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When in Djibouti …
Djibouti lies in size
about midway between Lesotho and Swaziland. It
consists of 95% sand and volcanic rock and 5%
Ethiopian trucks and French military. It’s a hot and
rocky country with only one town to speak of
Djibouti – one of the dirtiest and by far the most
overpriced capital we’ve come across so far. The
economy depends almost entirely on the use of the
port by Ethiopia and the presence of the French
Foreign Legion (recently joined by the French
aircraft carrier and several German warships, in
case Osama bin Laden takes a boat out of
Afghanistan). But, it has a few very interesting
sights, diving is supposed to be very good (if you
can afford it), and it’s one of only two ways into
Eritrea. No need to spend more than a few days here
and you’ll have seen most of it.
Overlanding
Camping
Accommodation
Djibouti:
Djibouti is small and expensive.
Only Djibouti town and Dikil have any form of
accommodation, i.e. hotels. With the German and
French navies stationed there at least until mid
2002 many of the hotels are full (officers’
prerogative, you understand – perhaps that’s where
the ratings of 4-star and 5-star generals originate
from). Camping is not an option, but there’s plenty
room in the desert for bush camping.
- Hotel La Palmeraie, Dikil (N11°06’18.1”
E42°22’27.2”) – entrance off the main road. A good
place to rest your weary bones after having
underestimated how long the tortuous road takes from
the border. US$20.- per room per night.
- Dolphin Excursions, Djibouti (N11°35’54.4”
E43°08’56.6”) – We stayed here because we met a
friend of the owner. Perhaps if you just arrive and
say “we met Oliver in Ethiopia” you too might be
able to stay. US$20.- per room and a nice cold
shower. Dolphin Excursions actually arrange diving
trips and desert safaris as their main line of
business.
- Asbole camp, Lac Abbé (N11°09’20.4” E41°53’43.8”)
– this is a camp consisting of a number of
traditional nomad shelters. FD 2500.- per
shelter/night. Alternatively just camp somewhere in
the desert close by.
Attractions
- Lac Abbé – Unique because of its calciferous
chimneys that give the barren landscape a lunar
appearance. There used to be abundant bird life, but
with the French aircraft carrier’s fighters flying
sightseeing sorties in the area you need to look
long and hard to see birds. To get there take the
turn-off about 2 km west of Dikil (N11°06’31.7”
E42°20’46.8”). The desert track is clearly
distinguishable all the way. The track runs straight
through the middle of the village of As Ela where
you will need to turn right opposite a beige
coloured building (N11°00’19.8” E42°06’14.5”). There
are dozens of would-be French-speaking guides that
will show you the exit to the village for a fee if
you let them. Most books state that you require a
guide to visit Lac Abbé, but we did OK without one
(what’s the use of a guide that you don’t understand
anyway?) It appears that the only use for a guide is
to get out of As Ela, everything else is easy. There
are rumours of quicksand so stick the tracks and
walk only where foot prints are visible.
- Lac Assal – at 153 m below sea level this is the
lowest point you can get to on the African continent
with your Land Rover (only standard snorkels
allowed, otherwise it might be Lake Tanganika). The
lake has a massive 330 g/l super-saturation of salt,
so the shore and everything the water comes in
contact with gets a white coating. Together with the
complete absence of plants you could easily imagine
yourself in the Antarctic (if you can use your
imagination to replace the intense heat with
penguins, that is).
Most of Djibouti lies in a region of frequent, low
intensity seismic activity (it is after all at the
beginning of the Great Rift Valley) and there are
several geological spectacles along the roads: lava
flows, ash cone islands, mile upon mile of barren
boulders, etc. |
Overland Djibouti Tips:
· Exchange rate: $1.- = 165.- Djibouti Francs
· The road from the Ethiopian border, Galafi, to Dikil is shown on all maps
to be a major tar road. However, since Ethiopia’s fallout with Eritrea,
Djibouti has become Ethiopia’s only access to a port and this road now gets
hit by up to 500 trucks per day. There is not a whiff of tar about and the
road looks much like the rocky countryside it runs through. Another serious
contender for the coveted “Worst road in Africa” title. It took us 6 hours
to cover 97 km. From Dikil onwards the road is still in good condition.
· Fuel: petrol is more than $1.- per litre, diesel is about half of that.
· The exchange rates for traveller cheques are similar to those for cash but
$25.- worth of admin fees will be deducted. It takes hours to get TCs
changed and you are regarded with suspicion for doing so. If you want to
know what it’s like being a leper, go and change some TCs at the Indo-Suez
Red Sea Bank.
· The time required to complete formalities at the Ethiopian/Djibouti border
crossing (or any other transaction anywhere else in Djibouti for that
matter) is inversely proportional to the amount of French and/or Arabic you
speak. This crossing clearly does not see many tourists, so don’t be
surprised if nobody knows how to deal with your passport or Carnet de
Passage.
· Land Rover spares are almost non-existent as there are few Landies and no
Land Rover dealers in Djibouti.
· The Eritrea embassy (N11°36’53.3” E43°08’54.1”) takes visa applications on
Saturdays and Tuesdays only. Collection is the following day. The whole
process is quite efficient. It’s a lot easier if you have a letter of
recommendation from your own embassy (which we got from Addis Ababa since
there’s no SA embassy in Djibouti).
· There are some good supermarkets that supply almost anything if you have a
sound bank balance. Beers in any establishment cost about $5.- (and that
does not get you any shares in the particular establishment you’re in).
· The days of the week change here because of the strong Muslim influence,
Fridays are holidays and Sundays are normal working days. Working hours are
from 08:30 – 12:00 and 16:00 – 18:00 with the exception of Banks that close
earlier in the morning and don’t reopen in the afternoon.
Information from
Riff Raff
Overland Expedition 2001 with Thomas and Bridgett |
