Articles
DANAKIL DEPRESSION & ERTA ALE
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LEISURELY/ MODERATE |
ITINERARIES
Blessed Ethiopia tour will be pleased to prepare customized itineraries and price quotes according to our clients’ requirements. We suggest and design tour programs for every client.
FLEXIBILITY
We are very flexible every client’s suggestions to ensure our clients enjoy a perfect holiday. Our purpose and principle is to work with each client, family and group individually. We encourage our clients to discuss their expectations.
» TOUR PROGRAMS – ITINERARIES
Blessed Ethiopia tour will be pleased to prepare customized itineraries and price quotes according to our clients’ requirements. We suggest and design tour programs for every client. All itineraries have been personally researched by our executive tour operators in Addis Ababa.
» VEHICLES & EQUIPMENT
Our priority is to ensure our clients a 100% safe and comfortable trip. This is why we continually invest in flotillas of Toyota mini buses, Toyota Coaster Buses and 4WD Toyota Land Cruisers which are equipped with Microphone, seat belts and comprehensive insurance and maintained in a daily basis. Our experienced drivers know the Ethiopian roads pretty well and drive with strict safety measures.
Blessed Ethiopia tours are spent traveling between sites, villages and cities, we have top of the line vehicles and care about the comfort of every visitor. On those off-road journeys, Blessed Ethiopia Tour provides clients with quality, functional camping gear including tents, sleeping bags and mattresses for adventure tours to the Simien and Bale Mountains or camping tours in the South Omo Valley and Danakil Depression.
Blessed Ethiopia tours are spent traveling between sites, villages and cities, we have top of the line vehicles and care about the comfort of every visitor. On those off-road journeys, Blessed Ethiopia Tour provides clients with quality, functional camping gear including tents, sleeping bags and mattresses for adventure tours to the Simien and Bale Mountains or camping tours in the South Omo Valley and Danakil Depression.
» FLEXIBILITY
We are very flexibleio every client’s suggestions to ensure our clients enjoy a perfect holiday. Our purpose and principle is to work with each client, family and group individually. We encourage our clients to discuss their expectations, interest, budget etc., to be able to arrange a custom made tour just for you.
» PAST CLIENTS
The best and most reliable source of information is someone who has first-hand experience on something. Even better than a guidebook, our past clients are a great and reliable source of information. Most of them have stayed in constant touch with us even after going back home and are willing to have their contacts given out to potential clients.
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TRIP OVERVIEW
The landscapes in the Danakil depression are just impressive. This tour leads you to see the sunrise on the geysers, and the sunset on the salted lake Assale, and to trek under the stars to the top of Erta Ale volcano, waiting for the sunrise near the crater. ... Sunset at dallol plus overnight camping under the stars!, In the North we explore the countries famous historic sites.
ITINERARY
DAY 1 MEKELLE TO AHMED ELA
You start the journey to Ahamed Ela early in the morning. The drive is truly scenic as you pass through the western escarpment of the Great Rift Valley. Your final destination for the day is a military camp in the desert hamlet of Ahmed Ela where a frontier adventure awaits you. Being a truly remote part of the country, you will experience the authentic lifestyle of a camel caravan driver.
This is no glamorous life and those who venture out here must be prepared to give up all semblances of comfort for unbearably hot and harsh conditions, basic sleeping arrangements in Afar-style huts without proper toilet and shower facilities and in the company of the ever-present flies. Due to the legendary high temperatures, many opt to drag their wood-frame cots outdoors and sleep under the stars in the hopes of catching a passing midnight breeze.
There are no other options than this unfortunately. The region is in the hands of the Afar people who so far have not allowed in outside investors and influence. Therefore, tour operators cannot create suitable accommodation options here. If you are up for the challenge, we do think that this is an amazing experience worth moving out of your comfort zone. For those of you who need an incentive; Day 4 promises lodgings in cool rooms with clean sheets and a nice shower!
DAY 2: DALOL VOLCANO AND SEE THE SALT FLATS OF LAKE ASALE
Today your journey sets off to one of the most spectacular geographical features in Africa: The Danakil Depression. Situated in the triple junction of three tectonic plates this area is one of the hottest, driest and lowest (125m below sea level) places on earth. At noon temperatures can rise to 50°C. In this unforgiving landscape, you will have the opportunity to see some of the most fascinating features of the Danakil.
To begin we will travel along the expansive salt flats formed tens of thousands of years ago by the evaporating of an inland sea.
These drylands provide an incredible panoramic view where you may be able to spot salt miners extracting salt slabs from the immense basin, or meandering camel caravans traveling the age-old salt route to the markets in Mekele, laden with blocks of raw salt on their backs. You will have the opportunity to interact with the miners and caravan merchants.
You will also visit other geological phenomena like the multi-colored hydrothermal fields, steam emitting fumaroles and tall salt domes located in the vicinity of the Dallol. This hauntingly dramatic landscape was once described by the British desert explorer Wilfred Thesiger as “a land of death”.
Toward the end of the day you return to camp for dinner made by your camp cook and another night under the stars.
DAY 3: NIGHT TREK TO MOUNT ERTA ALE
After breakfast, you will depart for one of the main attractions in the Danakil depression: Mount Erta Ale. This is truly an excursion for the diehard adventurer. The name Erta Ale means “Smoking Mountain” in the local Afar language, and it is an apt name for the most active volcano in Ethiopia. The 613-meter-tall flaming mountain is known for holding one of only six lava lakes in the world. At night you might see the bubbling cauldron of lava breaching the rim of the crater in a spectacular display of fiery lights against the night sky.
On your drive to the volcano you will stop for lunch in the settlement called Kusqowat before continuing to the base of Erta Ale and the trailhead to the crater. The trail is roughly 12 kilometers and will take four hours to complete. It is necessary to be quite physically fit for this trek. (If you worry about your fitness level it is possible to arrange for a camel to transport you up to the top, for an extra fee). Because of the blistering heat during the day, the hike starts at 4 PM and some of the trail is navigated in the dark. Once at the rim you will be able to observe the volcano and the impressive lava lake at a close distance. Don’t forget to bring your camera!
To make this trip even more adventurous you will camp on the rim of Mount Erta Ale! The crew accompanying you up the volcano will transport everything you need for your overnight stay, including food, water, camping equipment and your luggage. The campsite is very rough and basic. While cooler at this elevation than in the Ahmed Ela camp you are still battling with the dust, dirt and poor facilities. You will sleep in simple Afar-style huts on rolled out mats on the ground. You will be giving up all comfort tonight, but on the plus side – spending a night at the rim of an active volcano is an adventure you will not soon forget.
NOTE: Erta Ale is an active volcano and as such, it is continuously changing. While Erta Ale is known for being one of the few volcanos in the world that has an almost persistent lava lake, the levels of the lava lake’s surface are constantly rising and falling. This, along with periodic volcanic gasses being emitted from the crater, can make observation difficult on certain days. It is therefore never guaranteed that you will see the bubbling lava in the crater on any given day.
Even if the views are not as spectacular as you had hoped on the day that you explore Erta Ale, you may still enjoy the challenge of the night-time hike to the summit and the unique experience of spending the night on the rim of an active volcano.
DAY 4: TO MEKELE
Today you will rise at dawn and together with your personal camel caravan begin your 4-hour descent back to base camp where your vehicle and a well-deserved brunch will be waiting for you. After brunch you will be able to rest your legs during the scenic 3-hour drive to Mekele.
Tonight, you will stay at a comfortable hotel in Mekele and enjoy dinner at a local restaurant.
DAY 5: RETURN TO ADDIS ABABA
After an early breakfast you will be picked up at your hotel and taken to the airport for your domestic flight back to Addis Ababa.
From Addis Ababa you can connect with your international flight back home. Depending on the time of your international flight you may have some time to explore the capital if you were unable to do so on your first day (at own expense). If you wish we can help arrange for a day room so that you can store your luggage and use shower facilities before your international flight.
DAY 1: Mekelle to Ahmed Ela
You start the journey to Ahamed Ela early in the morning. The drive is truly scenic as you pass through the western escarpment of the Great Rift Valley. Your final destination for the day is a military camp in the desert hamlet of Ahmed Ela where a frontier adventure awaits you. Being a truly remote part of the country, you will experience the authentic lifestyle of a camel caravan driver.
This is no glamorous life and those who venture out here must be prepared to give up all semblances of comfort for unbearably hot and harsh conditions, basic sleeping arrangements in Afar-style huts without proper toilet and shower facilities and in the company of the ever-present flies. Due to the legendary high temperatures, many opt to drag their wood-frame cots outdoors and sleep under the stars in the hopes of catching a passing midnight breeze.
There are no other options than this unfortunately. The region is in the hands of the Afar people who so far have not allowed in outside investors and influence. Therefore, tour operators cannot create suitable accommodation options here. If you are up for the challenge, we do think that this is an amazing experience worth moving out of your comfort zone. For those of you who need an incentive; Day 4 promises lodgings in cool rooms with clean sheets and a nice shower!
DAY 2: Dalol volcano and see the salt flats of Lake Asale
DAY 3: Gonder to Debark
DAY 4: Bahrdar to Gonder
DAY 5: Return to Addis Ababa
