Lovers of prehistory will appreciate the visit of Abourma, a site of rock engravings over nearly 2 kilometers: dating from the Neolithic era, it was not until 2008 that it was listed by French archaeologists.
This trip will enable you to take full advantage of the wide range of sites and activities offered by the country on land and sea: swimming on 3 beaches with marvellous underwater fauna and flora: Ras Ali, Ras Bir, and Korambado or Moucha, pirogue excursion in the Godoria mangrove swamp.
You can even try to approach the whale shark in Arta during the season with a maximum probability of swimming above it for a few moments!
You will discover the mythical Lake Assal whose beauty inspired the writer-adventurer J Kessel...
You will spend a night at Lake Abbé to enjoy its sunrise and sunset in the middle of the chimneys, and approach its pink flamingos; Rumor has it that its lunar landscape was used as a backdrop for the movie "Planet of the Apes"...even if it isn't, that doesn't take anything away from the extraordinary character of the place!
Not forgetting an invigorating foray into the lush green landscapes of the Goda Mountains.
JOUR 1 : Visite de la ville de Djibouti
Meet at the airport and transfer to your accommodation before a city tour or departure to the interior of the country following the program of the stay.
Matin : marché de Ryad et visite d’Arhiba avec un guide habitant le quartier. Il s’agit d’un quartier pauvre touchant le grand marché de Ryad ; ici le visiteur reçoit un accueil chaleureux, les gens nous saluent, les enfants rient. At the Ryad market there are stalls selling fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, shoes, clothing, etc.
Lunch in an Indian restaurant Après-midi : visite de la place du 27 juin (ex-place Ménélik) : un des cœurs historiques de Djibouti avec ses bâtiments à l’architecture de style colonial, ses beaux hôtels et restaurants. Visite de la place Mahmoud Harbi (ex-place Arthur Rimbaud) ; ici la gare routière de la ville jouxte la plus ancienne mosquée de Djibouti ; l’activité est très dense avec ses rues commerçantes tout autour : les « caisses », la rue des Mouches….
Depending on your day and time of arrival in Djibouti, we will go to the DECAN shelter. It is an animal park near Djibouti, where animals from the country and other regions of Africa have been collected.
Evening meal in Djibouti
Night: apartment of Africorne Travel – Africorne Travel offers you a comfortable and air-conditioned apartment where you can spend the night and where you will be prepared the breakfast you want. Of course, hotel accommodation will be booked if you prefer.
JOUR 2 Journée à Arta – 55 kms
Morning: Trajet en 4 X 4 jusqu’à la plage d’Arta – Excursion en bateau au large de la plage – nous serons « déposés » à des endroits où la faune et la flore sous-marines sont superbes.
Entre mi-novembre et fin janvier, nous aurons les plus grandes chances de rencontrer le requin-baleine (1)- Lorsque le pilote repère le requin-baleine, vous sautez dans l’eau avec palmes, masque et tuba pour nager quelques secondes avec l’animal ; une fois qu’il a disparu dans les profondeurs de l’océan, vous remontez dans le bateau pour tenter une nouvelle rencontre – l’excursion dure entre 1H30 et 2 heures.
Lunch: on the beach of Arta in the shade of a straw hut
AfternoonFins, mask and snorkel on the pebble beach of Arta: amazement guaranteed!
(1)bien qu’étant des animaux sociables, il n’est pas possible de fixer un rendez-vous aux requins -baleines ; par conséquent la rencontre avec eux, même probable à cette période, n’est jamais certaine.
Return to Djibouti at the end of the afternoon
Evening meal: restaurant in Djibouti
Night: Africorne Travel apartment
DAY 3 From Djibouti to the Day camp via Lake Assal - 230 kms
Morning: departure from Djibouti early in the morning. About forty kms before reaching Lake Assal, we will stop to admire the grandiose landscape of the Dimbiya canyon nicknamed the “Grand Canyon of Djibouti”….
A few kilometres further on, another stop at the stele of B. Borrel, the French magistrate whose partially charred body was found at the bottom of the cliff on the morning of 18 October 1995. The "Borrel affair" soured relations between Djibouti and France for several years.
Then we leave the road to take the “access ramp” to Lake Assal. Located 153 meters below sea level, Lake Assal is one of the saltiest in the world (more than 300 grams of salt per liter of water). This fact, added to the very high evaporation due to the intense heat that reigns there, explains why salt has been mined here for hundreds of years. No living organism can survive in the waters of Lake Assal. We will be able to bathe there because we embark the fresh water for the essential shower avoiding being transformed into a statue of salt (lol); plastic shoes are necessary to avoid injury from the sharp salt crystals.
The very high temperatures that prevail in this place do not make it very hospitable, but its legendary beauty, described in particular by the adventurer writer J. Kessel, makes it a site not to be missed.
On request, we can organize a bivouac on site to enjoy the sunrise the next day, and hike to the Ardoukoba volcano, after an approach in a 4×4 vehicle.
Lunch: picnic on the beach at Le Goubet in the shade of a hardstand, facing Ile du Diable and close to the shark pit.
Afternoon: nous empruntons la superbe piste du Day menant au campement à 1500 m d’altitude depuis la nationale ou depuis Randa.
Le campement du Day est équipé de huttes rondes disposées sur un espace en terrasses joliment agencé et arboré. Ses installations sanitaires sont très satisfaisantes. A partir de cet endroit, il est possible de faire des excursions dans la forêt primaire éponyme ou bien des randonnées jusqu’aux autres campements des monts Goda, à condition d’être un bon marcheur. Ce campement est aussi le point de départ idéal pour se rendre sur le site des gravures rupestres d’Abourma.
Evening meal and night at the Day camp
JOUR 4 Visite des gravures rupestres d’Abourma ou randonnée pédestre
Morning: The engravings of Abourma, that is to be deserved! After 2 hours of bad track, we leave our vehicle at the end of a wadi (in the shade), and we leave for 1h30 of walk before reaching the first engraved rocks. The engravings dated from the Neolithic, very well preserved, represent animals (some disappeared like giraffes) as well as scenes of combat or hunting. The site, listed in 2008 by French archaeologists, unfolds the engravings over a length of 2 km.
Autre possibilité: randonner jusqu’au mont du marabout Abayazid (sommet du Day) à travers la forêt primaire qui se meurt, mais qui reste verdoyante en de nombreux endroits (figuier étrangleur, genévriers, oliviers…); la durée de la marche aller-retour est d’environ 5 heures- possibilité d’approche en 4X4.
Lunch on site
Afternoon: Departure to Ras Ali camp after Tadjourah, by the Randa track.
We will stop to admire the impressive strangler fig tree of Randa before continuing our journey to Tadjourah where we will take a well deserved refreshment on the corniche.
Le campement de Ras Ali est situé après Tadjourah, tout au bord de la mer, au bout d’une piste de 7 kilomètres. Les installations sanitaires sont rudimentaires pour un européen, mais très convenables et propres. La cuisine est excellente et le site est paradisiaque pour le snorkeling. Vous pourrez aussi pratiquer le kayak jusqu’à la mangrove naissante.
Evening meal and night at Ras Ali camp
DAY 5 From Ras Ali to Ras Bir - 100 kms
Morning: Swimming, snorkeling, kayaking on Ras Ali beach
Lunch at Ras Ali camp
Afternoon Departure to Ras Bir camp after Obock
In Obock we will visit the house of Governor Lagarde, a vestige of the French colonization that started in Obock and we will go to the marine cemetery which gathers the graves of French soldiers who died of fevers between 1885 and 1889.
Evening meal and night at the Ras Bir camp located on the seaside, less than ten kilometres after Obock
JOUR 6 De la mangrove de Godoria au campement de Bankoualé
Morning: visite du phare de Ras Bir – ne partez pas trop vite, 250 marches sont à gravir avant d’arriver en haut.
Then we will continue the trail northwards to the Godoria mangrove where a pirogue ride awaits us.
Nous aurons peut-être la chance d’observer des autruches entre Ras Bir et Godoria.
Return to Ras Bir camp for lunch
Afternoon: trajet jusqu’au campement de Bankoualé via une superbe piste vallonée
Dinner and night at the Bankoualé camp
JOUR 7 De Bankoualé à Djibouti
Morning : visite des jardins de part et d’autre de l’oued – visite du village d’Ardo, de son école où les enfants et leur instituteur vous réserve un accueil enthousiaste – possibilité d’achats à la coopérative d’objets artisanaux fabriqués au village.
Déjeuner au campement de Bankoualé (1)
Afternoon: trajet de retour à Djibouti par la route – sur le trajet nous visiterons le champ de lave situé entre Assal et le Goubet, où nous observerons la faille du rift sur quelques mètres, qui à cet endroit ne fait que quelques centimètres de largeur (1)
Diner à Djibouti
Night at Africorne Travel apartment
(1)suivant le jour de la semaine, possibilité d’un retour par le ferry depuis Tadjourah; dans ce cas nous déjeunerons à la Brise de Mer sur le port, et nous visiterons le champ de lave sur le trajet aller par la route
DAY 8 Visit to the Lac Abbé 'planet' 200 kms
Morning: from Djibouti to Dikhil we take an asphalt road for 120 kms; this is the route taken by Ethiopian truckers from the port of Djibouti to Addis Ababa, for the importation of goods necessary for the economy of the country.
We will cross the semi-desert expanses of the Petit Bara and the Grand Bara where we will observe mirages, whirlpools and gazelles with a little luck.
Lunch at the restaurant in Dikhil
Afternoon : after Dikhil, we leave the road, to travel 80 km of sometimes sandy tracks. We will pass through the villages of As Eyla and Koutabouya- We may see Pelzen gazelles; at the end of the route it is common to see warthogs.
Border site between Ethiopia and Djibouti, Lake Abbé presents a unique panorama. Its limestone chimneys offer a lunar landscape, very popular with photographers from all over the world, especially at sunrise and sunset. Even if the first version of the film "Planet of the Apes" was not shot at Lac Abbé, contrary to a rumor, the site is extraordinary.
The sulfur scents wafting from the many fumaroles gave the lake its name. Indeed, Abbé means “rotten”!
The unique landscapes of the chimneys, which can reach 50 metres in height, would almost make us forget the presence of the lake, on whose shores pink flamingos can be observed!
Arrive at the Lac Abbé camp in the evening to watch the sunset.
Evening meal and night at the Lac Abbé camp
Jour 9 Lac Abbé – Djibouti – 220 kms
Morning: We'll have to get up very early to watch the sunrise over the chimneys! Then we'll get close to the pink flamingos on the edge of the lake. We'll also see some boiling water springs.
Then we take the way back to Djibouti.
Lunch at Arta at Sunny Hill, which is the hotel and catering school in the country.
Arta is a charming locality, "perched" at 600 meters above sea level, where the notables of Djibouti have a second home to enjoy the mild temperature, 4 or 5 degrees lower than in Djibouti.
Arrivée à Djibouti en fin d’après-midi: visite de la ville ou du refuge DECAN en fonction du programme effectué lors de la première journée.
Evening meal: Restaurant in Djibouti
Night: Africorne Travel apartment
Jour 10 Journée détente à Korambado ou sur l’île Moucha (1) –15 kms
Snorkeling on the program for this day
Lunch in a straw hut on the beach
A good 4×4 vehicle is needed to go down to Korambado. Not far from Djibouti, the site is interesting for snorkeling (east side). Some "local color" straw huts, installed on the seafront, provide the shade and the meal necessary to spend a very pleasant day.
Evening meal in a restaurant in Djibouti. On the menu: Yemeni fish; the fish, which you choose yourself, is cut into two slices and placed at the bottom of a circular oven....
(1) Moyennant un petit supplément, la journée à Korambado peut être remplacée par une journée à l’île Moucha où les amateurs de plongée avec bouteilles pourront exercer leur passion; dans ce cas la journée sera positionnée sur un autre jour, afin de respecter le délai de sécurité nécessaire de 24 heures entre la dernière plongée et le retour en avion; n’hésitez pas à nous contacter pour nous faire part de vos souhaits afin de vous concocter un séjour entièrement sur-mesure.
In the evening transfer to Djibouti airport
Note: unpredictable events can lead us to modify the program (ex: flooded wadi on the way).
For all your trips in Ethiopia or Djibouti, Africorne Travel planned everything. We do discover extraordinary places, mostly authentics, with all inclusives tours, pre planned our fully customized.
Come to discover rich and exotic landscapes, atypical culture and a strong piece of history through our tours.
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