Lake Assal

A few weeks after we arrived in this long forgotten dessert paradise, a few of us took a little road trip one sunny (and Hazy) sunday afternoon. Our mystical destination was one of the few natural wonders of Djibouti, Lake Assal, a hypersaline lake that also sits in Africa's lowest point at 500 feet below sea level. Lake Assal is the world's saltiest lake. The Dead Sea registers at 33% salinity, but Lake Assal comes in over 34%. just for your own reference the ocean is about 4% salt concentration.

Well as expected the journey getting there was more than its share of entertainment. The road we traveled is the only major road between the port of djibouti and Ethiopia so it was congested with trucks. Other than getting stuck behind truck trffic, quite often we would also be slowed by this site several times.

It was my first up close look at a camel. other than when i ate some a few days before. tastes like chicken (not really, it tasted more like a mix of beef and chicken). We also came across an oasis. there was a hearder there watering his camels, goats, and donkeys. While we stopped to take pictures from the side of the road 2 boys came racing up the hill to greet us. unfortunately we didn't bring anything good to give them other than bottles of water. They didn't seem to mind though. we took some pictures with them and they really enjoyed looking at themselves in the camera.

A little further down the road we stopped at an overlook where a man had set up shop to peddle his goods

After about an hour and a half we finally began to see our destination. I must admit, it was much more impressive than i had imagined in my head. It remided me of ireland a little bit. Well without the green of course.

We pulled the truck onto a huge flat by the water.
Believe it or not, all of that white is not snow. It is as you probably guessed,salt.
Remember earlier i had written that this lake is 500 feet below sea level well the temp sure felt like it. That is a temperature not a heat index, a real temp.


We hung out on the salt, took some pictures & withstood the heat. But not for long.

When it was too hot we decided to take a dip. The water was like a bath tub, warm warm warm, and it was thick and slippery like a light syrup. It was very easy to float. just lay there and let the salt do all the work.
Walking through the salt was trippy, crunchy but soft. Occasionally there were some rough patches that hurt the feet. but mostly like warm snow.
This poor guy was the only splash of color in the whole seascape. to bad he didn't make it.
One last view before we hit the road again back to the black hole of morale, fun and decent life, the base.When we returned we spent a good 45 minutes washing the car. it sure looked like snow.

day at the beach

well i finally found something nice in djibouti. the beach. we call it french beach. the french call it something else but i cant understand what they are saying (4 years of french in high school by the way). it is beautiful there. it is truly an escape of this miserable country.
The journey there is interesting. you get a great look at africa. acacia trees are abundant.

once we left the main road we would run across these kids standing in the middle of the road with shovels trying to get us to stop so we could pay them for "fixing" the road. all they do is sit around until they see a car and then stand up and shovel some dirt from the side of the road into the middle. on my first day here the navy lawyer described this place as a nation of beggars and thieves and i thought he was quite cynical. now i understand what he meat. not only this little ploy but anytime you park your car out in town someone will come and up and "wash" your car with a dirty rag and then expect you to pay him for it. the best part is that no matter how much you give him, it is never enough and he will argue with you that you need to give him more.

anyway, the guy herding these camels didn't harass us.

It is wonderful when you first round the corner and see the beach. it is refreshing to see something nice.

from there on, its 4 wheeling all the way down to the water. it is a pretty sweet set up. there are little shaded areas with some chairs and tables set up. you pull the truck right up to it. it would be the ideal spot for a beach barbecue if we could drink of base or had food to barbecue.


it is a sweet beach. the use of these chairs and table cost of coarse. the price is not all that bad. it comes out to about 3 bucks per person.

man i will tell you it is hard to beat setting your chair right on the water and just sitting there. reading, thinking, not thinking whatever you want. the feeling of not being in Djibouti just washes over you. There is no better spot on the whole horn of africa than this one right here.
It is so easy to just be, and forget. forget the smell, forget the heat, forget the dirt, forget the beggars. it is nice. the only way to make it perfect would be a nice cold one. oh did i say a cold one. i meant a goat. what is a trip to the beach without a goat.

there are still signs of this being djibouti, though. there are a few abandoned dilapidated buildings around as well. i think this picture is worth 1000 of my words to define the contrast of the DJibouti vs the beach.

despite my sarcasm in several of these posts i believe this place to be exceptionally beautiful. i will be back on many free sundays to just get away.





i sure wish we were allowed to drink beer off of base. this picture is a lot easier to explain if we had been drinking.

for my next post i will try to show my trip to lake asal. the worlds saltiest body of water. bet you cant wait.