7-Day Danakil Depression Tour in Ethiopia with Erta Ale and Dallol

On arrival, our representative will welcome you at Addis Ababa International Airport and transfer you to your hotel.

After a short break at your hotel, start your tour by exploring Addis Ababa with a visit to Holy Trinity Cathedral, one of the highly privileged Orthodox churches in Ethiopia.

Visit the National Museum, which is home to the fossilized humanoid 'Lucy,' dating back 3.2 million years, as well as a collection of artefacts, royal items, and art.

Have lunch at a local restaurant.

Continue to the Ethnographic Museum, the former palace of Emperor Haile Selassie.

Visit Mount Entoto, the highest point in the city at over 3,000 meters above sea level, and enjoy the spectacular view of Addis Ababa.

Visit the famous Entoto Museum.

Conclude the city tour with a visit to Merkato, the largest open-air market in Africa.

Transfer back to the hotel.

Early in the morning, fly to Mekelle, the capital city of the Tigray Region. The city is pleasant to walk through.

Visit the castle of Emperor Yohannes IV, the predecessor of Emperor Menelik II, a late 19th-century ruler of Ethiopia.

Visit the recent TPLF martyrs monument and museum.

Mekelle is the base for preparing for the great 'Danakil Depression journey.' Get introduced to the ground transportation team and Danakil guides, and attend a logistics briefing.

Stay overnight at the hotel.

The Danakil Depression can be said to 'begin' here. It is one of the most inhospitable regions in the world, but it is nonetheless spectacular.

Drive to Afdera via the small village of Eribt. Afdera is one of the towns in the Afar Region of Ethiopia and is named after the saline Lake Afdera, located in the southern part of the Afar Depression. Swim in the salt lake and enjoy the nearby hot spring.

Overnight camping near Lake Afdera.

Visit the salt miners, local people who pump and evaporate salt water near the lake, and then proceed to Dodom at the base of Erta Ale. Dodom is about 8.5 km from Erta Ale, and it takes about 3 hours of trekking to get there.

Have an early dinner at around 17:00 and start the trek up to Erta Ale at 20:00. Camels transport the camping materials and food to the rim of the volcano, where you will spend the night watching the dramatic lava action. Erta Ale ranks as one of the most alluring and physically challenging natural attractions anywhere in Ethiopia. It is a shield volcano with a base diameter of 30 km and a 1 sq. km caldera at its summit. Erta Ale contains the world's only permanent lava lake. It has two craters, northern and southern. The northern crater is notable for being the longest-existing sleepy lava lake, while the southern one is the most active crater with a lava lake at its summit.

Stay overnight on top of Erta Ale mountain, 613 meters high.

Camping.

Wake up early for sunrise and visit the North Crater.

Descend from Erta Ale around 7:00 am, reaching Dodom by 9:30 am.

Have breakfast and relax.

At 10:30 am, drive to Hamad Ela (100 km), stopping for a picnic lunch on the way in the shade of a palm tree.

Reach Hamad Ela by 4:30 pm. It is a village with about 500 people.

Overnight camping at Hamad Ela.

After breakfast, drive to Ragad (Acebo), where the locals mine salt. About 1,200 sq. km of the Afar Depression is covered in salt. Try breaking salt from the ground with local people, who cut it into rectangular pieces and load it onto camels.

Drive ahead to Dallol and see the different landscape formed by volcanic activity.

Also visit Lake Assal, the salt canyon, and camel caravans.

Drive back to Hamad Ela and then proceed to Mekelle.

Stay overnight at the hotel in Mekelle.

Early in the morning, transfer to Mekelle Airport for the flight to Addis Ababa.

In the afternoon, you will have some time to freshen up and shop around before transferring to Bole International Airport for your onward journey.