I left on a flight on the 27th from Addis early in the
morning and got to Milano hotel in plenty of time to meet the group, but to my
shock and surprise, I was told that the tour has been postponed by 1 day. Apparently the tour company did not inform 4
of us and the lady in charge Abeba was not very apologetic to the 3 other
people that I were in contacted with from the forum the day before. So we decided that I should call her and
pretended that I am very angry about the whole situation. Abeba said she will meet me at the hotel to
discuss it. So when she arrived I
sounded very upset but professional about it on how this uninformed delay has
cause us time and money. To our surprise
Abeba was very diplomatic as well, and we agreed on the tour company will pay
for 1 night of hotel for each of us. So
we got our compensation and spent the rest of the day running errands and just
walk around the surprising pleasant city (coming from the capital Addis, it was
nice not to be swarmed by hasslers, beggars, pickpockets).
So the next day we are all ready for the tour. We were not sure exactly how many people will
be in the tour as the tour company doesn't seem to know either. So the number keeps on changing even as we
loaded up our suvs, more backpackers showed up.
So in the end we had 8 people total.
4 other people couldn’t make it: 3 people got stuck in another city on
the way here, while Noam got sick and decided to wait for another group to
join. So just after noon we off to the
hottest place on earth (average temperature).
The road down to the depression is unpaved and very rough at
some places. There is also lots
construction going on, so maybe they are going to pave the road. It takes us from cooler elevation of 6,837
feet down to the hot below sea level. We
stop by somewhere in the middle for a quick photo op and lunch break. Then we continue on to a village Berhale on
the way to pick up our policemen and then stop for getting the permit. We finally arrived at Hamed Ela in the
dark. It was definitely still very warm,
but there was a strong breeze so it wasn't too bad. As the cook preparing our dinner, others
brought out wooden rope-strung bed outside and gave us each a bed sheet, so I
guess we will be sleeping outside under the stars and full moon.
A little about the Afar village we stayed, there is Canadian
mining company Potash nearby as well as a military base since we are very close
to Eritrea which has tense relationship with Ethiopia (border is closed). Surprisingly there is a cell phone tower and
you get really good reception. There is
a rumor that they are going to pave the road here to help with the mining
operation. As for the village itself it
is very poor looking, no toilet facility, so you will have to find a place with
privacy (hard to find in this open landscape) to do your business.
The next morning after breakfast we headed out for a long
journey to Erta Ale. Along the way, we passed the desert landscape with mix of
sand, scrubs, salt flats, and small mountains that are dotted with many Afar
villages, goats, and camels. There is no
road just vast expanse of desert and dirt/sand tracks. We stopped at one of the village to pick up
our militia guards and had lunch there.
Then we continue our journey toward the volcano, but now we pass through
some patch of wet/green grassland. Even
though the dry season has arrived, there is still some rain in the
area/highland, so one of our suv got stuck in the mud. It took a while, but eventually the stuck suv
was freed. Finally we are approaching
the lava field, and our SUVs very slowly drove through it and rocking our way
to the base of the volcano. I had a nap
because of the rocking motion :)
We arrived at Dodom, the base of volcano before 3PM and
rested in the stone huts. There was another
tour group when we got there. Apparently
they got stuck in the mud/grassy field the day before and couldn't cross to get
here. We are lucky the field has dried
out some today to allow us passage.
Again there is no toilet facility here, but since it is more remote, it
is easier to find privacy to do one's business.
We started our trek up the lava field to the volcano around
5PM. It is a 6.2 miles to get up to 613
meters (2011 feet). It took us almost 3
hours to reach the outer rim. One of the Japanese ladies in the other group
took the camel up, but the camel was slower than us. We did have camel carrying our
supply/mattress up. Soon as we saw the
red glow of the lava lake standing at the edge of the outer rim, we all decided
the dinner can wait and seeing the lava lake up close is utter the most
important thing!
We quickly decent down to the crater floor, which is made of
sharp, harden lava that was overflow from the lava lake few years ago. When we reached the edge of the lava lake and
staring into the gate of hell, we were all amazed by the sight, sound, and
smell. Erta Ale is a basaltic shield volcano with a base diameter of about 30km
and with double pit craters - N & S. The lake has been in existent since
early 20th century. Some source
indicated this is the longest (in term of time) permanent lava lake in world
and there are total of 5 lava lakes in the world presently.
Everyone was busy taking photos and video, when suddenly
parts of the lava lake that has crusted over begin to melt and fresh lava oozed
out and flew into the air. It was amazing display, but it was so hot, so we all
just lift up our cameras and shoot with sight unseen. Then just as quickly as it erupted, it died
down in about 2 plus minutes and slowly the lake crusted over again with
exception of couple active spots along the edge. Then Luke decided to act out his plan, posing
with AK-47 that is borrowed from one of our guard. Soon few others joined in as
well. We lingered around the rim for a little longer until the guide told us
that we should go back up to the outer rim to have our dinner.
We quickly wolfed down our dinner and headed back down the lava
lake for more. There was no second
eruption, so people just sat and be mesmerized by the dance of lava. We finally went back to outer rim after 11PM
and slept under the stars and to the distance sound bubbling lava. Hunter wanted to sleep down near the lake and
was told it is not safe :)
Instead of leaving the rim to head back down to our suv @
4AM like the other group to avoid the heat of morning sun, we convinced our
guide to let us get up @5AM and take some photos before head back down around
6AM. We promised to go down fast so you
don't get burned by the strong sun. And
we did hike down very fast, and even caught the 4AM group just as they were
heading back to Hamed Ela. We had a
quick breakfast and soon we were on our way back to the village as well. On the way we dropped off the 3 Afar
militiamen not far from the volcano, and our guide paid then 400 birr each
($22), but one of the guy didn't seen to like the offer and after talking for
while he finally left. We got to the
village in the early afternoon after out ran a thunderstorm but got caught in
the dust storm it kicked up.
Back at the village, we had lunch and had plenty of time to
wait in mid-day heat until dinner time.
So some of us took a nap, playing cards, read, quick bucket shower, or
just wonder around a little. Then we were told that we will have a fresh goat
for dinner, so some of us jumped at the opportunity of witness a fresh
kill. Michael in our group even asked if
he can be the one that kills the goat.
But when time come the cut the goat's throat, he decided he wasn't ready
to do, so our guide did the deed and off the goat's head. The goat had no idea about its impending
death until the very end - the terror in its eyes.
By dinner time we were hungry, but it was still hot, and the
goat meat smells, so I didn't have much of an appetite, and my weight lost
continues. Also at this time I have gave up trying to wear contact lens as it
was too dusty and dry to be comfortable with it.
On morning of our last day (day 4), we headed to Dallol to
see the colorful and strange landscape formed by volcanic activities. It is also one of the lowest points in the
world (2nd in Africa). We got to Dallol
area just after 8AM after picking up some soldiers. It was already very hot. We trek up the short colorful (iron oxide and
sulfur) slope to a strange and colorful landscape. We spent over an hour wondering through the
various formation and sulfur and iron oxide.
There is little or no shade, many of us took shelter in a small outcrop
while waiting for rest of our group to finish taking pictures. Next stop was the pools of bubbling sulfuric
and mineral ponds. There were many dead
birds around the pools, not sure if they died of drinking poison water, inhale
poison gases, or just got blown so far from the more habitable environment and
could not find its way back. Onto our
next stop, salt mining and camel caravans.
The caravan season has just started, so there weren't too many miners or
camels around, but we got a sense what it is like to work in this harsh
environment. Also how the caravans have
been trotting this route for centuries to supply salt around the region and
beyond. Our final stop is Lake Assal, a
salt lake that ebb and flow like ocean tide. I think the motion is probably
driven by the strong wind. The water was
shallow and warm so we took a walk in the lake and came back to see our shoes
have been enveloped by water.
With all the sightseeing done, we headed back to Hamed Ela for
one last time for lunch and the long drive back to Mekele. We arrived just after dark, and were told
that there was hot water issue @ the hotel, but most of us decided to stay at
Milano anyway and wait for the hot water to come back, which it did after few
hours.
This is definitely one of the top highlights of this trip -
awesome adventure with good companies.
It will rank pretty high on all my trekking tours! Key thing is not to expect too much in term
of tour company and expect the unexpected, you are in Africa after all.
A little more about Ethio Tour and travel (ETT): another
traveler I contacted before my trip later went with Ethio Tour and travel as
well around Oct 29th; she was told the tour will be delayed by one day as they
wait for other travelers to join. They did eventually started on time, but ETT
change the itinerary once they got to Danakil so they have to wait for a day
for another person to join. But that time rain water from highland has caused
the road to the volcano to be impassable even with 4x4. Eventually she had to
put her foot down to tell their useless guide to turn around to head back to
Hamed Ela because the approaching darkness. The group then spoke to Daniel the
boss, and he promised them that they can get to the volcano with another way
from Mekele, of course that was a lie. Once they got back to Mekele Daniel
tried to offer them free trip to Lalibella and Aksum with more promise of goto
the Volcano. They all have been to the Lalibella and Aksum, so they finally
settled on partial refund. So the moral of the story of budget travel in Dankil
with ETT or not, don’t expect too much from the company, and expect things will
go not according to the plan. Other than that it will be a highlight of your
trip!
