Visit the Danakil Depression, Ethiopia

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Visit the Danakil Depression (Afar Depression, Erta Ale)

One of the best places I have ever been but also one of the toughest. From the salt flats of the Danakil to approaching Erta Ale with the brand new, razor sharp basalt rock to the climbing to the summit and peering inside a cauldron of boiling lava. It surely is nature at its very best. But also the Danakil Depression is the lowest point on the African continent at over 100mtrs below sea level and has officially the hottest average temperature in the world with an average temperature over a year of 34.9deg Celsius (94.8F, including night-time). Unless you want to pay much more on top of an already very expensive tour then you go without air conditioning. This though brings its own problems as the worst thing about the Afar Region is the wind, the Afar Fire it is called. The wind is roasting and so even when the sun goes down the wind still has you sweating!

Travelling for Fun, Danakil Depression, Visit Ethiopia: Colours and steam on a lakeVisit the Danakil Depression – The Afar Depression: If you go for 3days then you will go as far as Dallol but stay in Hamed Ale. Hamed Ale is 6hrs drive away from Mekele, 4hrs of which are off road. This is just a military outpost but it is where the ‘road’ stops. There are a few huts in a small village where the nomadic local salt miners live. Dallol, once you have passed the salt plain of Lake Asal, is utterly spectacular with bizarre colours and rock formations. There are bubbling hot springs, salt eggs, a lake venting smoke, tiny little pools of jagged sharp rocks beside little pools of mushroom shaped rocks. The minerals and colours are unique and change colour depending on light from the sun. I have seen springs in New Zealand and Bolivia and they are not a patch on this.

When in Hamed Ale and visiting Dallol you will see camel trains where locals go into the salt flats in the searing heat (can be up to almost 60deg (140F)) to mine salt and load them onto the camels. Once looking at this life you can never complain about your day job again. 2000years ago when the currency of the world was salt, the Afar people were one of the richest in the world, unfortunately for them times have moved on.

Visit the Danakil Depression – Erta Ale Volcano: If you take the longer 5 day tour then you will visit Dallol but the extra two days are visiting the spectacular Erta Ale near the Eritrean border. Once you leave Hamed Ale you are now truly ‘off-road’ as it is nothing but desert. The desert changes from sand to rocks back to sand. Almost nothing lives here but then out of nowhere you see a hut and a few people living 2hrs drive from the nearest neighbour. How they survive for food and especially water is a wonder. The journey to the foot of the volcano takes about 6hrs. For 4hours you probably average 20km/hr in the dust and scrub and when you are very close to the volcano you encounter the rock from its recent eruptions and you average about 5km/hr. Eventually you reach little huts at the base and you will see how sharp this new rock is up close but yet I also saw some Afar kids, from the huts we passed, running on the rocks after the jeep in their bare feet!!

Travelling for Fun, Danakil Depression, visit Ethiopia: Camel caravan being brought home laden with saltYou have something to eat at the foot of Erta Ale and wait for it to cool down and get dark. It gets dark alright but the cooling is debatable, there is never any rest from the heat. The 2.5hr trek up to the 615mtr summit is a steady uphill made tougher by the suffocating heat. Erta Ale is only one of 4 permanent lava lakes in the world and it is the oldest although there are other temporary ones. Once at the summit there is a big crater which you must descend to reach the smaller active crater. As you step across lava that probably was red hot a year or two ago (it last erupted in 2011) and cooled in layers like hard chocolate with all the ripples you can see the glow of the crater ahead of you. When you peer over and see the lava for the first time you are speechless. You definitely will be if you are downwind as the fumes are choking and toxic. The lava is only 15mtrs (50ft) below you and it constantly bubbling, exploding, getting black and hard as it cools and then being sucked back in to get melted again. I could have stood there for a day looking in I was so mesmerised but in the end 3hrs of looking into a hole had to do me. I felt like someone from the local county (city) council! Usually you sleep on the summit out in the open air with boiling lava in your dreams.

Visit the Danakil Depression – Need to know

Travelling for Fun, Danakil Depression, visit Ethiopia: Irte Ale volcano showing earths potential furyMake no mistake about it this is a very expensive trip. Partly down to the fact that 2 x 4 wheel drives must be brought. It may sound over the top but it is for safety. That is how harsh the environment is! You have a very low survival chance if you go to Erta Ale and your jeep breaks down in 40deg heat. As it happened, the axel broke on our jeep, so lucky we had a second one!

You must start the tour in Mekele and for the 5 day tour the deal we had costs €2500 ($3300) for the tour so that cost was split between as many as you could fit up to a max of 5. Obviously very expensive if only 2 of you but with some befriending of people and some luck (an Austrian in Mekele asked us about it as we were leaving the hotel to start the tour and came with us) it worked out at €500 each which is more reasonable. Credit cards are not usually accepted so either bring cash with you or prepare to spend a lot of time at a cash machine. We went with “Danakil Tour & Travel Agency” based in Mekele. Phone +251 (0)914702648.

I have done a decent amount of travelling but so far it is the best place I have visited between Dallol, the salt flats of Lake Asal and Erte Ale volcano it is well worth €1000 never mind €500.

Practicalities – About Ethiopia and visiting the Danakil Depression

€1 = 24Birr, $1 = 18.5Birr

Language = Amharic. English is widely spoken in tourist areas.

Flights – Can fly with Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines, Ethiopian Air, Emirates from outside the African continent

Internal flights are common and frequent with Ethiopian Airlines (http://www.ethiopianairlines.com) and are a reasonable price. Addis Ababa is the hub but journeys only cost approximately 2000Birr one way at a weeks notice. For example at one weeks notice it is possible to get Axum return for 3600Birr. This is a great way to get around if stuck for time. Ethiopian Airlines has an office in all the major cities. Luckily there are flights to Mekele.

Accommodation – 380Birr per night for a reasonable double room (Addis Ababa)

Population – 84.7million

Visas – You can recieve a visa on arrival for $20 and 2 x passport photos when you arrive if you are from the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea Republic, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States. If you are not then you need to apply in advance. Please check before going as the situation changes on http://www.ethiopianembassy.org/ConsularServices/ConsularService.php?Page=VisaRequirement.htm#1

Map of Ethiopia

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What to do in Ethiopia

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Addis Ababa - National Museum: 9.038393, 38.761729
Addis Ababa - St. Georges Cathedral: 9.037048, 38.751352
Addis Ababa - National Palace: 9.017541, 38.760973
Addis Ababa - Merkato (Open Market): 9.030731, 38.740515
Addis Ababa - Terra Bus Station: 9.027625, 38.742914
Bahir Dar: 11.600000, 37.383333
Gondar: 12.600000, 37.466667
Debark: 13.158150, 37.900291
Simien Mnts - Sanbakar Camp: 13.232399, 38.039007
Simien Mnts - Geech Camp: 13.268632, 38.108493
Simien Mnts - Chenek Camp: 13.254566, 38.206501
Mekele: 13.496140, 39.473530
Hamad Ale - Dallol: 14.241667, 40.300000
Erta Ale Volcano: 13.600000, 40.666667
Axum: 14.131780, 38.714081
Lalibela: 12.031140, 39.044731
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Addis Ababa - National Museum
National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Oromia, Ethiopia
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Addis Ababa - St. Georges Cathedral
Abune Petros Memorial, Addis Ababa, Oromia, Ethiopia
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Addis Ababa - National Palace
Ghion Hotel (Addis Ababa), Addis Ababa, Oromia, Ethiopia
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Addis Ababa - Merkato (Open Market)
Tekle Haimanot, Addis Ababa, Oromia, Ethiopia
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Addis Ababa - Terra Bus Station
Tekle Haimanot, Addis Ababa, Oromia, Ethiopia
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Bahir Dar
Bahir Dar, Amhara, Ethiopia
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Gondar
Gondar, Amhara, Ethiopia
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Debark
Debark, Amhara, Ethiopia
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Simien Mnts - Sanbakar Camp
Sankabar, Amhara, Ethiopia
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Simien Mnts - Geech Camp
Geech, North Gondar, Amhara, Ethiopia
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Simien Mnts - Chenek Camp
Chenek, North Gondar, Amhara, Ethiopia
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Mekele
Mekele, Tigray, Ethiopia
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Hamad Ale - Dallol
Dallol, Afar Zone 2, Afar, Ethiopia
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Erta Ale Volcano
Erta Ale, Afar Zone 2, Afar, Ethiopia
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Axum
Axum, Tigray, Ethiopia
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Lalibela
Lalibela, Amhara, Ethiopia

My Route in Ethiopia

Travel for fun, Addis Ababa, Visit Ethiopia: My route around Ethiopia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Gallery of visiting the Danakil Depression

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Ross Travellingforfun

About Ross Travellingforfun

I have ducked, dived, bungeed, burned, skydived, surfed, volunteered, volcanoed, crossed continents, conquered mountains, got robbed, got sick and got drunk and I hope this website will inspire you to do the same.