I was randomly chatting to my tour guide buddy Nick, one Sunday morning, who said he was leading a trip to Danakil in November. I'd looked at my travel schedule and by adding a day more in Uganda, I could then fly to Ethiopia instead of going home. Without a second thought I booked onto the trip, applied for my Ethiopia visa and booked my flights.
The Danakil Depression is the 6th lowest place recorded on Earth - the lowest being the Dead Sea, and Lake Assal in Djibouti being second. Danakil, is also one of the hottest places on Earth by daily recoreded temperatures, so its best not to go in summer!!!
On the Monday morning, I got a message from Lupine saying the trip was closed but if I paid in full that day, they'd squeeze me in as a returning customer! I paid straight away! I was looking forward to catching up with Nick again.
I flew from Entebbe to Addis, and went from international to domestic, where Nick met me through security to show me where the group was sitting, waiting for our flight to Semera. We met our local tour guide at the hotel and were told that our itinerary had been flipped round due to the wet weather but we would still see everything planned. No issues for any of us - plans change all the time when travelling and you have to be flexible.
Our first day was a mega long drive day (I prefer to get the long drives over first!) but all we saw all day was camels, ostrich and the endless sparse landscape that eventually changed from the dusty landscape in Semera, to a more volcanic looking landscape as we got closer to Erte Ale.
We slept under the stars, listening to some of the guys snoring, whilst kids with rifles roamed the site "protecting us".
The next day we were up before sunrise and heading out to the salt flats. I had been a few months earlier to Bolivia and seen the Uyuni salt flats, It had been dry season in Bolivia, so I hadn't gotten to experience the mirror effect when there is water on top of the salt, reflecting the sky. I had planned to go back as I really wanted to see this and I find them quite remarkable.
The sunrise was beautiful and was rising over the hexagonal shapes on the ground. We got back onto the jeeps and were heading towards the sulphur fields, when we came across so much water, covering the salt. I was absolutely ecstatic! A reflection untouched by anything, reflecting the rising sun and orange sky.
This was just the start of the day, and already I'd seen something that was on my "not yet seen" list and from the few photos I'd seen of Danakil, I knew there was a lot more to come! We continued driving to Dallol, a place known for its crazy sulphuric acidic green and yellow landscapes - the reason a lot of people come to this region. Dallol, is a unique terrestrial hydrothermal system. The colours come from the different minerals oxidising. Dallol - named by the local Afar people, means Disintegration or dissolution. It is an area around 3km by 1.5km, and raised 60m above the surrounding salt flats, and contains many green acidic ponds and geysers, that are the result of a wonder cone volcano. The volcanic craters are around 45m+ below sea level and are the lowest known subaerial volcanic vents in the world. It is a truly magical experience to see and walk on it.
As we entered the field, we were told only to walk on the brown land - this was because it had solidified and under no circumstances, to touch the green liquid - this is the acidic solution, and is incredibly hot. You could see the steam as the liquid hits the cooler air.
Our guide was fabulous, and took us around in a very specific order. Firstly showing us the small geysers and cones, on the stable land, keeping a very close eye on us. Then moving onto the more dangerous and colourful landscapes.
I must admit, I was a little scared walking so close to the acid pools. With my vision, I cannot always tell what is solid land and what would give way under my feet and I was pleased to have such a great group with me, that helped me when things got more difficult!
I couldn't believe we hadn't had breakfast yet - It was truly a WOW moment - and after so many countries and so many experiences, I often get asked if the WOW factor still exists! I can 100% say - it does!!
We wandered back to the 4x4's and had a breakfast of scrambled eggs and bread, which was much needed, before we drove onto the next highlight of the day.
We were back driving across the salt flats, but this time we were going to stop as a hexagonal panel seemed to have collapsed letting us see what was underneath. Turns out, there was a lot of very wam salty water! As the water baby, I was one of the first in! Basking in the warm water and paddling in the middle of a huge salt flats. Very surreal!
The guide set up a makeshift shower on the side of the 4x4's to get as much salt off as possible before we continued on with the long drive back to where we'd camped overnight for lunch.
After lunch, we still had a long drive ahead of us, as we were heading to Erie Ale volcano. This was again, another highlight of the region and if we were lucky the volcano would be erupting. When we arrived, we hiked up to the rim, so we could get a good look down into the crater. It was huge, and you could see that it had erupted recently. In fact, there had been a large eruption 2 weeks earlier, and you could see the different colours of the dried lava. The darker it was, the more recently, it had cooled.
It was time to head down and get some dinner. I was also finding it very hard walking on the newly solidified lava. it was cracking underfoot, and quite loudly. I'm not sire if it was the feel of the lava cracking, or the noise, but it was making me feel very uncomfortable. I decided to turn around after getting some photos, as did a few others. We were heading back guileless, with Simon fearlessly taking the lead. as it got darker, we were getting more and more cautious, moving slowly, trying to keep each other going, when suddenly, the lava gave way and Simon fell through. It happened in slow motion as we all wondered if this was literally game over.
Thankfully it wasn't. we reached Simon, who was pretty cut up - lava rock is surprisingly sharp especially when it is newly formed. Very brittle and splinters very easily. This was the main issue. We used what we had to cover the wounds and then started to head down to where we had supplies.
It was pitch black before we were nearly half way down and I was now starting to struggle as the light had gone and we had lost the path. it was hard to walk down when you are stumbling over rocky ground. Nick and Andrew took a hand each and we walked behind Simon trying to all stay together. I was so grateful for their help. I wondered why I hadn't;t brought my head torch up with me - although it was mid afternoon when we'd headed up. Epic fail on my part!
Luckily in our group we had a nurse and a couple of first responders with first aid training. My EFR had expired, which I need to get updated now I'm back to real life!
Simon was patched up, dinner and wine was served and we debated whether to go back up to see if the darkness would show the volcano eruptions. and indeed it did. My camera could not do it justice, but the eruptions from three different points along the crater erupte repeatedly, brightening up the sky.
I was so grateful I had the opportunity to see such a surreal place.
The next day was the long drive back to the airport, the flight to Addis and then the long flight back to London. On landing in London, I got home showered and then had my final interview to join Miller. Luckily, we know how that went!
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