 The Danakil or Dalol depression with several points lying more than 100m below sea level the Danakil is officially listed as one of the hottest and most inhospitable place on earth with an average temperature of 34-35oC.The continents lowest point dipping -116 below sea level at Dalol near lake Asale is also found in the Danakil region of the Rift Valley. One of the driest and most tectonically active areas on the planet, the Danakil is an area of singular geological fascination: a strange lunar land escape studded with active volcanoes, sulphur-caked hot springs, solidified black lava flows and salt incrusted basins.
 This region is a southerly extension of the rifting process that formed the Red Sea set at the juncture of the African Arabian and the Somali tectonic plates. Its surface was once fully submerged by saline water. Relics of those distant days include Lake Asale and Afrera both of which lie at the center of an ancient salt extraction industry linking the Danakils economy with Tigray.
 More than 30 active or dormant volcanoes almost one –quarter of the African total are shared between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The most substantial volcanic range is the Danakil Alps whose highest peak the 2219m mount Nabro lies with in Eritrea. The most regularly visited volcanic range in the Danakil is Ertale (Erta Ale, Irta ale) which consists of 7 active peaks extending over an area of 2350m2 between Kebit Ale to Haile Gubbi. From the 3 peaks that top the 600mark most remarkable is Ertale itself which is listed as the most active volcano in Africa, having hosted a permanent lava lake for longer than 120 years, which has been in a state of continuous eruption since 1967.
 The Danakil region is also home to the fascinating Afar people, a nomadic Ethnic group known in the past for their legendary ferocity. For centuries the Afar have mined and transported salt from the great Danakil salt lakes to highland markets in Ethiopia. The Danakil region can be explored from the Tigraian regional capital of Mekele by surface driving only from Addis Ababa or by combining flight to mekele from Addis Ababa and driving to the Danakil from Mekele. Please contact us for advice and for tour arrangements to this of the beaten track destinations |
