Camel trekking in Djibouti

DAY 1 Visit of the city of 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.

Morning : Ryad market and visit Arhiba with a local guide. It is a poor neighborhood touching the large market of Riyadh; here the visitor receives a warm welcome, people greet us, children laugh.

At the Ryad market there are stalls selling fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, shoes, clothing, etc.

Lunch in an Indian restaurant

Afternoon: visit of the square of June 27 (former Menelik): one of the historic hearts of Djibouti with its colonial-style buildings, beautiful hotels and restaurants. Visit of Mahmoud Harbi Square (formerly Arthur Rimbaud Square); here the bus station of the city adjoins the oldest mosque of Djibouti; activity is very dense with its shopping streets all around: the «caisses», the 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.

DAY 2 On the Lac Abbé planet

Morning : From Djibouti to Dikhil, we take a 120 km asphalted road, the main route taken by Ethiopian truckers from the port of Djibouti to Addis Ababa, to import the goods needed for the country's economy.

We will cross the semi-desert expanses of the Petit Bara then the Grand Bara where we will observe mirages and swirls of sand.

Lunch at the restaurant in Dikhil

Afternoon After Dikhil, we leave the road to cover 80 km of sometimes sandy tracks. We pass through the villages of As Eyla and Koutabouya. At the end of the route, we may spot some warthogs.

On the border between Ethiopia and Djibouti, Lake Abbé offers a unique panorama. Its limestone chimneys offer a lunar landscape, much sought-after by photographers from all over the world, particularly at sunrise and sunset.

The sulphurous scents wafting from the numerous fumaroles have given the lake its name. 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!

Arrival in the evening at Lac Abbé to watch the sunset

Evening meal and overnight at Lac Abbé camp

DAY 3 Stage 1 of the Lac Abbé-Lac Assal trek –

Morning: sunrise and flamingo viewing before departure

1st stage: about 6 hours walk: from Lac Abbé to Dakha (Bi'Ida region) north-east of the Lac Abbé camp.

From breakfast, we leave for the first stage of our trek.

The day before our camel drivers literally sewed our packs of water bottles into large bags that are attached to the camels with the rest of our «stewardship»: cots, blankets, food for 5 days…

This stage, the shortest of our journey, will begin with a climb; once the plateau is reached, we enjoy the superb panorama of Lake Abbé behind us.

Lunch on the way

Bivouac in Dakha

DAY 4: Stage 2 of the Lac Abbé - Lac Assal trek

From Dakha to Alé (Dawwano region): 7-hour walk

To accompany our breakfast, our camel drivers offer us the beverage they concoct based «camel grass», excellent for the palate and kidneys!

Bivouac in Alé

Today, as every day, our camels will have carried out 4 operations of loading/ unloading of dromedaries: 1^er loading in the morning before departure, unloading and loading during the meridian break, unloading in the evening for the bivouac.

DAY 5: Stage 3 of the Lac Abbé - Lac Assal trek

From Alé to Yoboki- 7 hours walk

We cut a track that leads right to Dikhil.

Bivouac near the village of Yoboki

We spend another night under the stars imagining that Henri de Monfreid, Kessel or Rimbaud have established their bivouac not far from there…

DAY 6: Stage 4 trek lac Abbé- lac Assal

From Yoboki to Gaggadé: 7.30 hours walk

On our way, we make a stop at a water point overlooking the Gaggadé, where men and animals refresh themselves.

This stage is longer than those of the previous 3 days, it is surely the most tiring; we will first cross a mountainous area before descending to the Gaggadé desert that we will only tangle from the north.

The Gaggade is a depression bordered by sand dunes and palm groves, a paleo-lake located at 100 m altitude and formerly connected to Lake Assal by the channel of the wadi Kalou. It is now a large desert plain where the nomadic livestock (cattle, goats) and gazelles coexist.

As every day we stop in a shaded place between 12 and 15 hours for lunch and avoid walking at the hottest hours of the day.

Bivouac in Gaggadé

DAY 7 : Stage 5 and final stage of the Lac Abbé - Lac Assal trek

From Gaggadé through the Kalou River to Assal Lake: 8 hours of hiking

We finish in beauty with the longest and most contrasting stage of the trek; indeed it leads us to the sea ice, through the wadi Kalou appreciated for its rocky «basins» suitable for swimming.

We picnic in the shade, in a canyon near a water point.
Then we tackle the last climb to the top of which, supreme reward, the spectacle of Lake Assal is offered to us.

The landscape is unique in the world; the adventurous writer Joseph Kessel has well described the 3 circles of Lake Assal: the black circle of volcanic stones surrounding the circle formed by the sea ice, with the blue circle of Lake Assal water in the middle. Significant moment of respite, we descend towards the sea ice of salt on which we will walk for about 2 kms before reaching the place whe

We will take the time to bathe at Lake Assal on the way back to Djibouti in three days as we ship fresh water for the shower; plastic shoes are needed to avoid getting hurt on sharp salt crystals.                                                                                With a little luck, we will cross a caravan of camels loaded with bags of salt.

Located 153 meters below sea level, Lake Assal, the lowest point of the African continent, is saltier than the Dead Sea (more than 300 grams of salt per liter of water). This added to the very high evaporation due to the intense heat that prevails there, explains that salt has been exploited there for hundreds of years. No living organism can survive in the waters of Lake Assal.

Note: On request, we can organise a bivouac on site so that you can enjoy the sunrise the next day. From here, it is also possible to walk to the Ardoukoba volcano after an approach in a 4×4 vehicle.

4 X4 trip from Lake Assal to Tadjourah

Dinner at Ras Ali camp by the sea near Tadjourah

Overnight at Ras Ali camp

DAY 8 Underwater wildlife show in Ras Ali

The camp of Ras Ali is located after Tadjourah, at the very edge of the sea, at the end of a track of about ten kilometers. The sanitary facilities are rudimentary for a European, but very adequate and clean. The food is excellent and the site is a paradise for snorkeling. You can also practice kayaking.
Here you'll be amazed by the superb corals and exceptionally varied underwater fauna.

Morning: Snorkelling on the superb Ras Ali drop-off

The camp has kayaks that you can use to go to a young mangrove swamp, for example.

Lunch at Ras Ali camp

Afternoon: departure for the Day camp at <strong

Dinner and night at Day Camp

DAY 9 : Stage 1 of the Goda Mountain trek

The camp of the Day is equipped with straw huts arranged on a space in terraces nicely arranged and raised. Its sanitary facilities are very satisfactory. From this place, it is possible to make excursions in the eponymous primary forest or hikes to the other camps of the Mounts Goda, provided to be a good walker. This camp is also the ideal starting point to visit the site of the rock carvings of Abourma.

Morning : hike from the Day camp to the Bankoualé camp

Lunch in Bankoualé camp

Afternoon: visit to the gardens and the village of Ardo

Dinner and night at the Bankoualé camp

DAY 10 Stage 2 of the Goda Mountains trek 

The Bankoualé camp is set in a green hillside. It's a charming, pleasantly cool place, renowned for its gardens, which are mainly planted with mango and papaya trees.
Rudimentary but effective systems of pipes from the waterfall ensure the water supply, which is also provided by wells equipped with pumps powered by solar panels. These installations are increasingly being destroyed by flooding from the wadi.

Morning: hike from Bankoualé camp to Dittilou camp

Lunch at Dittilou camp

The Dittilou camp consists of about twenty straw huts built on a terraced area. Located in the middle of a green setting at more than 600 m altitude, the place exudes serenity. The sanitary facilities are very clean and functional. A colony of green monkeys provides animation.

Afternoon: visit to Lake Assal and the lava field on the way back to Djibouti

Evening meal in a restaurant in Djibouti and overnight in an Africorne Travel flat

DAY 11 Whale Shark Encounter (visit mid-November to late January)

Morning: 4X4 trip to Arta beach

Whale shark boat trip

As soon as the pilot spotted it, we jumped into the sea to swim above it for a few moments.

From mid-November to the end of January, the chances of swimming with the whale shark are best, but the whale shark remains a wild animal with which it is not possible to make an appointment.

Lunch: on the beach at Arta in the shade of a straw hut

Afternoon: Fins, mask and snorkel on the Arta beach waterfall

Guaranteed underwater spectacle on Arta beach.

Evening meal in a restaurant in Djibouti

Overnight in Africorne Travel flat

DAY 12 Day to Moucha Island

This coral island at the entrance to the Gulf of Tadjourah is ideal for relaxation and idleness.
We'll reach it after just 30 minutes by boat.
Le repas de midi sera pris sur l’île à l’ombre d’un faré
Our boat will take us just a few hundred metres from the beach to enjoy the underwater flora and fauna.

Scuba diving is available for an additional fee.

Africorne Travel can offer you on 8 days, a stay focused on diving (4 days) with visit the other days of land sites; our trips are entirely tailor-made, do not hesitate to contact us to suggest a course à la carte.

Evening meal in a restaurant in Djibouti

Overnight in Africorne Travel flat

DAY 13 Snorkeling Day on Khorambado Beach

It takes a good 4 X4 vehicle to get off at Khorambado. Not far from Djibouti, the site is interesting for snorkeling (east side). Some «local color» huts, installed by the sea, provide the shade and the necessary meal to spend a very pleasant day.

Return to Djibouti late afternoon

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....

Transfer to Djibouti airport