This is a specially designed tour for small groups, and you will explore the secret behind Why Ethiopia is a fascinating country for Geologists.
Geology is part of everyday experiences for anyone traveling to this wonderful country. Be it in the spectacular scenery, in the carving of the Axumite Obliques, tombs, temples, or in the excavations of Rock Churches in Tigray and Lalibela, geology makes it all possible. It is the source of the bountiful agricultural economy, and at times, in its torrid time, it provided a formidable protection to the unity of the Country against Western Imperialism. Different ecological systems and the unique fauna and flora are the result of geological processes.
Ethiopia is situated where the three tectonic Plates drifted apart from one another. The Arabian Plate, the African Plate, and the Gulf of Aden. This is an exciting geological wonder by itself, but even more exciting that Ethiopia is breaking apart, too!
Ethiopia remains so far as the only Country in the world where continental drifting is happening on the ground!
This geological tour takes you through the Afar Triangle or Danakil Depression (Dallo) the second lowest point on the planet known for its lunar landscape, Erta Ale, the only active volcanos in the world which has two long-lasting lava lakes on its crater, the ancient seabed and Lakes of Assale and Afdera, the lower Awash valley Hadar where the first hominid Lucy 3.2 m y old, our first ancestor was discovered in 1974. The Awash National Park (Awash River Falls, Awash River Valley, and the Hot Springs), the Fentale Mountain and the welded tuff plain, the volcanic blisters, fresh volcanic fissures and faults, K’ones Volcano and volcanic Cones, Beseka Lake which all run west to east along the Wonji fault parallel to the Eastern marine of the Ethiopian Rift. The great Rift Valley lakes and the Southern broadly Rifted Zone which is known as the Omo Valley where there are no flat rift floors or defined rift margins.
We can integrate this tour with the Historic route, Simien Mountains, Bale Mountains (part of the main Rift Valley margins), and the Omo Valley for those who have enough time.
Contact Us for more details: ethiopiaodyssey@gmail.com/ info@ethiopiaodyssey.com
Geological Tour. GETO 01. 18 NTS/19Days.
Day 01 – On arrival at the Bole International Airport, be met and transferred to a hotel for breakfast and then a short visit to the National Museum for a general understanding of Ethiopia. Then transfer to the domestic Terminal for the flight to Semera. O/n Kuriftu Semera.
Day 02 – After breakfast, leave the hotel and drive to Lake Afdera for lunch. Lunch will be puck and be served on the spot. Then drive to Dodum Campsite. After having tea and coffee, start walking for the next 40 minutes to get to the crater rim of Mount Erta Ale (613m asl). Spend as much time as you want to observe this unique geological feature. Then walk back to the campsite for dinner. O/n Campsite at the bottom of Mount Erta Ale.
Day 03 – Start early morning and walk again to the Volcano and spend the morning time up on the crater Rim. Then back again for breakfast. Later leave the campsite for Amhedela. Lunch will be served on the way. O/n Amhedela Camping.
Day 04 – Early morning excursion to Dallol visiting the Dallol fumaroles, hot springs, salt pinnacles, and local salt mining at Lake Assale. N.B. breakfast will be served just after visiting the Dallol at the Salt Pinnacle Ground. Then drive back to the Campsite for Lunch. Spend the day at the Campsite and later, drive out for a beautiful sun Downers. O/n Camping
Day 05 – Drive back to Afedera. O/n Camping at the shore of Lake Afdera
Day 06 – Drive to Doho Lodge. O/n Doho Lodge
Day 07 – After breakfast, drive to Awash National Park. O/n Kuriftu Lodge
Day 08 – Full Day in Awash. An early morning drive through the park for a possible game drive before breakfast. After breakfast, visit the geological features of the Awash River gorge, Awash River Falls. Lunch will be at the lodge and be at your leisure in the afternoon. O/n Kuriftu Lodge
Day 09 – After an early morning breakfast, drive to Methara and then start trekking to Mount Fentale and its crater. Enjoy the marvelous geological features of Fentale(it is the geological centerpiece of the area and has a caldera measuring 2.5 by 3.5km, rising 600 m above the surrounding plain of the Awash National Park. Then trek back for lunch at Methara Town. Spend the late afternoon, visiting the Beseka Lake, the fresh faults and fissures, and the lava coming through the fissures. The Volcanic blisters are also other features of this part of the Ethiopian Rift Valley, and this is the only place in the world where one can see them in the welded tuff. Then drive back to the Lodge for dinner. O/n Kuriftu Lodge
Day 10 – After a relaxing breakfast, leave the lodge and drive to Nazareth, On the way stop at the recent depression and K’one volcano near the road. The K’ one is a volcano with a caldera on top but with no water in it. The journey to Nazareth is through such a desolate, harsh rift valley covered by thorny bushes and dotted by volcanic basalt boulders and cindery blocks and this creates a contrasting geographical phenomenon against the flat plain of the Awash National Park and the few patchy cultivated fields of the Keryu Oromo. Lunch and Dinner are at the Keryu Resort. O/n Keryu Resort.
Day 11 – After breakfast, leave the hotel and drive to Lanagano through the Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes region such as Lake Zeway, Langano, Shalla and Abaiata, Awassa. This will be a fascinating journey because it offers so much for any geologist. You are driving through the rift floor is the unique feature of the earth and beneath your feet is the early stage of the continent breaking apart. On such a cleared-up sky and no dust, it is possible to see the eastern rift margin which is 80 km wide. This main rift valley sediment is covered by the Ignimbrite rocks such as Obsidian, Pitchstone, and Pumice and all are related to an explosive eruption; however, the few scattered basalt rocks are the youngest ones and associated with the cinder cones. Lunch will be at Zeway. Dinner is at Sabana Lodge. O/n Saba Lodge.
Day 12 – Full day in Langano. This morning visit Shalla Lake (the deepest lake 260 m), the hot springs and fumaroles, and the surrounding geological features. Then proceed to Lake Abiatta which is shallower than Shalla, but it is blue in color due to the suspended minerals) and then return to the lodge via Bulbula town and stop before the bridge to see the ancient lake sediment which contains the microscopic siliceous shells of single–celled algae called Diatom. Finally, return to the lodge for lunch. Spend the afternoon exploring the open geological landscape of Lake Langano. O/N Sabana Lodge
N.B. All four lakes we have today were big lakes some 40,000 years ago, but this big lake was divided into four through a long geological process about 3,000 years ago. These lakes are close to each other, but they are different in terms of color.
Day 13 – After early morning breakfast, drive to Arba Minch (the 40 Springs) located at the bottom of the Gamo hills overlooking the two rift valley lakes Chamo and Abya. These two are the southernmost rift valley lakes. This is where the proper rift margin disappears rather it becomes a broadly rifted zone mainly of disconnected horsts and graben. The geology of the area is mainly Precambrian such as sandy plains, some recent volcanic rocks, and Trap series volcanos. The small, but rounded inselbergs of granite and gneisses are the most attractive scenery of this southern part of Ethiopia. O/n Paradise Lodge.
Day 14 – Full day in Arba Minch. This morning either a short boat trip on Lake Chamo or an excursion to the Nech Isar National Park (known for the population of Burchill’s Zebra) depending on the road conditions. The Journey to the park is through the bridge of God, the locals call it Tosa Sucha, a volcanic ridge that separates the two lakes Cahmo and Abaya. Abay is brown in its watercolor for the same reason as Lake Langano. Then return to the lodge for lunch. Balance of the day, another excursion to the Dorze Village located north of the town known for the traditional Bamboo huts and for the finest hand-woven clothes. This journey takes you basically to the southern extension of the western rift margin rises dramatically high from the rift floor. Finally, Return to the lodge. O/n Paradise Lodge
Day 15 – After breakfast, drive to Konos and visit one of the beautiful walled villages of the Konos people. After lunch, an excursion to New York west of Karat town where you can see why it is named after the famous City of New York. Here red rock pinnacles extend across a canyon. These rock pinnacles are granites or gneiss eroded to soft or almost sandy materials. Through ravages of time, the changing climate and temperature brought about the expanding and contracting of the rock which gradually breaks up into individual grains. The hard basalt capping which once protected them has gone and so the pillars are what remains after everything between them has gone. Then return to the lodge for dinner. O/n Kanta Lodge.
Day 16 – After breakfast, drive to Yabello. Lunch at the Yabello Motel. Afternoon, an excursion to El Sod Maar, another interesting geological feature in this part of the Rift Valley. It is a massive explosion resulting in a deep crater in the middle of Precambrian rocks. This explosion took place in the Quaternary times following faulting which caused the raised strip of land called the Mega Horst, and the Mega Graben. O/n Yabello Motel.
Day 17 – Drive to Yirgalem along the lush green highland of the Sidam home to the Best Coffee in the World. On the way visit the Tututi and Tutu Fela Megalithic sites both show the geology and Cultural significance. Lunch will be at Hager Mariam and then continue driving to Yirgalem. O/n Aregash Lodge.
Day 18 – After breakfast, drive to Awassa for lunch. The balance of the day is a short boat trip on this beautiful lake. O/n Haile Resort or Similar.
Day 19 – After breakfast, transfer to the airport and fly back to Addis. Lunch will be at the Four Loves Restaurant. Balance of the day, sightseeing and shopping including a Coffee visit to Aster Bunna, an emerging coffee drink spot in the city. Later transfer to the airport for departure. O/n board End of The Tour.