15 Days Afar Danakil Depression

Overview

Day by day itinerary

1. 1Arrival Addis Ababa⌄

   Meet at Bole International airport and transfer to hotel. The rest of the day is exploring the town of Addis Ababa including National Museum to view the 3.6 million year old remains of Lucy, whose skeletal remains were discovered in 1974.

   Beside we will also visit the Holy Trinity Cathedral and in time permitting the Mount Entoto which rises up to an altitude of 3200 meters and offers the panoramic view of the metropolis and Mercato the open market.

   Meals: Lunch · Dinner

   Overnight: Overnight Hotel

2. 2Addis Ababa - Awash⌄

   Drive from Addis Ababa to Awash Town, which is located in the central part of the rift valley system 250 km from Addis Ababa, the best place to familiarize with the weather and meet the Kereyu people a step into a quieter, calmer and more natural world enjoy swimming the natural hot spring and game drive in the Awash national park.

   Meals: Lunch · Dinner

   Overnight: Overnight Hotel

3. 3Awash – Semera⌄

   Drive to Semera, the capital city of the afar regional state, Here we will finish some paper works- permits for the visit then we continue to a small town called Logia for An overnight stay.

   Meals: Lunch · Dinner

   Overnight: Overnight Hotel

4. 4Semera - Afdera⌄

   We drive to Afdera via Serdo. P.M visit the manual salt mining on Lake Afedera and facilitate the permit paper from the regional tourist office. Here some more people will accompany us (local guide and scout).

   Meals: Lunch · Dinner

   Overnight: Overnight Hotel

5. 5Afdera - Erta Alle⌄

   Drive from Afdera to Dodom. At Dodum we will start walking to Erta Alle Volcanic hills (613 meters above sea level) which is 15kms one way. We arrive to Erta Alle around mid-night and walk to see the volcanic eruption. We will camp nearby the eruption considering the direction of the wind because of the volcanic acid which is not good for health, anytime any one can see or take a picture. To get Best pictures of the volcano will be a night shooting.

   Meals: Lunch · Dinner

   Overnight: Overnight Camping

6. 6Erta Alle - Hamed Ela⌄

   We walk back 15 km from Erta Alle back to Dodum and meet the vehicles and drive to Hamed Ela.

   Meals: Lunch · Dinner

   Overnight: Overnight Camping at Hamed Ela

7. 7Hamed Ela - Berhale⌄

   Drive to the Lake Asale, salty Lake and visit the salt workers and the merchant from the highland the salt market and the lake and proceed 17 km to Dalol and enjoy the spectacular view and small hill which is colorful by hot spring in several places. The hot spring out with the sulfurs, potash and salt it forms spectacular formation.

   Meals: Lunch · Dinner

   Overnight: Overnight Camping at Berhale

8. 8Berhale - Mekele⌄

   Drive from Berhale to Mekele-the capital of Tigray region on the way visit the Afar village over the escarpment of the Great Rift Valley to the western highland.

   Meals: Lunch · Dinner

   Overnight: Overnight Hotel

9. 9Mekele - Axum⌄

   Drive to Axum on the way visiting the Tigray rock churches; Wukro Cherquos.

   And also we will spot Yeha the Temple of moon dated back to the seventh century before Christ.

   Meals: Lunch · Dinner

   Overnight: Overnight Hotel

10. 10Axum⌄

    This well-laid-out museum inside the Northern Stelae Field contains an interesting variety of objects found in the tombs, ranging from ordinary household objects, such as lamps and incense burners, to quite sophisticated glassware.

    The structure at Dungur is popularly known as Queen of Sheba’s Palace, though archaeologists are divided over whether it was the great woman's palace or the 6th-century-AD mansion of a nobleman. Most leaned towards the latter, but the find during recent excavations of a relief carving depicting a beautiful woman (in the museum at St Mary of Zion Church) has caused some to wonder whether her palace may lie beneath the current ruins.

    The ruins of the ancient city of Aksum are found close to Ethiopia's northern border. They mark the location of the heart of ancient Ethiopia, when the Kingdom of Aksum was the most powerful state between the Eastern Roman Empire and Persia. The massive ruins, dating from between the 1st and the 13th century A.D., include monolithic obelisks, giant stelae, royal tombs and the ruins of ancient castles. Long after its political decline in the 10th century, Ethiopian emperors continued to be crowned in Aksum.

    Set on a small hill 1.8km northeast of the Northern Stelae Field and offering views of the jagged mountains of Adwa are these two tombs that local tradition attributes to the 6th-century King Kaleb and his son, King Gebre Meskel. Although the twin tombs’ architecture resembles the Tomb of the False Door, they show more sophistication, using irregular-shaped, self-locking stones that don’t require iron clamps.

    Though religions have come and gone, Aksum has always remained a holy city – welcome to the centre of the universe for Christian Ethiopians. A church of some form has stood here since the earliest days of Ethiopian Christianity and it was God himself who, descending from heaven, indicated that a church should be built here, though the original church is long gone. The complex includes the new church, old church, museum and the chapel said to house the Ark of the Covenant.

    Meals: Lunch · Dinner

    Overnight: Overnight Hotel

11. 11Axum - Lalibela⌄

    At a morning fly to Lalibela, after check in to Hotel start your day tour of the remarkable rock hewn churches of Lalibela, regarded as the eighth wonder of the world by many scholars and a UNESCO World Heritage site. This group of eleven monolithic and semi-monolithic structures were carved directly into the stone of the mountainside at least 800 years ago. This complex boasts the largest monolithic church in the world, a maze of passageways and tunnels, intricately carved reliefs, and fabulous examples of icon paintings.

    Meals: Lunch · Dinner

    Overnight: Overnight Hotel

12. 12Lalibela - Gondar⌄

    Fly to Gondar and exploring the town of Gondar that includes the buildings that make up the Royal Enclosure and the baths of Fassilides , a UNESCO World Heritage site featuring five castles built by a succession of Ethiopian Kings beginning in the early 17th century and Debre Berhan Selassie Church, perhaps the country’s most famous Church famous for its religious art and especially its iconic ceiling depicting angels.

    Meals: Lunch · Dinner

    Overnight: Overnight Hotel

13. 13Gondar - Bahir Dar⌄

    Drive to Bahir dar175km which takes about 4 hours with photo stops. Afternoon Drive to the Tis Isat Village and visit the Blue Nile Falls. This misty deluge produces rainbows that shimmer across the gorge as well as a small perennial rainforest of lush green vegetation, to the delight of the many monkeys and multi-colored birds that inhabit the region.

    Meals: Lunch · Dinner

    Overnight: Overnight Hotel

14. 14Bahir Dar⌄

    Take a boat tour on Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile, and visit ancient island monasteries over the islands such as Ura Kidanemihret and Azoa Mariam.

    Meals: Lunch · Dinner

    Overnight: Overnight Hotel

15. 15Bahir Dar - Addis Ababa⌄

    Fly back to Addis Upon arrival we will have more sightseeing’s in Addis Ababa that includes Ethnographic Museum and St. George Cathedral. At evening we dine a fair well dinner at in a traditional restaurant with folklore music and dances then transfer to airport.

    Meals: Lunch · Dinner

    Overnight: Departure