The Danakil Depression is one of the remotest, lowest and hottest places on earth and home of the Afar people. Here the African, Arabic and Indian continental plates drift apart forming one of the most unique volcanic landscapes on earth. This part of the earth is still unstable, the whole area volcanically active. A journey to the Danakil is an adventure in itself. It is here where the African continent will rip apart in a few million years.
Erta Ale
Meaning 'Smoking Mountain' is a 613 m high, absolutely unique volcano. In its round crater there is a constantly erupting lava lake - one of only four on earth. Here you can watch the red-hot magma come to the surface, dry up and be pulled under again. At night, when we climb up to the crater over dried lava, you can see the shine of the magma from far away. To be here feels like being in another world.
Dallol
The Dallol volcano lays ca. 100 km from Erta Ale in the lowest part of the Danakil, 116 m below zero and does not look at all like a volcano. Rain water that infiltrates the ground boils here up again, bringing up all sorts of minerals on its way to the surface. This deposits form strange and unique formations in all possible colors. It is an extremely hot and inhospitable place but absolutely extraordinary.
The nearby Lake Asale is famous for its salt mines. Hundreds of camel caravans transport the salt from here to the western highland.