Sheikh: Somaliland’s Mountain Town Above the Clouds

Hairpin bends, green slopes and cool air after the heat of the coast. Sheikh is the reward at the top of one of the most beautiful roads in Somaliland.

PLACES · GOLIS MOUNTAINS

By the GO Somaliland editors · Published 25 October 2026 · 5 min read

The Berbera–Burao highway winding through the Golis Mountains to Sheikh. Photo: Abdifatah Y. Barwaaqo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Leave Berbera behind and the road runs flat and hot across the coastal plain. Then the mountains appear. The highway begins to climb, bend after bend, until the air turns fresh and the slopes turn green. At the top sits Sheikh, a small highland town that most travellers pass through on the way to somewhere else, and that rewards anyone who stops.

The road to Sheikh: one of Somaliland’s great drives

Sheikh lies on the paved highway between Berbera and Burao, about 71 km from Berbera. The climb into the Golis Mountains starts near Laaleys, around 46 km from Berbera, and a series of hairpin bends carries the road up to the Sheikh Pass at about 1,490 metres. It is often described as one of the most scenic routes in the country, and on a clear day the views back toward the coast are worth a stop at every bend.

Sheikh: a cool escape in the highlands

At around 1,430 metres, Sheikh enjoys a very different climate from the coast. The average annual temperature is about 19 °C, from roughly 14 °C in January to 22–23 °C in June. Compared with the summer heat of Berbera, it feels like another country.

Rain falls in two seasons, the Gu in April and May and the Dayr from August to October, which is when the hills are at their greenest. November to March is dry, clear and pleasant.

The town itself is simple and friendly, laid out on a grid, with a few hotels, pharmacies, shops and small eateries. It is a good place for tea, a meal and a walk before the road continues. Our guide to Somaliland food will help you order.

Fardowsa: the lost medieval town

Sheikh’s local nickname is Fardowsa, and it is also the name of the ruins nearby. Archaeologists believe the site was occupied from at least the late 14th century, grew in the 15th and declined in the early 16th. Excavations have found imported ceramics, glassware, glass bangles, an Arab coin and fragments of Chinese porcelain, proof that this mountain town was once linked to trade networks reaching across the Indian Ocean.

Its decline is linked to shifts in Indian Ocean trade, Portuguese activity in the Red Sea and regional wars. As early as 1882, the German explorer Josef Menges described ruins stretching for about a kilometre. The site is not a developed attraction, so go with a local guide.

The modern town has its own story: in the 19th century, a religious scholar, Sayyid Adan Ahmad, is credited with reviving Sheikh around a religious community, though historians disagree on the exact date.

The school that shaped a nation

Sheikh is famous across Somaliland for its secondary school. Founded in 1958, it educated several future leaders, including the former presidents Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal and Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo. The school was badly damaged in 1989, restored and reopened in 2003, and since 2019 has been run by the Pharo Foundation as Pharo Secondary School.

Planning your visit to Sheikh

Combine it with the coast. Sheikh is an easy addition to a trip to Berbera: beach in the morning, mountain air in the afternoon.
Travel by day. The mountain road is best enjoyed in daylight, both for safety and for the views. Arrange a car and driver through your hotel.
Bring a layer. Evenings in the highlands can be cool, especially from December to February.
Check the latest advice. Official travel advice differs between the Sahil region, where Sheikh is, and the Togdheer region around Burao beyond it, so check the UK government’s guidance before you go. Our guide Is Somaliland Safe? explains the details.

Still planning? Start with How to Get to Somaliland, and for another side of Somaliland’s history, visit the old port of Zeila. And for Somaliland’s wild side, read Saving Somaliland’s Cheetahs.

Sources

Sheikh, Somaliland, Wikipedia (accessed 25 October 2026), citing among others de Torres Rodríguez et al., Journal of African Archaeology (2024), I. M. Lewis, the Pharo Foundation and BBC.
Somalia travel advice, UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (updated 4 June 2026).

Last checked 25 October 2026. Found an error or something out of date? Tell us.