NATIONAL PARKS SAFARIS ETHIOPIA

HIGHLIGHTS, WHERE THEY ARE AND HOW TO VISIT

ERTA ALE VOLCANO, ETHIOPIA

BEST ERTE / ERTA ALE VOLCANO TOUR, Ethiopia, to World's only liquid lava lake, Salt camel caravans, Hot sulfur springs. Visit the Earth's geological playground

Erta Ale Volcano

Learn all about the spectacular Erta Ale lava lake and visit at night to watch the orange glow of molten lava sputter up and move about in a fascinating show of nature's force. The volcano is in the Danakil Depression of Ethiopia, where it is part of the Erta Ale Range. It is 1 of 4 volcanoes worldwide with a lava lake active since its discovery in 1969. A basaltic shield volcano with a 600 X 1700 m caldera or crater, the Erta Ale Volcano is only 613 m high, as it gradually slopes down to a 40 km diameter wide base with solid runs of many kilometers of lava left behind from outburst in the past.

Erta Ale means "smoking mountain" in Afar and is also referred to as the Gateway to Hell and is one of the most fabulous attractions of the Afar depression as the Afar like to call this region in the Afar Triangle.

Erta Ale is centered over the east African rift system which is a triple junction setting that is resulting in the formation of a pull apart basin or rift. May take 5 hours from the hamlet of Hamed Ela cross country.

Climbing can easily take 2 - 3 hours and should be done after 4 or at sun rise, when the temperatures are lower, arriving at the top at late dawn, where there is the top base camp.

Cross country en route on the Erta Ale Volcano Tour in the Danakil Depression.

A temporary Afar hamlet near the Erta Ale Volcano in a lava dominated landscape.

The visitor base camp at the Erta Ale Volcano.

Climbing the Erta Ale Volcano with an Afar guide from the base camp.

Inside the caldera of the Erta Ale Volcano.

Pahoehoe lava in the crater of the Erta Ale Volcano.

Mystified in the glow of the red hot lava during our Erta / Erte Ale Volcano Tour.

Erupting lava in the lava lake of the Erta Ale Volcano at night.

After visiting Lake Assale and the Erta Ale Volcano, it is possible to continue to Lake Afrera and from there to the Lucy site at Hadar, but most people return to Tigray capital Mekele to continue from there to Lalibela.

This Travel module takes you to the Erta Ale Volcano:

A picture is worth a thousand words. Most of our hundreds of pictures are favored in Google! Why? Because no other website has so many beautiful high resolution pictures, all taken by ourselves. Our pictures not only show you the beauty of Ethiopia, but they also show that we have been everywhere when we researched all parks for the Ethiopian Wildlife Autharity, photographing wildlife, plants, people and culture. Read our PDF report to the Government on Parks an Culture! So why consider booking our our Ethiopia Culture & National Parks modules? Because only we combine the culture of Ethiopia with its nature. We don't mislead you like many tour operators do. When the Blue Nile falls are dry.... we tell you. When fog clouds the lava lake of Erte Ale Volcano? We let you know. Just drop us a mail info@nationalparks-worldwide.com  and we will check it out for you.

Our tours take you to ALL famous cultural places of Ethiopia, and on top of that, you get to see up to 20 large parks accompanied by a conservation professional, not a mere guide. There is nothing similar on the market. Check out our tours in modules like: Historical Circuit; Danakil Depression; Eastern Route; Simien Mountains; Bale Mountains; Southern Parks Safari; Gambella; Addis Ababa. BUT WAIT: if you buy your international ticket with Ethiopia Airlines, they will sell the internal flights at a price that you can't even ride the bus for. But you MUST plan it all in one package and making changes may be very costly. So let us help you plan your entire trip and book your local flights for an incredibly low price after you booked your international flight with Ethiopian Airlines! Also: Ethiopia can be combined with other East African countries, we organize.

ERTA ALE VOLCANO, ETHIOPIA