Eritrea

At night flight from Asmara, Eritrea, to Sanaa, Yemen, and from there to Djibouti, where very early in the morning on Feb 16. Before noon and in the afternoon sightseeing of Djibouti City. On Feb 17 starts a 3 day 4WD car tour through Djibouti (the country). The first day, after traveling mostly in lava desert, we come to Lake Abbe. Overnight in tents. The next day again driving through very forbidding countryside and overnight in a motel in Tadjoura at a gulf of the same name. The third day of our Djibouti trip leads us to Lake Assal, which is -150 m under the sea level. It is the lowest point in Africa. At noon we photograph the Rift Valley at the spot, where it cracks the African Continent. By the nightfall we are back to our hotel in Djibouti City.
We expected to fly to Somaliland on Feb 20. But for problems in that area we fly to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia instead. We land there early in the afternoon. After lunch we drive west of Addis Ababa to the Negash Lodge in the town of Ambo. The next day a trip to Wenchi Crater. On Feb 22 we leave Ambo and with few stops at historical places like Adadi Mariam Church we return to Addis Ababa. Next day flight east to Dire Dawa and drive to the town of Harar. In the afternoon sightseeing of the walled Harar. In the evening we see the “hyena feeding” by a local man. The following morning we circumnavigate the walls of the city and photograph their gates. In the afternoon we leave Harar. On our way back to Dire Dawa we stop in one town at its “chat market.” Overnight in Dire Dawa. Following day flight to Addis Ababa. There I go by a taxi to Trinity Church, where is buried Haile Selassie. In the evening to an interesting entertaining restaurant.
On Feb 26 I fly with Lufthansa from Addis Ababa to Frankfurt, Germany, and to Prague, Czech Republic.

Travel office: Spiekermann Travel Service
Who took part: I traveled with 10 tourists (in Eritrea also Ihab) and guides during the trip.