Djibouti City, Djibouti

Our flight to Djibouti wasn't until 4pm so we had most of the day to relax.

The Addis Regency is close to a couple of the museums we want to see in Addis, but by the time we got ourselves together it was time for lunch and then we were off to the airport. Once again we left behind our souvenirs at the hotel storage so we didn't have to lug them across borders and airports (that was the main reason we stopped for the night in Addis rather than getting a connecting Mekele - Addis - Djibouti flight).

The Ethiopian Airlines flight left on time as usual, stopped in Dire Dawa, and then we were in Djibouti!

We were getting a visa on arrival and based on our research had envelopes full of documentation - hotel reservation, return flight, photocopies of passports and yellow fever immunization, and two passport sized pics. We only needed to show our hotel reservation which they scanned in, but it was good to have the rest just in case. There were about 20 of us getting VOA and those that were free got a stamp and were good to go. Those from countries that had a fee had to line up again to enter an office where we got a very nice looking visa sticker for $60 USD each, change provided in USD. The official didn't quite get that we were just tourists - almost everyone is either military or friends and family visiting military. The whole process took about 30 minutes, not too bad.

We had looked into taking the airport shuttle from the Kempinski but they charged $35 / person so we took a taxi for $15 total.

Our taxi was held together by duct tape, and in some places even the duct tape was missing. It was a slow ride, any bump was likely to break the car in two. But the driver was friendly and we did make it. The Kempinski doesn't allow taxis to enter the premises - you get dropped off at the front gate and a golf cart picks you up.

The last time I had been in a golf cart we had side-swiped a hippo, but this time it was uneventful.

We had booked the Kempinski back in August for a big discount, and it was nice place to relax after the past couple weeks of excursions.

We are in the Italian restaurant on-site, which was okay. We had an early start the next morning to see the whale sharks so we called it a night.

...

We had breakfast at 6:30am and were ready for Dolphin Excursions to pick us up at 7:15am. The breakfast was okay, but the coffee and tea were not so good.

We had a bit of a mix-up trying to meet Sarah (our guide from Dolphin Excursions) but we finally met up and drove over to Pert de Peche, where we transferred to a small boat. It was just the two of us, Sarah, and the captain.

The water was pretty calm for the hour or so boat ride to where the whale sharks feed. The lack of wind didn't bode well - the wind pushes the plankton into shore, and the whale sharks follow, so no wind meant less chances to see the whale sharks.

Sarah also said it had been a weird season - last year she said it was guaranteed to see them; but this year wasn't day-to-day.

We reached the popular feeding area and slowed down, scouting for the whale sharks. We saw some dolphins jumping out of the water which was cool. Per Sarah's instructions we had our snorkel, fins and underwater camera ready so we could jump in quickly.

After about 30 minutes, Sarah spotted a whale shark! The captain pulled up near and we jumped in the water. The whale sharks move slowly while feeding, about as fast as we swim, so it was easy to keep pace, but difficult to catch up if you fell behind.

We swam with it for about a couple minutes and then it pulled away. It was really cool, about 4-5 metres long. I took some pics, it was the first time using our new underwater camera and I got my thumb in some.

We got back in the boat, excited about spotting our next one. However it took a while before we did, and we were resigned to just the one whale shark, when the captain spotted another one! We were back in the water and followed it for about 5-10 minutes. I was able to swim in front and got some great pics. There's a whole ecosystem that surrounds whale sharks - little fish that hitch a ride, others following for protection, or for food.

Anyways it was really cool, definitely worth the effort to see them (and I got another country to boot).

We stopped for lunch (a crunchy baguette with chicken, salad and tomatoes, pretty tasty) near the edge of the coral reef.

After lunch we spent an hour snorkeling over the coral - there's hard coral only, but it's in amazing shape. It's the best coral I've dived or snorkeled over. It's probably because there are so few tourists here that there's no damage at all from tourism. Sarah said it's also because the fishermen don't use dynamite like in other areas.

The boat ride back the shore was extremely bumpy. The wind had picked up and the waves were 2-3 feet high.

We were back at the Kempinski around 4pm, physically tired and hungry. After showering we went down to the Italian restaurant for their beer and pizza special and split a really tasty pepperoni pizza. They have a real stone oven for pizzas, and real pepperoni. (Pork is usually hard to come by in countries with significant Muslim populations.)

We watched the sunset over the loading docks in the distance. Djibouti is a port city - all of Ethiopia's sea cargo goes through Djibouti.

We went to another restaurant for some snacks and drinks, but we were beat from snorkeling and didn't stay up very long.

...

The next day we had an excursion to Lac Assal, at 156m below sea level, the lowest point in Africa. (Which means I've been to the high and low points of Africa, and the low points of two of the seven continents. I'm going to write a book called the 7 Low Points).

The excursion was booked through Dolphin Excursions, the same folks we did the whale shark tour with yesterday.

The driver was waiting for us in the lobby, and the vehicle was a newer model Toyota, so that boded well. We picked up another tourist from the Sheraton (as far as I can tell, the only other tourist in Djibouti). Felix was a younger kid, in university and on his way to DRC for some NGO work. He was very well travelled, and was fun to travel with for the day.

It took a couple hours to reach Lac Assal, over smooth paved roads. Lac Assal is partially underwater, and it's possible to wade out far enough so that you can sit and float in the salty water, a là the Dead Sea. There was nowhere to wash off so we declined, but Felix went in.

There's also these cool salt pearls that form at the water's edge that are collected and sold to tourists. The salt beads up into sphere-like formations, about 1cm in diameter. The wind breaks off the sphere and as it rolls along it smooths out until it looks like a pearl. We hadn't seen this at other salt lakes and bought a few bags as souvenirs.

On the way back we stopped for lunch on the shores of the Gulf of Aden. It was a beatiful setting - the waters were emerald green, there was a cone-shaped black volcano in the background, and a slight breeze making it very comfortable in the shade. I never would have guessed I was in Djibouti.

Lunch was actually three courses - salad, rice with grilled chicken, and pineapple for dessert, with a spiced tea to finish. It was great.

After we drove back and were back at the hotel by 4pm. A nice day trip, although a little pricey (the vehicle and driver cost $400 and is split by the number of passengers, up to 6).

We had drinks out at the Jetty Lounge, surrounded by the sea and with a dj spinning lounge music. We went back to the main building for dinner and then returned for a beer to celebrate our successful trip to Djibouti.