3 Days Danakil Depression Tour: Explore Ethiopia's Dramatic Geological Landscapes
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Semera
Embark on a thrilling 3-day tour of the Danakil Depression in Ethiopia, where you'll witness the dramatic geological landscapes of this searing hot desert. Explore stunning salt lakes, acid springs, volcanoes, and more!
Duration: 3 days
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights

Fly Addis Ababa _Semera -Erta Ale

Erta Ale - At Semera, you’ll pile into the Toyota Landcruiser that will take you into the Danakil in convoy. You’ll begin the drive into the Danakil Depression at around 9 AM. The roads leading out of Semera are smooth and asphalted, and as you drive further out of town there are some wonderful views of the Afar landscape. As you drive further towards Afdera Town (Salt Lake), the roads get rougher until you reach the Danakil desert. Here, the roads are a maze of solidified lava, rock, and sand with an occasional palm-lined oasis. You will stop for lunch before continuing to the base camp of the Erta Ale volcano. The drive from Semera to Dodom is around 7 hours. Your cooking team will wait for you to prepare dinner. As the sun begins to dip behind the horizon, you begin the 1 half-hour hike up Erta Ale. You’ll reach the crater rim around 7:00 PM, where the fiery lava lake awaits You’ll spend some time on the volcano and you will descend to the campsite then you will be served your dinner.

Afdera Town - Afdera (Afar Afxeera) is one of the woredas in the Afar Region of Ethiopia. It is named after the saline Lake Afdera, located in the southern part of the Afar Depression. Part of Administrative Zone 2, Afdera is bordered on the southwest by Administrative Zone 4, on the west by Erebti and Abala, on the north by Berhale, on the northeast by Eritrea, and on the southeast by Administrative Zone 1. The largest town of this woreda is Afdera.

What's Included
  • Government taxes included
  • Expert English-speaking guide
  • Comfortable camping accommodation
  • Delicious meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
  • Climate-controlled in-vehicle comfort
  • All-inclusive admission/entrance fees
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
  • Domestic flight
Additional Information

The Danakil Depression is in the Afar region of northern Ethiopia and is one of the hottest and lowest places on the planet. A searing hot, brutal desert landscape dotted with stunning geological formations, salt lakes, acid springs, volcanoes, salt canyons, and salt flats. Danakil Depression (or Afar Depression) exhibits some uncommon wonders: lava that burns blue, bright yellow hot springs, and lakes of bubbling mud.

  • This tour/activity will have a minimum of 5
Location
Dini Hotel
Dini Hotel is close to Afar tourism office administration and 4 km from airport
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
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Kevienm
Oct 1, 2023
Memorable Trip - both places were unique in many respects: incredible landscapes, scorching hot sun and powerfully charismatic local inhabitants. The organization of our tour by Mickey Leake and his team went very smooth. They took good care of us: the transport, food, guidance and lodging were all perfectly arranged. I am a professional photographer and traveled with a friend/colleague photographer to make landscape mages of both places. The team was very patient with us and gave us all the time and space needed to set up the large format camera and work in peace. I am overall very satisfied with the kindness of our team (a cook, two drivers, a guide and Mickey), with the relevant historical and cultural information we received from our guide Fishai and with the well organized transportation in this enchanted land. The vulcano is a wild and fierce place so take good walking shoes and something to cover your mouth and nose from the dust. We climbed the mountain at night, so a good lamp is also useful. Two camels brought our cameras and food/water to the top of the mountain. At Erta Ale and at Dallol we teamed up with local Afar guides and police officers to guard us during our visit to the wilderness. July is a hot period to visit, not the easiest conditions maybe, but still possible. We woke up at 5 in the morning and worked until 10 in the morning. After that it was too hot to really do anything in the Danakil. But inside the air-conditioned car it was fine. Amazingly, there are people working on the salt plains in temperatures above 50 degrees Celcius. What a sight to see!
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up to 12 guests
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May 2024
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