The Danakil Depression is an incredible place to visit. The hottest place on earth, it’s home to vast salt flats, strangely beautiful sulphur vents, and a (very) active volcano. A two night, three day tour is the perfect amount of time to see it all.
My only regret is that we didn’t have more time in Ethiopia. The country has so many amazing natural and cultural wonders, but seeing as we only had one week, we chose the Danakil Depression. Many tour companies offer similar trips – we chose to go with ETT, which is the largest, with tours leaving every day.
The advertised price for the 3D/2N Danakil Depression tour on the ETT website is 500USDpp. We ended up paying 280USDpp. We got this price by booking the tour directly from the ETT office in Mek’ele, the day before we wanted to leave. I think if we’d been better hagglers, we could have got the price down to 250. There is no limit to the number of people ETT will take on a tour (it will never ‘sell-out’), so it’s well worth booking the tour in person, instead of online. They have offices in Addis and Mek’ele – we were told it’s easier to get a good price at Mek’ele location. Another group on our tour had paid 300USDpp, but had haggled return minibus transfers from Addis-Mek’ele (the starting point) to be included in this price.
Getting to Mek’ele (the starting point of the tour).
All Danakil Depression tours depart from the town of Mek’ele. You can access the town from Addis by either plane (1h flight) or bus (14h ride). We chose to fly there, and bus back. If you are flying into Ethiopia on Ethiopian Airlines, you’ll be entitled to a discount on regional flights within Ethiopia (simply check the ‘I have an international ticket’ on the Ethiopian Airlines website). Flights are typically between 30-80USDpp. Because we visited during the national holiday, Ashenda, the flights were 100USDpp, which is why we chose to only fly one way.
Because you’ll be picked up for the tour at 9am, it makes sense to spend one night in Mekele beforehand (especially if you’re also booking the tour at the Mek’ele office, like us!). We stayed at the charming Parrot Guest House, a family-run guesthouse with all kinds of lovely people working there. 30USD / 47NZD for a private room, attached bathroom (with an awful shower, sorry Parrot!), and excellent breakfast. The guesthouse is situated 15min walk away from the town centre, but Mek’ele is incredibly safe, and it’s interesting to walk around.
Notable Eats in Mekele:
‘Geza Gerlase #1’ for traditional Ethiopian in a lovely setting. There’s no English spoken here, but they specialise in tibs – we used a bit of sign language and got an incredible meal.
Karibu Kitchen Bar for a big menu, including good Ethiopian. Price is a little higher, but servers speak some English. Definitely get the arrosto doro (fried chicken).
Grab a ½ papaya, ½ avocado juice from one of the many juice shops – you’ll find at least one on every street. Ethiopian avocado juice is epic.
Time for the tour
We were picked up at 9am by an ETT driver in a Toyota Land Cruiser. This would be our car for the next three days – once we also had picked up two other passengers, and about thirty bottles of water, it was a little cramped inside. Our driver was a nice enough guy – he spoke minimal English, but he loved a joke. Our guide (who spoke good English, and briefed us each time we got to a destination) rode in a different car. The Danakil Depression tour covers fairly long distances, with the first day being mainly driving, stopping for lunch, and ending the day at the salt flats.
The salt flats continue as far as the eye can see in every direction, and our group (three cars in total) were the only ones there. The tour takes you to a small ‘lake’ which is more like a spa-pool sized hole in the salt – full of lukewarm, crystal clear water. We were free to take a dip (Geoff did, I didn’t). The water is incredibly salty, which makes it hilariously easy to float – but it’s also dangerous if a splash gets close to your eyes or mouth.
After an open-air night (see ‘sleeping on the tour’) we took a short drive to Dallol (our guide called it ‘The Colourful Place’). Here, in the hottest place on earth, the ground is alive with mineral vents – most noticeably bright yellow sulfur. The smell is incredibly intense, and you need to wear a scarf over your face to breath properly. When we arrived at 7.30am, it was about 45C. When we left at 9am, it was 47C. We walked around for about an hour and a half, following our guide’s footsteps. There’s no walkway or barrier, as the mineral vents move around almost daily. You just have to be careful to follow your guide. The whole place is incredible, otherworldly, and strangely beautiful.
Back in the car, we drove through the day to reach Erta Ale (the active volcano) by the evening. The volcano is so hot, it can only be visited after dark. The tour takes you right to the edge of the crater, where you can peer over the edge and (hopefully) see the lava bubbling below. Again, there’s no barrier, no walkway. Our group got two attempts to see the lava: one on the first night we arrived, and one at 4am the following morning. On the first night, we just got clouds of toxic smoke (again, a face scarf is 100% necessary) but the next morning, the wind had changed, and we could see small pools of spitting lava below.
Our final stop on the tour, before returning to Mek’ele, was another salt lake. This one was a full-size lake, slightly cooler than the outside temperatures. Alongside the lake is a small but incredibly hot fresh spring. Again, Geoff swam, I didn’t. The tour dropped us back at Parrot Guest House at roughly 4pm.
Safety on the tour
Unfortunately, this tour is a little infamous. Three days before we started our tour, a girl had actually died after being separated from her ETT group. There have also been other instances of tourists being shot by armed guards who mistook them for rebels in the dark.
However, we found the tour to be straightforward and safe, provided you exercise a few precautions of your own. It’s important not to get separated from the group. Honestly, most of the places we stopped were incredibly wide and open, and it would have been difficult to get lost from the rest of the tour. It would have been foolish to leave the camp at night, especially without a headtorch on. All the places we stopped for lunch had average, but functional bathrooms.
Everywhere we went, we had an armed guard to protect against robbery – just a local bloke with a gun, really. But he made up the rear of our group, and stopped anybody falling behind.
Ethiopia’s infrastructure is still very basic. This means that the ‘accommodations’, bathrooms, and walkways, barriers or paths are pretty much non-existent. This never made us feel unsafe, but it pays to set realistic expectations about the amenities (or lack thereof). The vehicles we rode in were very modern.
Sleeping on the tour
Both nights on the tour, we slept outside, under the stars. The land rovers carry a few mattresses on the roof, which the drivers pull off in the evening, cover with a sheet – and that’s your bed. On the first night, we laid the mattresses on some saggy, rope-and-bamboo bed frames. It was really uncomfortable, we would have been better just putting them straight on the ground.
On the second night, we just laid the mattresses by the wheels of the cars, and ended up sleeping a lot better.
At night, the temperature didn’t drop below 33C. It would have been far too hot to sleep with any blankets. Even for those that got no sleep at all, there was always the opportunity to doze in the car.
What to bring
The four mandatories are: a scarf to cover your face. A headlamp. Closed-toe shoes, preferably boots. Toilet paper.
Those in our group that hadn’t bought a scarf ended up using T-shirt’s to cover their faces, but a tight-fitting scarf, scruff or headband works a lot better. It needs to cover both your mouth and your nose.
You’ll not only need a headlamp to climb up Erta Ale in the dark, but you’ll also need it to eat your food in the dark (there’s no electricity) and to go for a wee before bed. Carrying your phone torch really doesn’t cut it.
The walk up to the edge of the Erta Ale crater is all on volcanic rock, and some of it is really sharp. It scratched our hiking boots, but it ripped the soft Nike-type shoes of other people in our group. Take something hard wearing and durable.
Toilet paper wasn’t always provided, and it’s something you never want to be caught short of.
Everything else is fairly self-explanatory – a hat, sunglasses, sunblock, light airy clothes. There are no opportunities to shower, but the heat gets everyone very sweaty, so some wet wipes are a lifesaver. Plenty of water is provided.
Hi Emily, what an amazing trip you are having. I am loving the blog and pics. Ethiopia is way different to what I expected. Keep them coming. Also congratulations to you both😍. Mags and Gav xxx