Ethiopia
When
Oct to March
Price
From 3 700€ excl. flights
(based on 2 people sharing)
How long
6 nights
Ideal length
A journey between Lalibela, eleven monolithic churches carved from solid rock in the 12th century, and the Danakil Depression, a sulphurous hot spring and salt desert among the hottest places on Earth.
According to tradition, King Lalibela had these eleven churches built in the 12th century after a vision, intending to create a new Jerusalem accessible to Ethiopian pilgrims unable to travel to the Holy Land. Each was carved from a single block of volcanic rock, top to bottom, a technical feat that still puzzles archaeologists eight centuries later. The site remains an active pilgrimage destination, where Ethiopian Orthodox priests still celebrate daily mass in an atmosphere largely untouched by mass tourism.
Sitting over a hundred metres below sea level, the Danakil regularly sees temperatures above fifty degrees — making it one of the hottest inhabited places on the planet. The sulphur springs of Dallol, in shades of yellow, orange and acid green, create an almost extraterrestrial landscape, while Afar caravans still extract salt from the desert with pickaxes, exactly as their ancestors did centuries ago.
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Lalibela Church-View Lodge
A local-stone lodge on the heights of Lalibela, a terrace with a direct view over the church roofs below.
Danakil Tented Camp
A mobile camp of lightweight tents set up each evening in the desert, under a starry sky of rare clarity far from any light.
