From Lac Abbé To Lac Assal With The Camel Caravan Tour

Day 1: 4x4 Trip from Djibouti to Lac Abbé

Morning: Departure to Dikhil, the first stage on the way to Lac Abbé. We will visit the palm grove before lunch at the restaurant at Dikhil.

Afternoon: we will drive on 80 kms of track, and we will cross the villages of As Eyla and Koutabouya. We will arrive at Lac Abbé to admire the sunset in the middle of the limestone chimneys. The lunar landscapes of Lac Abbé are very amazing, it is rumored that the 1968 film « Planet of the Apes » was filmed here.

Some of these chimneys reach 50 meters in height, others let out fumaroles that smell of sulfur. Wetland, lac Abbé is also a place where nomadic children, every day, bring their herds to graze. We have dinner and spend the night at the Lac Abbé camp, located a few hundred meters from the lake.

Day 2: Sunrise and visit of the surroundings of Lac Abbé and departure of the trek

Very early in the morning, we witness the sunrise. After breakfast where we will enjoy the local galettes, we will approach the flamingos by the lake

After we start the trek with our camel caravan

End of the 1 st stage, the shortest, and bivouac towards Alaïla at the northeast of Lac Abbé

Days 3, 4, 5, 6: Self-Guided Trekking

We will complete our trek during the next 4 days.

Our caravan consists of 3 dromedaries and 2 camel drivers (for a group of 2 travelers with their guide). The camels carry food and water in bottles for 5 days, as well as our equipment for the bivouac (camp beds, blankets...).

Every day we take a break between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. At each break, the camel drivers unload and then reload the camels.

Each day we cover between 15 km (1st day of the shortest walk) and more than 25 km.

The phases of rest, a good diet, and fresh water, will allow us to walk without difficulty, just a good fatigue at the end of each day!

For the 2nd night of our trek, we bivouac around Harrougo.

The 3rd stage takes us to the small town of Yoboki.

We will bivouac the 4th night on the northwest edge of the Gaggadé desert south of Allouli.

We will arrive on the ice floe of Lake Assal at the end of our fifth day of walking, via the Kalou wadi.

We will spend the night near Lac Assal

Day 7: Visit of Lac Assal and return to Djibouti city

The Lac Assal inspired the French writer-adventurer J. Kessel who described the « 3 color circles » of Lake Assal: the incomparable turquoise waters of the lake, are surrounded by the whiteness of the salt ice, itself surrounded by the ochres or black colors of the surrounding volcanic rocks and mountains.

At the edge of the lake, you‘ll can buy natural salt balls of varying sizes (the largest are the rarest) and objects or animal skulls crystallized in the salt.

You may be lucky enough to witness the exploitation of the salt crust according to ancestral methods or to see a caravan of dromedaries with its cargo of bags of salt.

Then we will take the way back to Djibouti in a 4X4 vehicle…we will leave our camels at Assal Lake.

Important :

Our agency is insured for the reimbursement of payments made before the start of the stay, in the event of default by the agency.

In addition, we contractually undertake to reimburse any payment in the event of trip cancellation due to a pandemic, with the exception of expenses advanced on your behalf, not reimbursed to the agency.

In the latter case, a credit note of an amount identical to that of our supplier may be sent to you.

The Price Includes :

Transfer to/from the airport;

Private vehicle with driver and all transports within the country (ferry...);

Services of guides qualified in French or English during the whole voyage;

Full board meal; meals at the restaurant are included for the fixed price indicated in the detailed program which will be given to you, an adjustment is made at the end of the stay according to the real cost of the meals taken;

One and a half liters of water per day per person;

Accommodation in a double room at the hotel in Djibouti city, or in the apartment of our local agency according to your choice ;

The Price Does Not Include :

International flights and visa;

Alcoholic beverages;

Medical expense insurance or medical repatriation;

Tips