Dallol ዳሎል Ertale ኢርታአሌ

Dallol Is at the northernmost extension of the Great Rift Valley. It acts like a cauldron, trapping all the heat.

Dallol is a fire of phreatic craters in the salt plain northeast of the Erta Ale ranges in one of the lowest and hottest areas of the desolate Danakil depression and home to the Afar people. Colorful hot brine springs and fumarolic deposits are found in the Dallol area. This is special because it is one of the lowest points on earth not covered by water. There are hot yellow sulfur fields among the sparkling white salt beds.

Mount Erta Ale is the world’s only active land volcano which is below sea level with colored landscapes, incredible mineral deposits, sulfur lakes and bubbling sulfur springs.

These are sights not to be missed by the Adventurous travelers. Erta Ale is an exceptional volcano in more ways than one. It is one of three volcanoes in the world that have had a continuously active lava lake, probably since at least 1873. In addition, Erta Ale is part of a chain of active volcanoes located in the center of one of the six Afar rifts where an open ocean has formed in connection with a hot spot (inner Earth volcanic). Dallol is a volcanic explosion crater (or maar) in the Danakil Depression, northeast of the Erta Ale Range in Ethiopia. It was formed during a phreatic eruption in 1926, and numerous other similar craters dot the salt flats nearby. These craters are the lowest known subaerial volcanic vents in the world, at over 45 m (150 ft) below sea level.

The drive down from the Abyssinian highlands to the Danakil Depression is like a descent into another world, a world of scarce resources and bare survival, but equally a world of heightened emotions. The Danakil Depression, also known as the Afar triangle in North-East Ethiopia, is one of the lowest points on Earth at an altitude of around -1oo below sea level. It is also the hottest place on Earth with temperatures peaking at 60° Celsius and for this reason, it is best to visit between November and March. It is also known for the Erta Ale volcano, one of the very few active volcanoes which can be approached very closely. The result of tectonic activities caused by plate movements in the Great Rift Valley, it is a unique place in Ethiopia and the World. A paradise for geologists and volcanologists.