Danakil-depression
Danakil Depression expedition
Ethiopia - The Danakil Depression - Erta Ale Volcano - Camel salt caravans - Afar People
Join me as I lead a small expedition style trip into the heart of what
National Geographic described as the cruelest place on Earth to live.
Why would I or for that matter any sane person want to travel into this
hellishly hot desert?
For me this is an opportunity to visit and experience the lifestyle of
a thousand year old culture that will soon vanish and be gone forever.
If there is one lesson we all should have learned from history, it is
that progress (whether good or bad) can be slowed, but never stopped.
For a thousand years salt caravans have carried this essential mineral
from the Danakil Depression across all of Ethiopia. With the opening
of a new and massive potash mine, comes a 500 kilometer paved road.
Mile by mile as the road is rapidly constructed across this
inhospitable desert region, cargo trucks ply the newly finished
highway. The trucks replace the caravans. Inch by inch the trucks are
gaining access to the very heart of the Danakil salt mining region.
The Danakil depression is one of the lowest places on earth, at 115
meters below sea level. The region known as the Afar Triangle is an
area characterised by highly active volcanos and geothermal
formations. The constant volcanic activity has formed a unique and
strange landscape.
Trip Itinerary
Day 0: November 18:
This is probably your arrival day in Addis Ababa (ADD). Our tour
start is tomorrow morning early. So if possible we’ll meet for
dinner and all stay at the same hotel tonight, just to make sure we
don’t miss each other. Day #1 November 19:
We meet early and depart by plane from Addis Ababa to Mekele. We
expect to arrrive in Mekele in time for a 9:00 a.m. start out of
Mekele. From there we drive on the new road to the small village
of Hamedela via Berhale. The Danakil Depression can be said to ‘begin’
here. We will pass the small town of Berhale where the
camel caravans stop before they proceed to the northern highlands. En
route we hopt to see lots of salt caravans going to the salt mines or
coming out of the Danakil. (expected drive time is 3-4 hrs.) Camp
tonight at Hamedela, population about 500. Day #2 November 20:
Hamadela – Dodom
We start early from Hamadela and drive to Dodom at the base of Erta
Ale. This road is really bad and the 80 km distance may take 6
hrs, passing through changing landscape of solidified lava, rock, sand
and the occasional palm lined oasis. We will pass several small
villages before reaching Dodom, a really tiny village. We plan
for an early dinner and then in the late afternoon cooling air, hike
from Dodom up to the top of Erta Ale which takes about 3 hrs. Our
local guide has told me we might expect to arrive around 8:00 PM.
We will be hiking in the dusk and darkening evening because of the
heat, even in November. Our headlamps will help us pick our
footing. Camels transport all the camping gear and some food,
sleeping materials, mattresses and water to the rim of the
volcano. This is where we spend the night watching the dramatic
light show of the boiling lava. Erta Ale is a shield volcano with a
base diameter of 30 km and 1km square caldera at its summit. Erta Ale
contains the world’s only permanent lava lake and we will spend an
unforgettable night on the top of this active volcano.
Day #4 November 22: Hamadela to Lake Assal Following breakfast we drive to a place known as Ragad or (Asebo). This is one place where the salt is mined. We will take time to observe the hand breaking of the salt from the ground. Watch the workers cutting uniform rectangular pieces and finally loading onto camels. We leave the salt workers and drive to the Dallol crater. This is
the possibly the strangest and most unique landscape you may ever
see. At 116 meters below sea level certainly it will be one of
the lowest places you ever visit. Here are colorful salts,
chlorides, sulfurs and other chemical deposits. Then we visit
Lake Assal and maybe have a swim in some very salty water. We’ll
end the day following along with some camel caravan and walk with the
Afar people.
Camp tonight will be wherever we find ourselves at the end of the day.
Day #3 November 21:
Dodom - Hamadela
Early morning before the rising sun has heated the rock we rise with
the sun and take time to walk around the pits and craters. We head down
around 7:00 to head back to Dodom for breakfast. We plan to reach Dodom
around 10:00 and after some time to relax before we drive back to
Hamadela where we will stay the night again.
Day #5 November 23:
Lake Assal to Simien Mountains
Today we set off into the mountains for a day of exploring and perhaps
spotting some wildlife. Our itinerary is wide open and will allow
us to stop and visit villages and interesting sites along our
drive. The destination or goal if we really have one is the Shire
Wildlife Reserve. But that is a somewhat vague and not definite
goal. Camp tonight we hope will be at some small mountain village. Day #6 November 24:
Today we continue our freestyle exploration in the Simien
Mountains. We’ll set up our travel day so that we can arrive back
in Mekele tomorrow without any difficulty. Again tonight we plan
to stay at a small village we might find along the way. Day #7 November 25:
We leave the Simien Mountains and make our way back to Mekele where we will stay overnight. Day #8 November 26:
We catch the morning flight back to Addis Ababa. This ends the
official trip. From here we each make our own flight arrangements
home.
Extra days in Addis Ababa: Because of the somewhat rough terrain
and the possibility of us getting stuck and returning to Addis Ababa a
day later than planned, we suggest each member either purchase easily
changed air tickets home or plan to stay at least one extra night in
Addis Ababa.
What is a Baja Jones expeditionary trip?
Simply put this is
a group travel trip that goes to some place where conditions exist that
make this trip impossible to make a set itinerary and be assured
the trip will follow that itinerary.
You should expect rougher than normal
situations both in the environment and in the accommodations. The
expeditions travel to remote locations where tourist infrastructure is
not fully developed. The road and transportation may not meet
normal expectations.
The environment will frequently be
hostile. The could be either cold or wet or hot or windy.
The terrain will likely be rugged. It might be barren or mountainous,
or a blistering desert. The terrain might be subject to floods or
rock slides.
There might be dense jungle or underbrush with
few well traveled trails. There might be no paved roads.
If you are now wondering why anyone would want
to travel to some place with conditions like this, you might want to
consider one of our guided adventure tours.
We expect the participants on our
expeditionary trips to be easy going and mentally prepared to deal with
unexpected and sometimes disappointing occurences. This is always
the best way for one of these trips to end successfully. No
whiners allowed.