Itinerary

1. Day 1: Arrival

   • Pick up from Semera airport or hotel and start our day by driving to Erta Ale (which means smoky mountain in the Afar language). Erta Ale ranks as one of the most alluring and physically challenging natural attractions anywhere in Ethiopia. It is a shield volcano with a base diameter of 30 km and a 1km square caldera at its summit. Erta Ale contains the world’s only permanent lava lake. It is 613 meters, with a lava lake, one of only five in the world, at the summit. It is notable for being the longest existing lava lake, present since the early years of the twentieth century.
   • Dinner will be served around 18:00 o’clock. After a short break, trek up to Ertale. (sleeping materials like light mattresses and mats and water will be ready) at the rim of the volcano, where we spend the night watching the dramatic action of the boiling lava.
   • You will spend the night on top of the mountain, at the rim of the Volcano.

2. Day 2: Erbiti and Hamed Ela

   • Early morning sunrise at the northern one corresponds to the main pit crater, and walking 5 minutes for the southern and central pits could either correspond to an ancient pit or a simple collapse structure. The main pit-crater, 200 m deep and 350 m across, is sub-circular and three-storied. The smaller southern pit is 65 m wide and about 100 m deep.
   • Descend from Erta Ale around 8 am after an early breakfast. As soon as possible, drive to reach the mythical Lake Giulietti (or Lake Afrera) (optional; may not be available during summertime), a saltwater lake located more than 100 meters below sea level in one of the deepest depressions of the planet. Because of the picturesque landscape, it is interesting to visit the salt flats where the Afar people obtain the salt by evaporating the water of the lake.
   • Continue to Erbiti and proceed to Abaala/ Hamed Ela. 
   • Overnight Hemed Ela.

3. Day 3: Departure

   • Morning sunrise tour: Drive to Ragad (Asebo), the place where the localities are mining salt. Look at the activity of workers breaking salts from the ground, cutting them into rectangular pieces and loading them on camels. You drive ahead to Dallol and visit the different landscapes formed by volcanic activity, Dallol + Lake Assal + camel caravans.
   • Excursion to Dallol (116 meters below sea level, one of the lowest places in the world), colourful salts mining, visit Lake Assal, follow up with camel caravans (No camel caravans in July, August, and early September), and walk with the Afar people.
   • Drive back to Hamedela and proceed to Semera. And fly back to Addis Ababa. 08:00 PM. Overnight Addis Ababa.