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.

Places to stay:

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.

Other:

·         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.

Yours in Africa,

Riff-raff