Danakil Depression adventure
From
- Overview
- Itinerary
- Esential info
- Packing list
Intermediate
Activity
Transfers
3 Nights
4 - 12
Group size
Leaders
Highlights
- Camp on Erta Arle volcano by its lava lake
- See the salt camel caravans
- Experience the colourful moonscape of Dallol
- Meet the Afar people
The add-on adventure allows you to venture out into the surreal landscapes of the Danakil Depression in the northern part of the Afar region. One of the hottest, lowest (116m below sea level) and strangest places on earth.
Camping on a volcano, swimming in salt lakes, spotting wild emus running in the distance, conversing with tribesmen, walking past natural sulphur formations of bubbling, smoking green and yellow pools with an abandoned rusting Italian sulfurworks in the distance - this is adventure travel!
The semi-nomadic Afar tribe, who reside in the northeastern deserts of Ethiopia on the Eritrean border, were for centuries feared for their ferocious nature and warlike culture. Many of them still work mining salt from this unforgiving environment.
Drive across these salt flats as part of our 4X4 camping expedition past the long camel trains of literally hundreds of camels marching out in single file into nowhere. Moving through the salty shallows, they create small ripples of golden sunlight as the glare of the sun encircles their dark moving silhouettes. It is as if they are marching back into time itself, ...
Day 8: Erta Arle volcano
Transfer
Breakfast
Packed Lunch
Dinner
Camping
Morning drive from Mekelle to Erta Ale volcano (which means 'smoky mountain' in Afar language), one of the most alluring and challenging natural attractions anywhere in Ethiopia. It 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, which is 613 meters in diameter and has been present since the early years of the twentieth century.
You will arrive around 17:00 on the afternoon and after a coffee will walk 30 min to the rim of the volcano, where we spend the night watching the dramatic action of the boiling lava. You will spend the night on top of the mountain camping in tents, close by the rim of the Volcano. Dinner will be served around 20:00.
Overnight in volcano camp
Day 9: Erta Arle volcano to Hamedela
Transfer
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Camping
Experience the early morning sunrise in this strange land, exploring the various different craters of the volcano. Descend to your vehicle walking about 30 min after breakfast, then drive to reach the mythical Lake Giulietti (or Lake Afrera), a salt water lake located more than 100 meters below sea level, in one of the deepest depressions of the planet. Because of the picturesque landscape, it is interesting to visit the salt flats where the Afar people obtain the salt by evaporating the water of the lake and proceed Hamed Ela.
This region is referred to as 'the cradle of the humanoids' after the famous ‘Lucy’ Australopithecus fossil was discovered here in 1974, dated to be 3.2 million years old.
Overnight camping
Day 10: Danakil Depression to Mekelle then Addis Ababa
Flights
Transfer
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Boutique Hotel
Morning tour Drive to Ragad (Asebo), the place where the localities are mining salt. Look the activity of workers breaking salts from the ground, cutting in to rectangular pieces and loading on the famous long camel caravans. You drive ahead to Dallol and visit the moonlike landscape formed by volcanic activity in its lurid, florescent colours where salt mining also takes place. Visit Lake Assal and follow the camel caravans (please note that NO camel caravans are likely to be active during July, August and early September), walking and talking with the Afar people.
Drive back to Hamedela and proceed back to Mekelle to take afternoon flight back to Addis Ababa for a final dinner in the city.
Overnight in Bonanza Hotel in Addis Ababa
Day 11: Departure from Addis
Transfer
Breakfast
After a truly memorable adventure it is time to return home, and perhaps plan a return trip to explore the completely contrasting southern Bale Mountains of Ethiopia!
Adventure Optional Extras
Plant an additional 15 trees for your adventure
Carbon Compensation is not the perfect solution, and it is important to first reduce our carbon emissions as much as we can, yet trees remain an excellent natural technology to sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to slow global warming.
For every client and guide who attends a YellowWood Adventure, we donate £30 to our partner charity WeForest to plant 15 trees to (over) compensate for the carbon footprint of the tour.
We also invite our clients to match this with an optional additional £30 for another 15 trees to be planted to help compensate for the carbon footprint of their international flights.
WeForest run many tree planting and tree maintenance projects such as this seedling nursery in the Amhara region of Ethiopia, the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil and many other projects in other countries including Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania & India.
Click Here to find out more about their amazing projects around the world.
Contents
Please see main adventure info HERE.
If you have any further questions please don't hesitate to Contact Us.
Please see main adventure packing list HERE.
If you have any further questions please don't hesitate to Contact Us.
Compulsory
Price:
From
Add-Ons are an optional way of customising & extending your adventure, and making those travel miles more worthwhile. They can not be purchased separately. To select an Add-On, please visit the relevant adventure and add it to your enquiry or booking. The adventures which offer this particular Add-On can be found below:
This trip supports
Need a little help?
All adventures can be tailored as private bespoke trips.
Please contact us for more information:
+44 207 846 0197
As seen on
Related Adventures
Booking Process
Select dates: Choose the dates for your adventure and consider adding any extra adventures or add-ons to enhance your experience.
Check the box to agree to our Terms & Conditions.
Make Booking: Click on "Make Booking." If you're booking more than 56 days before your adventure, you'll be redirected to secure WorldPay to make your deposit. If it's 56 days or less before your adventure, you'll need to make full payment. Rest assured, your money is held securely by the Travel Trust Association.
Your booking will show as 'pending' in your YellowWood online account.
Confirmation: We'll be in touch as soon as possible to confirm your booking or discuss any availability limitations. Please refrain from booking transport or flights until we've emailed you to confirm your booking. (Note: Receipt of your booking form is not confirmation.)
Making payment: Once your booking is confirmed, we'll change the status of your final invoice from 'Pending Approval' to 'Outstanding,' indicating that it's ready for payment online.
You will receive a reminder email for your final payment 56 days before the departure date.
Feel free to contact us with any questions about your adventure or booking, we're here to help!
Grading
To help you choose the right adventure for you, we have given each itinerary a grading that relates to the level of Walking / Trekking you will experience during the trip. This grading can be found on the Yellow map on the adventure page of the website.
All of our trips involve a level of general activity so are designed for people who are in good health, enjoy the outdoors, and have a taste for adventure and some level of fitness. As will be clear from our destinations, the climate (and altitude) may be different to that which you are used to, so please take this into consideration when choosing the most suitable holiday.
Please read our Adventure Itinerary & Essential Information for more information and don't hesitate to contact us if you would like to chat through whether you have found a suitable adventure for you.
Grade 1-3: Entry Level
You need to be in good physical health to enjoy your active holiday, but you don’t need to be an experienced hiker. These itineraries offer a mix of sightseeing and easier walking for around 2-4hrs a day, with the emphasis on sights and cultural experiences.
Walks will be well marked or on defined pathways, and often around sites of interest. The expected amount of descent/ascent will depend on the landscapes of the destination, but will not exceed 400m/day, and will often be much less. Walks are at low altitude (below 3000m).
You will not be required to carry more than a day sack with water and essentials. Ensure you are aware of the weather conditions likely in the destination you are visiting and have a pair of comfortable and worn in walking shoes/boots.
Grades 4-6: Intermediate
You need to have a good level of fitness and be a regular walker for these adventures, with ideally some trekking experience. You can expect to be walking for 3-6 hours per day, not including rest stops, normally on good trail paths but with some uneven surfaces at times.
You will not be required to carry more than a day sack. You may be walking in more challenging temperatures. You will generally be walking at low altitude (below 3000m) but may walk at altitudes up to 4000m. The amount of ascent could be up to 800m in a day but will frequently be less. You may walk on consecutive days.
Ensure you are aware of the weather conditions likely in the destination you are visiting and have suitable clothing for this adventure.
Grades 7-9: Challenging
You need to have a good level of fitness with previous experience of trekking. Extra training before your trip will ensure that you get the most out of your adventure. Areas will be remote and terrain uneven.
Expect to walk for 5 – 8 hours a day, not including breaks, with some very steep ascents and descents. You will be walking at altitude (over 3000m but not higher than 5000m).
Ensure you are aware of the weather conditions likely in the destination you are visiting and have suitable equipment/clothing for this adventure (see the packing list for your adventure).
Please check individual itineraries for details of what you will need to be carrying with you.
Get in touch
CLICK HERE to schedule a call online with YellowWood Founder Sam McManus.
Or call us directly 24/7 on: