Duration: | 12 Day(s) - 11 Night(s) |
Tour Category: | Grand Tours |
DAY 1: Visit of the DECAN Refuge
Arrival Djibouti city – transfer from the airport to your accommodation
Our local agency puts a comfortable and air-conditioned apartment at your disposal to spend the night there and have breakfast prepared according to your wishes. Naturally, if you prefer, hotel accommodation can be booked.
Lunch at the restaurant at the port of Djibouti
Afternoon: visit of the DECAN refuge. This is an animal park near Djibouti, where animals from Djibouti and also from other parts of Africa live.
Evening meal: restaurant in Djibouti
Night: in our apartment or hotel
DAY 2: Excursion and beach in Arta - 55 km
Morning: Hike from the hikers' house adapted to everyone's level. For the more seasoned walk to the beach (about 2 hours)
Lunch: Picnic on Arta beach
Afternoon: Fins, mask, and snorkel on the drop off of Arta beach
In the season from mid-November to January: the whale shark outing option is possible; although being sociable animals, it is not possible to fix an appointment with the whale sharks; consequently, the meeting with them, even probable, is never certain.
Return to Djibouti in the late afternoon
Evening meal: restaurant in Djibouti
Night: in our apartment or at the hotel
DAY 3: From Djibouti to the Day camp via Lake Assal - 230 km
Morning: Departure from Djibouti early in the morning. About forty km before reaching Lake Assal, we will stop to admire the grandiose landscape of the Dimbiya Canyon nicknamed the “Grand Canyon of Djibouti”….
A few kilometers further on, another stop at the stele of J. Borrel, a French magistrate whose partly charred body was found at the bottom of the cliff on the morning of October 18, 1995. "The Borrel affair" poisoned relations for a few years between the Djiboutian and French states.
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. If the weather is right, we can swim there; 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 by the adventurer writer J. Kessel, makes it an unmissable site.
Lunch: Picnic on the beach at Goubet in the shade of a hard pitch, facing Devil's Island
Afternoon: We will visit the lava field located between Assal and Goubet, where we will observe the fault of the rift over a few meters, which at this place is only a few centimeters wide.
Then we take the superb Day track leading to the camp at an altitude of 1500 m.
The Day camp is equipped with Daboytas (traditional huts) arranged on a nicely laid out terraced area with trees. 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 Goda mountains, provided you are a good walker.
Evening meal and night at the Day camp
DAY 4: Hike to Dittilou Camp
Morning: Hike from the Day camp to the Dittilou camp (about 4 hours) - connection possible by 4x4 vehicle
The Dittilou camp is made up of about twenty daboytas (traditional huts) built in a terraced area. Located in the middle of lush greenery at an altitude of more than 600 m, the place exudes serenity. The sanitary facilities are very clean and functional. A colony of green monkeys provides entertainment. Hiking is practiced there. It is possible to join the other camps of the Goda mountains if you are a good walker.
Lunch in Dittilou (watch out for pilfering green monkeys)
Afternoon: Visit the village of Dougoum near the camp of Dittilou
Evening meal at the camp and overnight: Dittilou camp
DAY 5: Hike to Bankoualé Camp
Morning: Hike from Dittilou to Bankoualé (approximately 4 hours) - transport possible by 4x4 vehicle - superb course in "roller coasters".
The Bankoualé camp is in lush greenery, on the hillside. It is a charming place, where a pleasant freshness reigns; it is renowned for its terraced gardens. The village is opposite the camp on the other side of the wadi which must be crossed to reach the camp. Shortly before Bankoualé is the village of Ardo with its craft cooperative and school.
Lunch in Bankoualé
Afternoon: Visit of the Ardo village
Evening meal and night at the Bankoualé camp
DAY 6: Visit the gardens of Bankoualé and journey to Ras Ali via Randa - 60 km
Morning: Walk in the gardens of Bankoualé
Visit Randa with its impressive strangler fig tree before reaching Tadjourah.
The Ras Ali camp is located after Tadjourah, right by 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 cuisine is excellent, and the site is heavenly for snorkeling. You can also go kayaking.
Lunch at Ras Ali camp
Afternoon: swimming, snorkeling fins, kayaking on Ras Ali beach
Evening meal and overnight at Ras Ali camp
DAY 7: From Ras Ali to Ras Bir - 100 km
Morning: Visit Tadjoura before departure for Ras Bir camp after Obock
Lunch at the restaurant in Obock
In Obock we will visit the house of Governor Lagarde, a vestige of French colonization which began in Obock and we will go to the marine cemetery which contains the graves of French soldiers who died of fever between 1885 and 1889.
Evening meal and night at Ras Bir camp located by the sea, less than ten kilometers after Obock.
DAY 8: Walk in the Godoria mangrove and return to Djibouti
Morning: Visit the Ras Bir lighthouse - don't leave too quickly, more than 200 steps must be climbed before reaching the top.
Then we continue the track north to the Godoria mangrove where a canoe trip awaits us.
Return to Ras Bir camp for lunch
Afternoon: return trip to Djibouti (1)
Evening meal at the restaurant in Djibouti
Overnight: in our apartment or hotel
(1) Depending on the day of the week, it is possible to organize a return by ferry
DAY 9: On the planet Lac Abbé - 200 km
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 Petit Bara and then Grand Bara where we will observe mirages, whirlpools, and .... Gazelles with a little luck.
Lunch at the restaurant of La Palmeraie 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 Toubacouta- At the end of the route we will be able 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. The first version of the film “Planet of the Apes” was shot at Lac Abbé…according to the rumor
The sulfur scents escaping from the numerous fumaroles gave the lake its name. Indeed, Abbé means “rotten”!
The unique landscapes of the chimneys which can reach 50 meters in height, would almost make us forget the presence of the lake, on the banks of which we can observe pink flamingos!
Arrival at the Lac Abbé camp in the evening, to watch the sunset
Evening meal and overnight at Lac Abbé camp
DAY 10: Lac Abbé - Djibouti - 220 km
Morning: You will have to get up very early to watch the spectacle of the sunrise in the middle of the chimneys! Then we will try to approach the pink flamingos at the edge of the lake, which from year to year withdraws further and further. We will also observe some sources of boiling water.
Then we take the way back to Djibouti.
Lunch at Arta at Sunny Hill or at the Maison des Randonneurs run by an ex-French legionnaire, who fell in love with the country and is a real celebrity in Djibouti.
Arta is a charming town, "perched" at an altitude of 600 meters, where the notables of Djibouti have a second home to take advantage of its mild temperature, 4 or 5 degrees lower than that of Djibouti.
Arrival in Djibouti at the beginning of the afternoon, which will allow us to visit the city: lively areas such as Mahamoud Harbi Square, the starting point for public transport, Ménélik Square, Ethiopia Street, the shopping street of the Caisses...
Evening meal: Restaurant in Djibouti
Night: in our apartment or hotel
DAY 11: Day at the Moucha or Maskali Islands
With only a few inhabitants, these two coral islands located at the entrance to the Gulf of Tadjourah are conducive to relaxation and idleness.
We reach these islands after barely 30 minutes by boat.
With a bit of luck, we will come across some dolphins…
Snorkeling enthusiasts will prefer the observation of underwater fauna and flora in Maskali.
For an additional fee, a scuba diving day with an oxygen bottle can be offered on Moucha Island.
Lunch will be taken on the island.
Return to Djibouti in the late afternoon
Evening meal: restaurant in Djibouti
Night: in our apartment or at the hotel
Day 12: Relaxing Day in Korambado -15 km
Snorkeling on the program for this day
Lunch in a hut on the beach
You need a good 4x4 vehicle to get down to Korambado. Not far from Djibouti, the site is interesting for the practice of snorkeling (east side). A few "local color" huts, installed by the sea, provide the shade and the meal necessary to spend a very pleasant day there.
Evening meal at the restaurant in Djibouti. On the menu Yemeni fish, the fish that you choose yourself, is cut into two slices placed in a circular oven….
Evening transfer to Djibouti airport
Important :
Our agency is insured to reimburse any payment in case of default and contractually undertakes to reimburse all that has been paid to it if the trip has to be canceled due to a pandemic.
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;
Alcoholics beverages;
Medical expense insurance or medical repatriation;
Tips