Danakil, Nov 2023 (Pt. 1): Semera - Afrera - Assale - Hamed Ela

The highlight of my Ethiopia journey was the tour of Danakil - one of the world’s lowest and hottest spots. It seemed daunting indeed, yet all pursuits carry their costs. Certainly, while lying comfortably in my cozy bed, I found it inexplicable why I would venture to such a desolate, harsh and distant place.

Flight to Semera

Tourists typically have the options to begin their journey to Danakil from either Mekele in the Tigray region or Semera in the Afar region; however, due to recent civil unrest in Mekele, all tours have been exclusively departing from Semera. I took a flight to Afar region’s capital aboard a narrow-body aircraft with visible airscrews, the De Havilland Canada Dash 8; the journey lasted about 2 hours, and from above, I could witness Ethiopia’s landscape and vegetation transition from lush greenery to the arid depression of Afar. In Ethiopia, traveling on plane is the most practical means of transportation (despite the monopoly of a single airline). Road travel requires overnight stops and isn’t very convenient. However, intercity flights likely necessitate a layover in Addis Ababa as direct connections are rare, resulting in extended travel time.

And there I arrived at Sultan Alimirah Hanfare Airport, surrounded by an uncrowded cityscape, bathed in the golden hues of soil and sand, dotted with a handful of withered trees. It’s late afternoon and the temperature still hovered above 30°C, yet certainly one should be able to witness the most magnificent sunsets in such hot arid place. It’s not hard to conceive of how unpopulated and rural-like this city is, as the entire Afar region has a population of only about 2 million people.

I hailed an auto rickshaw for a ride to Dini Hotel located roughly 2km from the airport. Without that primitive yet costly means of transport, I would’ve been left without alternative means of travel. The hotel receptionists didn’t have a good command of English, and if you pay in USD, you only receive the change in Ethiopian currency.

And I was having a relaxing evening, savoring spaghetti and a big glass of blended avocado, watching the locals walking with herds of mules and donkeys and rickshaws at twilight through the fading light.

Heading towards Afrera

The driver named Sisay, who was also Aman Ethiopia Tours’ guide, greeted me alongside 3 other tourists in a family from Japan - the spouse Megi and Sho and Megi’s mother - Ichiko. Although younger than me, the couple had been on a world trip; they came to Ethiopia after completing the southern Africa, and would head to South America next. For Ichiko, now in her 60s, visiting Danakil was the dream of her youth that finally she could fulfill.

During the initial part of the journey, roads were in good condition, allowing our van to dash through the semi-arid desert, sometimes we could even spot camels by roadside. As the road surface was flat, the sunshine over it created the illusion resembling water splashes in the distance. In regions where water is abundant, I may think they are doing it to cool the roads, but in Afar, water is a luxury.

As far as we were heading north, we started to spot the not very high mountains which helped to make the landscape less monotonous. The road wound in smooth curving lines, up and down the gentle slopes.

Once encountering the black-brown mountains, it serves as a signal that you are in the proximity of a geographic area formed by volcanic activities.

Afrera is a relatively bustling town situated near the lake sharing its name. It’s known for salt mining activities, and the harvested salt is then distributed to customers throughout Ethiopia.

There we took a lunch break in a modest, ill-lit house without electricity, where the heat caused us to sweat like hell. Despite the condition, the steamed rice served with tomato sauce tasted very delicious; our driver also offered everyone to try injera with fiery sauce, and we the Asians admired the Africans’ ability to eat such spicy food in the sweltering environment, as we relied on Sprite to cool that hot feeling. After the meal, we bought large bottles of water to quench our incessant thirst.

The local people have to rely on water delivered by tank trucks from distant locations and on bottled water, which explains the piles of emptied bottles behind the dwellings. The toilet consists merely of a hole constructed with stone slabs, perhaps the waste water just swiftly evaporates or seeps into the dry ground.

If you inquire about the source of water in these saline lakes, it’s the rivers and streams that feed them. The most notable among those is the Awash River - one flows entirely inside Ethiopia without reaching the Red Sea. As it moves downstream, the water from the Awash River rapidly evaporates, resulting in a chain of saline lakes, including Lake Afrera.

Traverse the Desert

It’s mid afternoon and the sun casted its blazing rays across the desert. The wild landscape was mesmerizingly beautiful, yet incredibly unforgiving.

The driver had to stop by a security checkpoint to obtain a permit letter, and we welcomed a new member: an armed guard who would accompany us for the upcoming leg of our trip. Due to past incidents of local assaults on tourists, it has become a common practice for each Danakil tour group to include a security personnel.

Occasionally we came across miniature tornadoes swirling over the sands and herds of animals (predominantly goats) nonchalantly feeding on the grasslands. These were the scarce signs of life before venturing into an area nearly devoid of living creatures. With temperature soaring to 40°C, we had no choice but to go to the ‘toilet’ behind parched shrubs, which was an arduous experience.

Reaching Assale

At last, the long white trails along the horizon signaled our arrival. Assale (also known as Lake Karum) is a vast saltwater lake, encircled by a salt pan covered by a thin layer of water. As we ventured further into the lake, this layer of water gradually deepened, yet there’s no abrupt transition.

We were all astounded by that one-of-a-kind beauty in front of us. Nature always has its way to surprise human. The Japanese tourists continuously uttered ‘sugoi’, expressing their admiration.

I could sense time was standing still right there, right then.

Judging by photographs, one might mistake this location for the freezing Arctic; however, in reality, it was characterized by intense heat and the glaring sun reflecting on our faces.

No word could capture the pristine splendor of the scenery at that moment, of the sunset sky shifting through its colorful appearances. I wondered, if suddenly I were to find myself alone and lost there, would I enjoy it, or anxiously seek the way back in the darkness?

We continued our way to the location where a few rocky hills stood in isolation amidst the vast salt flat. There’re some other groups also convening there. Night had fallen, and I could feel a sense of solitude despite being in the company of others, akin to the experience in my trip to Hunder sand dunes in Nubra.

There located a small saltwater pond, reminding me of the tales of a giant whose footprints left behind lakes and swamps upon the ground. This pond unveils the larger body of water concealed beneath the crusty salt surface. Upon our return from Dallol the following day, everyone would have a chance to immerse himself in this pond without fear of drowning. Beware, a few seconds of dipping your hands into its water can leave them coated in a layer of white salt particles.

The magnificent sunset now enveloped the gently sloped mountains in the distance.

Overnight Rest at Hamed Ela

Our van returned to the small Hamed Ela village right amidst the desert after about half an hour driving in the darkness. I could only feel that the van had waded through the lake water. The driver explained that this thin layer of water was due to an uncommon rainfall on the previous day.

It’s hardly a rest, but rather a completely… uncomfortable experience. Blasting wind brought along dust, and we found difficulties setting up beds in such an exposed space. There weren’t many lamps, no tents as well, but only the faint glow emitted from the makeshift kitchen which would serve dinner to the tourist groups. There’s no toilet available, so everyone had to find by himself a secluded spot in the darkness to deal with personal matters.

I struggled for minutes to setup my tripod, by the way, the most precious gift was the star-studded sky right overhead, with a soft trail of the Milky Way cutting through.

For a person with his traveling mode on, a restless night or a day without bath should be adapted to swiftly. In exchange for that hardship, at times opening my eyes upon a sudden awakening, I could entirely see the boundless universe. It’s beautiful, and unforgettable.