Arrival at Semera Airport and meeting by Enku, Volcano Discovery Ethiopia Expedition Leader. Briefing about General Ethiopian Geology , Main Ethiopian Rift valley System, Afar / Ethiopian People and culture, Ethiopian Volcanoes and finally about the whole program. In the afternoon visist of Lake Afambo which is about 84Km from Semera and discover the chained lakes of Lake Afambo and Gummare. Return back to Asaita. Overnight at Local Hotel in Asaita small town.

After an early breakfast we continue our journey on the main road into Eritrea. Possible en-route stops are the crater lake and volcanic deposits at the southern end of the 2005 Dabbahu fissure eruption, and the ruins of a 1936 Italian basecamp. In Serdo (ca. 400 m) we finally leave the Awash - Asseb highway and turn onto the recently asphalted road heading north to Afdera salt lake. The drive first takes us up through a rugged moonscape characterised by volcanic rifts and faults, obsidian flows, young black lava and gravel desert, before we start our final descend down into the flat, salt-covered Danakil depression at the hypersaline lake Afdera (ca. -100 m). We reach the lake by late afternoon so that we can explore its shoreline and salt works before sunset. As our camp is set up next to the lake, we can enjoy bathing in hydrothermal springs and swimming in the salt lake underneath a starlit night sky!

Drive to the Summit of Active Lava Lake of Erta Ale. After processing the permit with the local administration of Erta Ale area proceed to the base camp where the cars will be parked.
After relaxed light dinner, we will have 30 Minutes'walk to the Summit crater of Erta Ale. Overnight camping at the Summit crater, open Air without tents (Only Sleeping bags and mattress).

The full day and night are dedicated to exploring the ongoing volcanic activity and intriguing lava deposits and formations in the volcano's summit caldera. We will make a hike around the caldera rim to explore the north crater with its sulphur deposits and south crater with the actively boiling lava lake. In the evening you have another chance to observe and photograph the lava lake and its glow around sunset and in the nighttime.

Early morning drive to Dallol, halo- volcanic geothermal complex through the desert road of sand, volcanic ash and salt. Rest in the shades in Ahmed Ela small village and acclimatize with the hot tempreture. Late in the afternoon drive to Dallol on the salt plain bed to visit brilliantly coloured yellow, green and blue pools, massive terrace systems, noxious steaming fumaroles and myriad mineral shapes and structures are all the product of a magmatic intrusion into salt. Overnight Camping at Ahmed Ela Small village with open air / Million star Hotel

Early morning visit of Dallol with Salt Domes and geothermal pools. After completing the visit the drive will proceed back to Afdera for overnight at the Lake Shore. Camping at Afdera Lake.

Early morning drive to Logia town and proceed to Allalobad (the water of Allah) Geothermal site to visit the dotted steam vents and small craters of hot mud and hissing gases, with beautiful several pools of hot water with nearly constant Geysers. These pools have an unusual, deep, green, blue and yellow colour. Return back to small town of Logia for Overnight.
Overnight at Logia Local Hotel / Nazareth Hotel.
Farewell Dinner party

Fly back to Addis and take your international flight back home .
City tour in Addis Abeba can be organized for extra charge or extension program to Lalibela or Semien mountains

Additional info

Physical requirements:

The walks on this tour are not particularly difficult, but you should have experience with hiking on uneven and rugged terrain. Although we organise our Danakil during the cooler months of the year, temperatures in the Danakil depression usually range between 35-40 deg C (95-105 deg F), but can easily soar up to 45-50 deg C (120-130 deg F) in the hottest hours near Dallol.
The hike to / from Erta Ale´s summit area and caldera rim from base camp and back requires about 10 km trekking over uneven, but relatively easy and gently climbing terrain (about 500 m altitude gain / descend) and is done in the early morning hours prior to sunrise in order to minimize the impact of heat. To approach the edge of the lava lake and other parts of the caldera one needs to walk across the uneven, easy to moderately difficult to walk on platy, ropy or hollow pahoehoe lava flows. Good boots, long pants and gloves are a must. Extra care must be taken when walking over the lava tubes as the thin, glassy crusts of the hardened lava sometimes break so that you suddenly sink up to max halve meter into the hollow cavity below. Walking sticks to "test" the terrain and keep balance are recommended.

Sanitary conditions during most part of this expedition will be very to extremely basic and you should therefore be in excellent overall health. No proper washing facilities are available while in the desert (approx. 7 days). Unfortunately, the local toilet habits in the Afar region and in particular around the salt lakes and atop the volcano is to do your business more or less anywhere; the area around Ahmed Ela (the salt-cutters'town near Dallol) is littered with garbage and human and animal excrement, resulting in a high rate of stomach bugs / traveler´s disease among visitors to the region.
We therefore ask you to consult a medical doctor about going to the Danakil prior to joining the expedition. One should particularly take precautions / medicine against dehydration, diarrhea and stomach infections.

Arrival info:

To allow for maximum flexibility for individual participants travel plans, this volcano special expedition starts and ends in Semera. The airline company that service this airport is Ethiopian Airlines. One can easily book this domestic flight from and to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia´s capital, as there are some daily connections. Or you may try to book the tickets: Your place - Addis Ababa-Semera (sometimes it is possible to avoid the night in Addis Ababa). In case you have a stop for a night in Addis Ababa, it is a good chance to get to know the capital of Ethiopia. Your flights to and from Ethiopia are not included as default since we have participants from all over the world. However, please do feel free to contact us if you would like any assistance with finding the best flight connections for you!

"the trip was, simply said, excellent and super"

Dear Ingrid,
the trip was, simply said, excellent and super including logistics, staff, food, geology, etc. Enclosed you'll find a short excursion debriefing :-). The staff was excellent and I've never met better one. Enku is really great and sensitive person, willing to do whatever for others, and loving geology. He showed us everything he could or we wanted. Demis (our driver) is an even-tempered man all time smiling and was my personal guide on fragile lava. Meski (our cook) is so good in cooking. First day I was a little bit startled of eating unknown meals but next days I was eating so much (big portions of very tasty meals) that my weight increased by 1.5 kg.

Thank you very much for the beautiful trip and I'm looking forward to the next volcano expedition.
Many greetings from freezing Prague.

- Richard (from the Czech Republic) about his participation on our first Erta Ale volcano special in from 14 to 21 January 2017. Fellow traveler Paul shared his photographs of this unique high activity at Erta Ale.

"Hallo Tom!
Ich möchte Dir an dieser Stelle noch einmal ganz herzlich danken für die sehr gut organisierte Expedition zum Erta Ale und Dallol. Ich habe selten zuvor in zwei Wochen so viele positive und eindrückliche Momente erlebt wie auf dieser Reise. Neben dem Besuch der Vulkane wird mir die Danakil-Wüste mit all ihren facettenreichen Landschaften, die Freundlichkeit der Aethiopier, der sehr gute Teamgeist unserer Gruppe und natürlich die Kamelkarawane zum Salzsee in bester Erinnerung bleiben.
Auch erwähnenswert ist natürlich der Besuch der Felsenkirchen, welche eingebettet in einer fantastischen Landschaft liegen. Ich bin sehr dankbar für all diese eindrücklichen Momente! Sollte ich zukünftig wieder einmal auf Vulkanexpedition gehen, werde ich ohne zu zögern "VolcanoDiscovery" deswegen kontaktieren. Zudem erlaube ich mir, Dich in meinem Bekanntenkreis weiter zu empfehlen.
Herzlichst, André B.
Schweiz" (Expedition to the Danakil)