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.