4-Day Danakil Sightseeing Tour with Erta Ale and Lake Afdera

• Drive to Hamed Ela via Berhale. The Danakil Depression can be said to 'begin' here.

• Pass through the small town of Berhale, where the camel caravans stop before proceeding to the northern highlands.

• En route, see many long caravans going to the salt mines and others coming out of the Danakil with their salt-loaded camels.

• Reach the campsite at Hamed Ela.

• Drive to Askoma at the base of the new Erta Ale.

• Pass several small hamlets scattered here and there across the desert landscape before reaching Askoma Village, or the parking area.

• Trek from Askoma to the new Erta Ale, which takes about 4 hours.

• Spend the night watching the dramatic action of the boiling lava.

• Walk around pits and craters. The main pit-crater, 200 m deep and 350 m across, is sub-circular and three-storied. The smaller southern pit is 65 m wide and about 100 m deep.

• Head back to Askoma.

• Drive to Lake Afdera, the mythical Lake Giulietti, a saltwater lake located more than 100 meters below sea level in one of the deepest depressions on the planet.

• Visit the salt flats where the Afar people obtain salt by evaporating the water of the lake.

• Continue to Hamad Ela, a village with a total population of about 500 people.

Overnight camping at Hamed Ela.

• Drive to Asebot, the place where the salt is mined.

• Observe the breaking of the salt from the ground, cutting it into rectangular pieces, and loading it onto camels.

• Continue to Dallol and see colorful salt mining.

• Follow the camel caravans and walk with the Afar people.

• Drive back to Hamad Ela and proceed to Mekele.