The Danakil Depression & Lake Abbe

Grand Barra

Djibouti National Flag

For the next couple days I had to arrange for a 4WD to take me to two distinctly different lakes. Both of these lakes are geologically unique in their own rights. The first one on the list was Lake Abbe which Lonely Planet lists as among the 10 unearthly landscapes on earth and, it’s so spectacularly unreal that the original Planet of the Apes movie was filmed here.

The lake lies at the junction of the Danakil Depression where the three pieces of Earth's crust are pulling away from each other creating the depressed region which is one of the most inhospitable regions on the planet with a desiccated landscape and extremely hot temperatures.

Parched lands of the Grand Barra

Geologically, it is also one of the most active places on earth and in general the whole region is remote, hostile, and arid with spectacular desert landscapes. The lake itself is shared by Ethiopia and Djibouti but the most bizarre feature of the lake which is a collection of hundreds of limestone chimneys some towering over 50 meters are found on the Djibouti side of the lake.

Our 4WD from hill top

The camel gets the right of way in Djibouti

The towering chimneys are said to have been formed by hot springs when the region that is the present day Lake Abbe was a deep sea. This activity is still taking place albeit on a smaller scale and slower pace due to the several hot springs that dot the region.

Our Driver buying Khat

Town of Dikhil

The road leading to Lake Abbe was rudimentary to say the least and hence the need for a 4X4. The cost of the 2-day trip was pretty steep and I was fortunate that I met Mike from England, who had the same plans which allowed us to split the costs which included a driver and a guide.

Driving through the depression

We convinced our guide to leave early so that we could see as much as possible during daylight. As we headed south of Djibouti city we passed along the grand Barra which is a flat and utterly barren desert plain.  The roads used by 4WD...shift with time After the Grand Barra plains we took a detour to head to the border town of Ali Sabieh. This region is the most active borders between Djibouti and Ethiopia since all the goods to and fro Ethiopia moves through this border. The town was nothing to write home about but I suspect the reason why the guide and the driver took us here was because they wanted to buy some cheap Khat. 

Village of 'As 'Ela



Kids at 'As 'Ela

Chewing Khat is analogous to chewing tobacco except that the Khat leaves are fresh (most potent and hence preferred) rather than dried or semi-dried. The main effects of chewing Khat are a moderate degree of euphoria and excitation but habitual use in exceptional cases is said to lead to mild dependence.

Digging for water

After lunch we set off toward the town of Dikhil where the sealed road ends and the real need for 4X4 is felt.

Afari man

As I was a little drowsy I tired a little Khat to see how it tastes and what effects it has and I can safely confirm that it did have the effect of waking me up though not sure if it was the Khat itself or just the process of chewing something. Its taste and texture was similar to chewing any other herb and the experience was probably similar to chewing coca leaves in Peru.

Along the way we got a couple sighting of Thompson’s gazelles and more barren expanses of land. A couple hours or so driving through the desert and we encounter the last village before the Lake called as “As ‘Ela”. This village had a somewhat frontier feel to it and seems straight out of a western movie with its hot and dusty feel sans the cowboys, hookers, guns and horses. Instead we saw basic huts, camels, shy Afari women and Afari men with daggers and last but not the least children playing futbol in this remote corner of the world too.

Approaching the chimneys of the lake 

Landscape changes to grassland with warthogs nibbling at the grass

A little further we came across a few women digging for water on a dry river bed. This typified how parched the land is and how difficult life is for the locals who have to routinely dig for water for their daily consumption.

It took a lot of convincing the lady to allow me to take a picture of her because the Afari people are extremely fierce when it comes to protecting their culture. It’s not uncommon for them to fiercely object to pictures being taken of them or their belongings including camels, homes and villages. Fortunately for us, we had a few empty seats in our 4WD and were transporting a few Afari’s which helped in alleviating their fears and allowed me to interact with them.



I was not going to let slip the opportunity of tasting the water either so with a small prayer that I don’t get sick I drank a little and soon it was time to move on towards the lake since we had planned to get there an hour or so before sunset. By they way, it’s been more than 10 days since I drank the water and I am still doing ok fine.

Algae and salt lined lake shore

A further hour or so on the now dusty and rocky desert and we started to encounter small pods of grass which looked totally out of place. This was an indication that we were approaching the lake.

An Afar tribeswomen hearding cattle

Sunset at Lake Abbe

Once we reached the lake the sight was one to behold …here we were traversing for the entire day through a hot, barren and rocky desert and suddenly we see a huge green tinged lake surrounded by salt flats on one side and alien looking chain of chimneys on the other side. In between these two contrasting images we could see the Afari cattle herders taking their livestock back home on the parched land and in the distance gazelles and warthogs grazing with a smattering of birds flocking the lake shores.

Our Afari accomodation

We soaked the sight until sunset and then walked back to our camp run by local Afari tribesmen overlooking the lake where we were served some of the best tea with herbs I have ever had.

Soon after than we were treated to a sumptuous meal and it was time to call it a night but instead I decided to make the most of the full moon by heading to the edge of the camp and sitting on one of the boulders gazing at the distant chimneys still faintly visible in the moonlight.