The Danikil Depression… what an experience. Salt flats, unworldly colorful landscapes, and hiking to the rim of a volcano is quite the adventure. We are jumping back to February 2020, before so many borders closed due to COVID and before Ethiopia’s civil war in the Tigray region began. This is in the remote Afar region that many countries advise their residents not to travel to due to safety. So I debated visiting, but my curiosity won out.
Leaving from the town of Mekele, it took many hours to reach the Danakil Depression. It is one of the lowest places on the planet, dropping to 116 meters below sea level. It’s a rough environment with temperatures frequently reaching 122º F (50º C). The local inhabitants still mine salt and transport it on camels and donkeys.
Our first destination was a saline pool that we could swim in. I was excited to check it out! But as we pulled up and I saw the tiny pool.. I was not impressed. However, after walking up to it and taking in the unexpected depth of the water, I decided to give it a shot. There was no where to change privately into a swim suite. So I just had to change in the Jeep and hope not too many eyes noticed me. Then into the pool I joined the group. The water was lovely, and so salty that you just floated with no effort. It felt like a warm jacuzzi in space.
Then we hopped back into, or for many of us on top of, our Jeeps to ride slowly down the road to a huge, white, reflective salt flat. Cruising along on top of a Jeep, to the sound of Ethiopian music, and the ever-stretching flat salty landscapes all around us was a surreal experience. As we drove, our driver at one point opens his door and climbs half way out to chat with us as the Jeep rolled on. Had there been anything at all possible to hit, this would have been quite alarming!
The Jeeps stopped and we all jumped out to take pictures! The photography session was followed by a little Ethiopian wine and Ethiopian dancing under the moonlit, star filled sky. That night we slept on cots set up under the stars next to the Jeeps.
The next day we had breakfast at 5 am and headed onward to reach Dallol. Dallol’s landscape consists of out of this world colorful formations. Steam rises from the ground in areas surrounded by fluorescent green pools and piles of green, yellow, and orange rock.
Our next stop was a completely different scene. We sent for a walk among tall, rugged, red and beige rock formations.
We also stopped at a lake that was bubbling from gasses below. The water was warm but not boiling as you would expect from the bubbling present.
Most of the afternoon and early evening were spent driving to the Erta Ale Volcano. Luckily I was in the best Jeep. Our enthusiastic driver (who loved romantic ballads) danced while navigating and the 4 of us passengers in the car joined in the dancing!
It was already dark when we reached the base of the volcano. After dinner and packing up of what we would need for a night camping out, we started the trek. Erta Ale really didn’t look at all like a volcano to me from our starting point. And it only took about 1 1/2 hours to reach the top. Then in the dark night, we were led down some carved out steps into the outer rim of the volcano. Trying not to stumble over the uneven lava rock, we followed our guide into the unknown. And right up to the cracked edge of the inner smoking crater we walked. Peering over the edge, we could spot a few balls of glowing orange lava way below. This volcano recently had much more lava and made for some amazing pics (you can find many on Instagram) but the lava had decreased and moved to another underground section not long before I visited. It was still an unsettling experience to look into and stand so close to the crater. That night we slept on pads a few minutes walk beyond the outer crater under the stars.
Early the next morning we hiked back into the outer crater to see the volcano and sunrise. Once the sun was up and we had taken many photos, we left Erta Ale behind and hiked back down to the jeeps before the day’s intense heat found us.
Our final stop in the Danakil was a large salty lake that we basked in. A hot fresh water spring was right next to it to rinse off the saltwater for our journey back to Mekele. We left feeling rejuvenated!
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