CLIMATE & TEMPERATURE AT DALLOL DEPRESSION, ETHIOPIA

Challenge the heat of desert temperatures during these amazing Dallol Depression tours to see the Erta Ale volcano crater, the salt winning, camel caravans and the hot sulphur springs

Climate & Temperatures Ethiopia Dallol Depression

Read all about the Dallol Depression, Ethiopia its brutal 45-50  temperatures, its  unrelenting dust-laden winds and hyperaridity. Salt Lake Assale features bright yellow Dallol sulfur springs, and is 6 hours from the Erta Ale volcano. 3 tectonic plates press against each other, causing the land to sink below sea level. To get to the lowlands, one travels from Mekele to Berahile. While everybody mentions the heat, nobody talks about the sandblasting and sky-covering winds. My first time was in February. We arrived in base camp Hamed Ale. By 5 PM, a fierce wind started picking up, which made our planned sleeping in the open air impossible. We were literally sandblasted. As we left for Erta Ale the next day, the sky was extremely hazy with a visibility of a few hundred meters. I remember my first time visit in February. As we arrived in base camp Hamed Ela, a fierce wind picked up and made our planned sleeping in the open air impossible. We were literally sand blasted. As we continued the next day on our way to Erta Ale, the sky was milky hazy with dust and a visibility of a few hundred meters, which calmed down again at the lower base camp of the volcano. When we arrived - after the visit of the volcano - the next day, at Lake Afrera, the water was covered with foam, blown by strong winds. You want to know this kind of info, to prepare you mentally for what you may expect. Wind proof tents are essential to take along.

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.

The climate of Ethiopia Dallol depression is brutal with temperatures rising above 50^oC frequently. In fact the Dallol Desert is the hottest place on earth and and has the harshest climate of Ethiopia. The Awash River from the South East, never reaches the ocean as it evaporates in the Afar Triangle. The lowest point of the desert is Lake Assale and the second lowest area is Lake Afrera. Lake Asale or Assale used to be connected to the Red Sea, and after it was cut off the water evaporated, leaving enormous salt deposits. For millennia the salt deposits of Lake Assale provided wealth to the Ethiopian empire, as the Afar mined salt and shipped the salt on their camels caravans over great distances to Asia. Lake Afrera is an alkaline water which is commercially used for salt extraction from salt pans along the of the lake.

Most the Afar people are semi-nomadic pastoralists while some engage themselves in salt mining and transportation.

The Dallol sulphur hot springs are located at an abandoned salt mine site along the shore of Lake Assale.

The Dallol Depression is geologically extremely active and is scattered with many active volcanoes, of which the Dallol Erta Ale Volcano crater is the most famous, while the entire Afar Triangle is covered with lava beds almost everywhere.

The Afar Triangle has also become know for the archaeological finding place of then oldest homonid fossil at a place called Hadar and which was dubbed Lucy after the Beatles song.

To get an impression of the climate:

The heat during the Dallol depression tour are challenging but most rewording:

Dallol Expedition

Our Ethiopia safaris include this Ethiopia Desert Route module. Be aware that the Dallol Depression has no comfortable accommodations and only has one road traversing it, which does not reach some of the most interesting places like the sulfur springs, the Afar salt mining site and the Erta Ale Volcano. Tourists are accommodated in tents and primitive structures, while food and water is brought along. 

Ethiopia's lowest place, Lake Assale, 115 m below sea level.

Salt Formations

Salt cliffs and other salt formations at Lake Assale.

The sulphur hot springs at the former Dallol salt mine, are continuously changing location, which leads to dead geyser-heads in the landscape.

A Hot lake at in the Dallol desert with saucer shaped formations and coloured crystal development in the water.

The Sulfur hot springs at the former Dallol mining camp with colors varying from ochre, lemon yellow, snow white to lime green.

Afar Salt Mining

The cutting of salt tiles at the Afar mining site.

Camels and donkeys waiting to get loaded for the salt transport to Berahile.

Afar Tribe

The Afar are herders living in very harsh climate conditions, with hardly any rainfall, extreme temperatures and strong winds loaded with sand and dust. Their homes are made from woven mats to keep out the dust and sand.  

Afar women and children.

Wading in Lake Afrera.

Wildlife of the Dallol Desert

Wildlife in the Dallol Depression is extremely rare and threatened, but some species still hang on to their survival. You will not see a great variety of species, even among the birds, sightings are rare. However, some very exiting species still are around and if you see them, it will be a very rewarding encounter.

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 Mek'ele to continue from there to Lalibela.

CLIMATE & TEMPERATURE AT DALLOL DEPRESSION, ETHIOPIA