about financial reimbursement, not actually rescuing you should something happen.
I don’t have anything but positive things to say about my fixing team in Yemen. Kais Al-Qalisi and Wagdi Alawdi are true professionals, and beyond that, they have treated me like family. I feel safe, engaged and well cared for. Kais is a pleasure to talk with, explore his country with and learn from. He’s worked in tourism, filmmaking and journalism for the past eighteen years, so his network and experience are unmatched.
Kais phones the local police and military generals three times daily to assess the security situation according to our travel itinerary and would make changes at the drop of a hat if he sensed anything was risky or wrong.
We mostly slept in private apartments, which ensure privacy and security away from hotels, and at times we had an additional team member for security in a separate lead car. After having also done a good amount of travelling in Afghanistan, I can say his actions were highly professional, well-planned, and secure. I also want to warn people about another agent named Abdulhameed from a company called Easy Yemen. I have met now four people who have travelled with his company and have extremely negative experiences. He is notorious for creating forged documents, getting people into trouble, lying, passing on clients to others who are untrustworthy, and hiring drivers who physically molest women. I have personally had to help two separate groups of his clients in Yemen get away from him and this is not a country you want to have these kinds of problems in. The reviews are all over the internet.