All activities / Overlanding / Expedition Driving / Danakil Depression
Overlanding / Expedition Driving in Danakil Depression
One of the lowest and hottest places on earth, in Ethiopia's Afar region, where the Erta Ale volcano holds an active lava lake and the Dallol geothermal field glows with acid-yellow and green sulphur springs.
Why here
The Danakil Depression is an expedition-driving destination in the truest sense, a salt-crusted rift basin more than 100 metres below sea level and among the hottest inhabited places on earth. Convoys of four-wheel drives cross the salt flats of Lake Asale, where Afar caravans still cut and carry blocks of salt by camel, then climb by night to the rim of Erta Ale to look down into one of the world's few permanent lava lakes. A second day reaches Dallol, a low-temperature geothermal field of acid pools, salt chimneys and mineral crusts in yellow, green and rust. This is remote, extreme terrain that has to be done with an organised operator, local Afar guides and a police escort.
Best months
The only sensible season is November to March, when daytime highs are merely severe rather than lethal, and even then temperatures routinely pass 40 degrees Celsius. The Erta Ale ascent is done at night to avoid the heat, sleeping on the crater rim. Trips run as vehicle convoys with local Afar guides and an armed escort, which is a permit requirement, not an upsell. Bring far more water than seems reasonable.
Getting there & around
Tours stage from Mekele or Semera and run as multi-day four-wheel-drive convoys with cook, local guides and a mandatory armed escort, camping rough at Erta Ale and Ahmed Ela. There is no infrastructure to speak of, and independent travel is not permitted, so everything goes through an organised operator. Check current regional security advice before booking, as the Afar border area has been sensitive at times.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate
Schools & guides (1)
Ethio Travel and Tours
OutfitterEthio Travel and Tours, widely known as ETT, is an Ethiopian operator founded in 2002 and best known as the specialist for the Danakil Depression. It is the tour company with its own bases in both Mekele and Semera, the two gateway towns to the Afar region, which lets it run the salt flats, Erta Ale and Dallol logistics directly, including vehicles, cooks, Afar guides and the required escorts. Its programme also covers Simien, Lalibela, Axum and the Omo Valley.