Hiker's trail

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.

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.

DAY 2 in Arta to meet the whale shark 55 kms

Morning: excursion en bateau à la rencontre du requin baleine; dès que le pilote l’aperçoit nous sautons à la mer pour nager quelques instants au-dessus de lui. La sortie dure environ 2 heures.

Lunch in the shade of a straw hut on Arta beach

Afternoon: Flippers, mask and snorkel on the drop off of Arta beach; the underwater fauna and flora offer us a marvelous spectacle here.

Return to Djibouti at the end of the afternoon

Evening meal: restaurant in Djibouti

Night: Africorne Travel apartment

DAY 3 From Djibouti to Ras Ali 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 swim in it, because we take on board the fresh water essential for the shower after the bath; 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.

If you wish, it is possible to bivouac on site to watch the sunrise the next day; the site can be the starting point for an excursion to the Ardoukoba volcano, after a 4X4 approach.

Lunch: picnic on the beach at Goubet in the shade of a hard site, facing Devil's Island and near the shark pit, visited at the time by Commander Cousteau.

Afternoon: we will visit the lava field located between Assal and Goubet, where we will observe the rift fault on a few meters, which at this place is only a few centimeters wide.

Then we will continue our journey to the camp of 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.

Night and evening meal at Ras Ali camp

DAY 4 Snorkeling in Ras Ali before departing for Ras Bir camp

Morning: Swimming in Ras Ali – Underwater fauna and flora offer a superb spectacle: many varieties of colorful fish and turtles, evolving in the middle of the corals

Lunch at Ras Ali camp.

After lunch, departure for Ras Bir camp north of 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

DAY 5 The mangrove and the lighthouse of Ras Bir

Morning: after an early morning swim, we will head north to the small fishing village of Godoria for a boat trip through the Godoria mangroves – Then we will visit the Ras Bir lighthouse – do don't leave too quickly, more than 250 steps have to be climbed before reaching the top.

On the way back to Ras Bir camp, we will try to see some of the ostriches that live at this site.

Lunch at Ras Bir camp

Afternoon: journey to the Day camp by the beautiful Randa track where we will see an impressive centuries-old fig tree.

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.

Evening meal and night At Day camp

DAY 6 Hike from the Day camp to the Bankoualé camp

Morning: Hike between the 2 camps (about 4 hours).

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 piping systems from the waterfall ensure the water supply, also provided by wells equipped with pumps. These installations are more and more often destroyed by the floods of the wadi.

The tiny village of Bankoualé, facing the camp on the other side of the wadi, has only a few houses. We will meet Hassan and his family there.

Lunch in Bankoualé camp

In the afternoon, we will visit the gardens bordering the wadi, the village of Ardo, its school and its craft cooperative.

Evening meal and night at the Bankoualé camp.

DAY 7 Hike from Bankoualé camp to Dittilou camp

The morning will be devoted to hiking between the 2 camps, which is a little more "sporty" than the previous day.

Le campement de Dittillou est constitué d’une vingtaine de paillottes construites sur un espace en terrasses. Situé au milieu d’un écrin de verdure à plus de 600 m d’altitude, l’endroit respire la sérénité. Les installations sanitaires sont très propres et fonctionnelles. Une colonie de singes verts assure l’animation.

Lunch in Dittilou

Afternoon: visit the Dittilou waterfall and well-deserved rest!

Evening meal and night: Dittilou camp

DAY 8 Visit the village of Dougoum before returning by ferry

Morning: visit to the village of Dougoum; we can buy an excellent goat's cheese made on site.

Then we will have lunch on the shaded terrace of the Gulf of Tadjourah hotel, near the port where we will board the ferry for our return to Djibouti city.

Evening meal in a restaurant in Djibouti

Night: Africorne Travel apartment

DAY 9 On the planet Lac Abbé – 200 kms

Morning: from Djibouti to Dikhil we take an asphalt road for 120 km; it is the main route taken by Ethiopian truckers from the port of Djibouti to Addis Ababa, for the import 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 La Palmeraie restaurant in Dikhil

Afternoon : after Dikhil, we leave the road, to travel 80 km of sometimes sandy tracks. We will cross the villages of As Eyla and Koutabouya- At the end of the route we will be able to see 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!

Arrive at the Lac Abbé camp in the evening to watch the sunset.

Evening meal and night at the Lac Abbé camp

DAY 10 Lake Abbé – Djibouti – 220 kms

Morning: you will have to get up very early to watch the spectacle of the sunrise in the middle of the chimneys! Then will approach the pink flamingos at the edge of the lake. We will also observe some sources of boiling water.

Then we will 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 its mild temperature, 4 or 5 degrees lower than Djibouti.

Arrival in Djibouti in the early afternoon, which will allow us to visit the city: in particular lively areas such as Mahamoud Harbi Square, the starting point for public transport, Menelik Square, Ethiopia Street, shopping at the Caisses…or a visit to the Decan refuge, depending on the activities on the day of arrival.

Evening meal: Restaurant in Djibouti

Night: Africorne Travel apartment

JOUR 11  Journée à l’île Moucha

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.

Les amateurs de plongée avec bouteilles pourront effectuer 2 plongées moyennant le paiement d’un supplément.

Le repas de midi sera pris sur l’île

Return to Djibouti at the end of the afternoon

Evening meal: restaurant in Djibouti

Night: Africorne Travel apartment

Day 12   Relaxation day in Korambado -15 kms

Snorkeling on the program for this day

Lunch in a straw hut on the beach

You need a good 4×4 vehicle 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 you choose yourself, is cut into two slices and placed in a circular oven....

In the evening transfer to Djibouti airport

Note: unpredictable events can lead us to modify the program (ex: flooded wadi on the way).