Today we drove east to see Erta Ale one of the continuously active shield volcanoes in the world.
We dropped fairly quickly off the 2000m plateau down into the Afar region, starkly different to anywhere we had been previously. It is semi - desert..
..with crude mostly rough timber, and in areas stone, houses
Of course we were always on the lookout for birds, including this Abyssinian roller
and a broad billed roller
As we got close we headed out across dry plains, and camels became prevalent..
..also this greater kestrel
We stopped at this isolated village to pay our entry...
.. plus have lunch in above 40 degree temperatures
The locals kept to the shade too..
..except of course when asking for pens
After a while we came to the lava field from the volcano, and yes, people lived there
What followed was over 2 hours of rough jolting "road" to a rough assembly point..
..where our cooks were and where our gear was loaded on to camels for the night at the crater
Because of the heat we headed out after dark for the 3 hour 9 km walk to the crater. It was still about 32 degrees
A bit after 10 pm we approached the rim..
..and peered down into the inferno
After spending a hot night in one of the stone "huts" shown previously, we were up at 4 am to walk down before the heat of the day. Our trusty guard on duty always
We had made good progress before sunrise..
...and only had a short walk in full sunlight
Back in camp at 7 am for a well earned breakfast
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