Gahtelai

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Gahtelai is the name of a river, a town as well as a plain in eastern Eritrea, in the Northern Red Sea administrative region with its capital in Massawa. The name originates in the old Tigrinya expression Gah - Telai which roughly means quick death. For travellers in the area, Gahtelai was one of the hottest and driest places they could ever pass through and as if the sweltering heat and dryness was not enough, the vast plain which is surrounded by hills exposed the travellers to attacks from various enemies and bandits. Today, thanks in large to aid from Israel and the Mashav Centre for International Cooperation, the desert valley of Gahtelai is an agricultural region using drip irrigation technology to harvest melons, tomatoes and various other vegetables and fruits.

There is a market town in the middle of the valley, on the road between Asmara and Massawa called Gahtelai, about 80 kms from Asmara and 35 Kms from the port of Massawa. In this town, there is another newly constructed asphalt-road (completed in 2005) that connects Gahtelai with the town of She'eb on the northern end of the valley about 50 Kms away.

Gahtelai is also the name of a seasonal river that starts as runoff from the eastern escarpments of the Eritrean highlands and snakes its way through the valley with the name until it empties out in the Red Sea just north of the city of Massawa.