8 DAYS DANAKIL DEPRESSION: AFDERA, ERTA ALE & DALLOL

DAY 01 : Arrival of Addis Ababa and City Tour.

Upon arrival at Bole International Airport you will be met by a RUBA Tours representative and be taken to your reserved hotel. Depending on your arrival time, we have various sightseeing options:

• Mount Entoto with the best views over the capital.
• Institute of Ethiopian Studies, where you can see a variety of artifacts from all the different regions reflecting the history and culture of the country
• National Museum which among other exhibits the 3.5-million-year-old bones of Lucy.
• Saint -George Cathedral, where paintings by the famous Ethiopian artist Afework Tekele and other ecclesiastical wealth and cultural heritage of the past are displayed.
• Trinity Cathedral: this is the burial place of members of the imperial family and noted patriots; the cathedral is the most magnificent of its kind in the country, ornamented with carvings, mosaics and other artistic works.
• The Mercato, the largest open-air market in Africa
• Unity Park, located within the National Palace of Ethiopia , embodies generational legacy of Ethiopia And Ethiopians.Prime minster Dr Abiy has announced that The park will be open to the public as of October 11, following the October 10th launchThe National Palace was Built under Emperor Menelik II over a century ago, the Palace rests on 40,000Sqm of land. For generations, it has been viewed as the epicenter of political power, where the most powerful family in the land resides. The renovated compound incorporates several sights of interest to visitors, including an arena, a playground, a zoo,three churches,House of Royals and an imperial banquet hall.
• 

DAY 02 : Drive to Awash

In the morning we begin driving towards Awash National Park.  It  is a national park in Ethiopia. Located at the border of Oromia state and Afar state, the park covers an area of 827 square kilometers, most of it lies at an altitude of 900 meters. Spanning across the southern tip of the Afar Region and the northeastern corner of the East Shewa Zone of Oromia, this park is 225 kilometers east of Addis Ababa (and a few kilometers west of Awash and east of Metehara). The park is best known for its rich biodiversity and rural landscapes.

Night and Dinner at Gennet Hotel

DAY 03 : Drive to Semera.

We will have an early start to drive to Semara (Afar: Samara; Amharic: ሰመራ)  the capital of Afar Region, Ethiopia. It is a town on the Awash–Assab highway in north-east Ethiopia, having been planned and built to replace Asaita. Located in Administrative Zone 1, Semara has a latitude and longitude of 11°47′32″N 41°0′31″ECoordinates: 11°47′32″N 41°0′31″E. One of the completed buildings is Semera University, which began holding classes in 2007.

The 2006 Lonely Planet guide to Ethiopia had this description of Semera:

With its quirky mix of barracks, modern apartment blocks, and soulless administrative buildings, it looks like a microscopic version of Brasilia emerging incongruously in the middle of the desert – except that it’s a completely botched attempt at creating a new town.

The 2009 Lonely Planet guide omitted the final phrase following the dash. The 2002 edition of Ethiopia: the Bradt travel guide described Semara as consisting of “one active filling station (complete with fridge) and a cluster of modern offices and tall apartment blocks in various states of construction – all in mad isolation from any existing settlement!”^[4]

The area is served by Semara Airport, which has scheduled service to Addis Ababa.

Night and Dinner at DINI Hotel .

DAY 04 : Drive to Erta Ale via Afdera

Erta Ale (or Ertale or Irta’ale; Amharic: ኤርታሌ) is a continuously active basaltic shield volcano in the Afar Region of northeastern Ethiopia. It is situated in the Afar Depression, a barren desert area. Erta Ale is the most active volcano in Ethiopia.

Geology

Erta Ale is 613 metres (2,011 ft) high, with one or sometimes two active lava lakes at the summit which occasionally overflow on the south side of the volcano.^[1] It is notable for holding the longest-existing lava lake, present since the early years of the twentieth century (1906). Volcanoes with lava lakes are very rare: there are only eight in the world.^[4]

Erta Ale means “smoking mountain” in the local Afar language and its southernmost pit is known locally as “the gateway to Hell”. In 2009, it was mapped by a team from the BBC using three-dimensional laser techniques,^[5] in order for the mapping team to maintain a distance and avoid the lakes’ searingly hot temperatures.

Erta Ale is centered over the East African Rift system, which is a triple junction setting whose movements are resulting in the formation of a pull-apart basin or rift. The volcano comprises mainly mafic material which has been brought up to the surface caused by unroofing of the mantle due to this rift formation.^{[citation needed]}

There was a major eruption on 25 September 2005 which killed 250 head of livestock and forced thousands of nearby residents to flee.^[6] There was further lava flow in August 2007, forcing the evacuation of hundreds and leaving two missing.^[7] An eruption on 4 November 2008 was reported by scientists at Addis Ababa University.^[8] Another eruption was reported in January 2017.

Camping

DAY 05 : Drive to Hamedella

In the morning after packing we will drive north towards the small village of Hamedella. That is where we will be camping for the night. In the late afternoon, we will drive to Lake Asale to enjoy the Sunset

Camping

DAY 06 : Drive to Afdera

In the morning we will drive towards Dallol (Amharic: ዳሎል) is a locality in the Dallol woreda of northern Ethiopia. Located in Administrative Zone 2 of the Afar Region in the Afar Depression, it has a latitude and longitude of 14°14′19″N 40°17′38″E with an elevation of about 130 metres (430 ft) below sea level. The Central Statistical Agency has not published an estimate for the 2005 population of the village, which has been described as a ghost town.

Dallol currently holds the official record for record high average temperature for an inhabited location on Earth, and an average annual temperature of 35 °C (95 °F) was recorded between 1960 and 1966. Dallol is also one of the most remote places on Earth, but paved roads to the nearby village of Hamedela are being built^[when?]. Still, the most important mode of transport besides jeeps are the camel caravans that travel to the area to collect salt.

In the region is the highly active hydrothermal system of Dallol, with numerous springs, terrace systems and fumaroles.

We will return to Hamedella to say goodbye to our scout and continue driving to Afdera

Lake Afrera (in Italian Lake Giuletti) is a hypersaline lake in northern Ethiopia. Located in Administrative Zone 2 of the Afar Region, it is one of the lakes of the Danakil Depression. According to its entry in Lakenet, it has a surface area of 100 km² (39 sq mi),^[1] although another source states the area is 125 km² (48 sq mi).^[2] An unconfirmed report gives its depth as 160 m (525 ft); the lake is fed by underground streams.^[2]

It is also known as Lake Giulietti, the name Raimondo Franchetti gave it after the Italian explorer Giuseppe Maria Giulietti was slain by Afars southwest of the lake.^[3] Another name for this body of water is Lake Egogi (or Egogi Bad), which is the name L. M. Nesbitt‘s Afar guide gave it when the Italian explorer became the first European to see it in 1928.^[4]

The single island in Lake Afrera, Franchetti Island (also known as “Deset”), located in the southern part of the lake, is considered the lowest-lying island in the world.^[5]

Unlike other saline lakes in Ethiopia (e.g., Lakes Abijatta, Shala, and Chitu), the pH of Lake Afrera is low and in the acidic range. Although little studied, a few species of fish are hosted by Lake Afrera, including two endemics: Danakilia franchettii (a cichlid) and Aphanius stiassnyae (syn. Lebias stiassnyae; a pupfish).^[6]

Salt extraction

Rock salt has been mined at Lake Afrera, and the surrounding part of the Afar Depression, for centuries. Lt. Lefebvre recorded some of the hazards of mining salt from the Depression, which he heard from one of the miners himself:

He said that this lake often changes its shape and place, which he expressed in these terms: the lake moves. Often, he added, on going to a place which the evening before was quite solid, you suddenly break through, and disappear in the abyss. But what is more frightful is the overflow of the waters: sometimes the lake rises like a mountain, and falls again into the plain like a deluge; entire caravans, men and beasts are engulphed. 

Camping

DAY 07 : Drive to Semera via Allolabed.

In the morning after saying goodbye to our Afar scouts, we head back to Semera. After lunch we drive a few kilometers to see Allolabed.

DAY 08 : Fly to Addis Ababa

Morning flight back to Addis Ababa.

Upon arrival in Addis Ababa, we will drive thru the largest market in Africa: Mercato. Later we will visit Saint George Art gallery and do last minute souvenirs and coffee shopping.

Finallly we will have a farewell dinner at a traditional Ethiopian restaurant