Highlights: Danakil Depression and Erte Ale Volcano, Eastern Region of Ethiopia

About Danakil Depression and Erte Ale Volcano

This stark, extraordinary and searingly hot part of Ethiopia lies in the Afar Region, on the borders of Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia. At over 100m below sea level, the area is not only one of the lowest places in the world, but also the hottest in terms of year round temperatures. This geographical anomaly was a result of volcanic activity caused when Africa and Asia moved apart.

Perhaps the most extraordinary visions of the area are the ethereal bubbling sulphur springs. In places green, blue and orange, the pools froth and fizz emitting sulphurous smells and astonishing heat.

The nearby salt flats, once a part of the Red Sea, are known as Lake Asale although it has been many years since there was water here. Gleaming white and shimmering in the sun, these stark and stunning sites are a major source of salt. In what must be one of the world’s toughest jobs, labourers from Afar and Tigrey dig salt from the earth by hand, stack it in bricks and transport it by camel to the market.

Erte Ale, or smoking mountain, is an active volcano that rises from the region like a lava-spitting fiend. One of the oldest lava lakes in the world, the fiery red molten centre is surrounded by a solidified black lava rim. Because of the heat, and because the liquid lava looks best when viewed in the dark, most visitors climb the volcano at night, sleep on the rim, and climb down at dawn.

Not far away is Hadar where, although there’s nothing much to see now, Lucy, the oldest hominid fossil, was discovered. Lucy’s skeleton can be seen in the National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa.