Erta Ale

Unforgettable highlight of our trip. Main camp is just 15 min hike from the top. Note there is no lava lake now. A recent eruption covered it and now there are only three chimneys spewing smoke with lava visible in small cracks within them. We actually walked 1 h on the hot crust covering the caldera. The guide checked the lava with a stick to make sure we would not fall through the crust. Sulfuric acid belches out and is potentially deadly. A wiff came at us when the wind suddenly shifted and we were coughing hard and scrabbling away like rats. Still, an unforgettable adventure.

🌋 Erta Ale Volcano July 16 , 2025 to day morning of July 16 , Erta Ale volcano in Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression #visitafar

The Danakil Depression is one of the lowest places on the earth. I had one of the best and hotest experiences in my Life. Tour guide, Afar people and police was too gentle person, we felt safe. Highly Recommended if you are in Ethiopia.

although beautiful very hard place to be in. there are no shower or place to sleep so you sleep outside. make sure you have your mosquito net with you. long drive by car. all in all not sure worth the two day trip and all the things we have gone to see the volcano. but once you are there defenetly impressive.

The food was really good 10 out of 10. We got to sit out on the patio and enjoy the food. Such a pleasure and the owner was really nice.

This was my very 1st experience, eating this fine cuisine! I'm very impressed... I'll return everytime I'm in St. Paul, MN.... this was amazing & the fact you guys catered to our whole Black Cooperative conference crew, says big things to us. We are greatly appreciative of this company. Thank you for everything, you guys rock! 10 Stars by far.

We had bad luck - there was full of smoke douring our visit. But at the end in the morning time when sunrise there was an amazing view to the volcano and its sourroundings.

We spent three days here and stayed in the huts on the rim of the caldera. During our stay we had three types of weather conditions that affected us. First of all, the most common one was when there is a breeze that goes North, slightly towards the North West. It means the volcanic fumes are blowing away from the camp and the main viewing area on the South side of the active crater. As the volcano is currently degassing, most of the time, all you see is a crater totally filled with "smoke" and at night the occasional faint glow. On our second day, just before sunset, we got lucky when the weather changed temporarily and the column of fumes went straight up. This meant that thanks to the heat convections, we finally could see part of the crater floor and observe two active fumeroles. NO LAVA LAKE! This window of opportunity only lasted for about an hour, before the crater was totally filled with "smoke" again, creating an horizontal plume from the summit of the volcano. On the third day, we experienced the apparently rare situation where the wind blew towards the South West. The camp with huts was getting a full load of volcanic fumes, making it necessary to use our gass masks in the camp as well. This was not fun and we decided to leave earlier than planned. We realized that we got very, very lucky on our second day and accepted there was nothing more to see. As we spent a lot of time on the mountain, we had time to walk around the caldera and visit other craters. The various fissures, hornitos and other lava formations, made our visit to Erta Ale as a volcano experience more worthwhile. After all, there are easier places in the world to see active fumeroles, since getting here and staying here was not without some level of hardship. Sadly, the plastic bottle pollution and unhygienic conditions around the camp gave me a bitter taste about the unsustainable tourism on the mountain. They are already expanding the camp, in preparation for the new road, that will bring many more visitors. I hate to think what it will be like in the future, if these issues are not properly addressed.