The acid pools
Yellow and green.
Ji-Elle — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ji-Elle — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ji-Elle — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ji-Elle — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ji-Elle — CC BY-SA 3.0
Dallol is a hydrothermal system around a cinder cone volcano in the Danakil Depression of Ethiopia, north-east of the Erta Ale Range. It is known for its unearthly colours and mineral patterns and for very acidic fluids, among the most acidic on Earth. It is among the strangest sights in the world, and its yellow, green and orange colours look like another planet. The Afar people gave it the name Dallol, meaning dissolution or disintegration, describing a land of green acid ponds, springs and salt plains full of iron oxide and sulphur. Dallol Mountain covers about 3 by 1.5 km and rises about 60 m above the salt plains. A circular hollow near the centre is probably a collapsed crater. You walk on a fragile crust among yellow and green pools with salty rims, flower-like mineral growths and brown salt pillars nearby. The colours change from week to week. The ground is fragile, the fumes dangerous and the pools very acidic, so touch nothing, stay with your guide, take no samples and keep to the path. It is about 283 km in a straight line from Semera and about 81 km from Erta Ale. You need a tour operator, a four-wheel drive and a local permit. The heat is among the highest in the world, so visit in winter. The UK Foreign Office currently advises against all travel to parts of Afar near Eritrea and Tigray and against all but essential travel to the rest of the region, so check official guidance before making any plans.
Yellow and green.
Coloured growths.
Brown, close by.
Danakil Depression, Afar Region, Ethiopia
Yes, the fumes, fragile ground and acid pools are dangerous, so stay with your guide.
That is not suitable, as you need a tour operator and local permits.