Danakil Depression

The Danakil depression runs into southeastern Eritrea from Ethiopia, ground dropping well below sea level into salt pans, lava fields and hot springs where the Arabian, African and Somali plates are pulling apart and new ocean floor is being made. Afar communities cut salt from the flats and move it by camel. Summer temperatures here are among the highest recorded anywhere on the planet.

What you actually see

• The salt flats - pans below sea level worked by Afar salt cutters.
• The camel caravans - salt moved out by animal across the flats.
• The volcanic ground - lava fields and springs along the rift.
• The plate boundary - the ground where three plates are separating.

When to go

November to February is the cool season and the only practical window. Summer heat here is among the most extreme on earth. Permits are required in any season.

Honest expectations

This is expedition travel needing permits, convoy, guides and full self-sufficiency, and it is rarely arranged on the Eritrean side. Heat is genuinely lethal outside the cool months. Some ground remains restricted.

Nearby

Assab is southeast, and the Buri peninsula is north.