Thanks for the ground-level report! What you're describing sounds like the situation perhaps a year or more before my visit--a gradual opening and relaxing of restrictions, but with many remaining. This will reward patience, and might not satisfy people operating within a limited time window.
Sometimes you luck out, as I think I did in touring just after the end of the Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Rwanda civil wars and the fall of apartheid. And sometimes you're just a bit ahead or behind the curve, ending up unable to do much about it without heinous risk. Lots of adventure in those sweet spots between!
I'm also greatly reassured to hear the the Eritrean people remain welcoming and that your travel there was rewarding despite the limits.
Mark
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