All activities / Photography Expeditions / Lake Abbe
Photography Expeditions in Lake Abbe
A shrinking soda lake on the Djibouti-Ethiopia border in the Afar depression, ringed by hundreds of travertine chimneys up to fifty metres tall that steam at dawn. Built where geothermal water met the lake, the mineral towers sit on the Afar triple junction and stood in as an alien world in the 1968 film Planet of the Apes.
Why here
Lake Abbe is one of the strangest landscapes on Earth to point a camera at: a shrinking soda lake on the Djibouti-Ethiopia border where hundreds of travertine chimneys, some fifty metres tall, stand steaming across the plain. The mineral towers were built where hot geothermal water met the lake, and at dawn they glow orange while fumaroles vent white steam and flamingos work the shallows. Afar herders bring their camels down to the hot springs at first light. The site sits on the Afar triple junction, where three tectonic plates pull apart, and its otherworldly look put it on screen as an alien world in the 1968 film Planet of the Apes. Photographers come for sunset, overnight in a basic camp, and shoot the chimneys again at sunrise.
Best months
The dry, cooler months from November to March are the time to come; the plain is furnace-hot the rest of the year. The light is everything here, so the trip is built around sunset and the following sunrise, with a night in a simple Afar camp between. Bring a tripod for the low light and the steam, a wide lens for the chimney fields and a longer one for flamingos and camel caravans, plus a dust cover, since fine ash and salt blow across the plain. There is no power at the camp, so carry spare batteries.
Getting there & around
Lake Abbe is a long haul from Djibouti City, roughly 250 kilometres and five to six hours in a 4x4, the final stretch trackless desert that needs a driver who knows the way. It is almost always done as an overnight trip, often a two-day loop paired with Lake Assal, sleeping in a basic Afar-run camp near the chimneys with simple food and no electricity or running water. Go with an operator: there is no signage, fuel or water out here, and a local guide is required at the site.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate
Schools & guides (2)
Massigo Travel
OutfitterMassigo Travel, the locally owned Djibouti agency trading as Travel2Djibouti, runs overnight photography and overland trips to Lake Abbe from Djibouti City. Its guides drive the trackless approach across the Afar plain, set travellers up in a basic camp among the travertine chimneys, and time the visit for the sunset and sunrise light on the towers and their steam. It holds more than seventy five-star TripAdvisor reviews and works with its own Djiboutian drivers and Afar guides.
Tata Tour Djibouti
OutfitterTata Tour, founded in 2016 by Djibouti guide Omar Mohamed Kamil, includes Lake Abbe on its two-day desert loops out of Djibouti City. The team drives the long trackless route to the chimney field, camps overnight beside the towers in an Afar-run camp, and works the sunset and dawn light the site is photographed for. Tata runs more than thirty set and tailored itineraries with its own guides, drivers and 4x4s, and takes bookings directly rather than through a resale platform.