Danakil Depression
It is one of the lowest places on earth and piping hot to boot. Well water was our only option and 13 hours or 526 kilometres of dirt roads and bumps stood in front of us...we were not to know how low we could go.
Ostriches, camels and gazelle were easily viewed from the back of a 1970's Toyota pick up crammed full with goats, grain and about 30 Afar tribeswomen, bitching at Heidi because she had a good seat, so much so, they placed their feet on her lap, stretching out without a care.
A steel grill on the back of the open pick up meant that everything from gerry cans to plastic bottles could be attached on the outside and the men rode on top roughshod, being blasted by both the midday sun and 40 mph winds....
Welcome relief came in the form of a flat tyre where the groups would huddle in the shade of a bunch of palm trees while the wind eddied around causing mini duststorms.
We hugged the coast and passed dead carcasses of camels and oxen that never quite made it or provided suitable carrion for the vultures high above. Other live wild animals were so immobilized by the deadly heat and wind that they remained stationary almost stuck to the ground until there was some respite.
Although Afar was the main integral language, French was widely understood as these people constantly travel this way between Eritrea and Djibouti, not in the slightest way put out by the rough terrain and harsh conditions.
Former Eritrean army outposts and the shells of military vehicles showed the last vestiges of a war which could not ravage anything here except the seashells and scrub..it was truly desolate.
We spent an hour at the border before being cleared for a similar journey south to the port of Obock, finally resting in an auberge, reminiscing at what could have happened.....
Ostriches, camels and gazelle were easily viewed from the back of a 1970's Toyota pick up crammed full with goats, grain and about 30 Afar tribeswomen, bitching at Heidi because she had a good seat, so much so, they placed their feet on her lap, stretching out without a care.
A steel grill on the back of the open pick up meant that everything from gerry cans to plastic bottles could be attached on the outside and the men rode on top roughshod, being blasted by both the midday sun and 40 mph winds....
Welcome relief came in the form of a flat tyre where the groups would huddle in the shade of a bunch of palm trees while the wind eddied around causing mini duststorms.
We hugged the coast and passed dead carcasses of camels and oxen that never quite made it or provided suitable carrion for the vultures high above. Other live wild animals were so immobilized by the deadly heat and wind that they remained stationary almost stuck to the ground until there was some respite.
Although Afar was the main integral language, French was widely understood as these people constantly travel this way between Eritrea and Djibouti, not in the slightest way put out by the rough terrain and harsh conditions.
Former Eritrean army outposts and the shells of military vehicles showed the last vestiges of a war which could not ravage anything here except the seashells and scrub..it was truly desolate.
We spent an hour at the border before being cleared for a similar journey south to the port of Obock, finally resting in an auberge, reminiscing at what could have happened.....
posted by Portfolio at 10:39 PM
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