Wildlife You May Encounter on the Way to the Danakil

With Great Ethiopian Tours – Travel with Experience & Insight

Most travelers come to the Danakil Depression for Erta Ale, Dallol and the salt flats. But the long drive through the Afar landscape offers another experience that often surprises our guests: wildlife.

While driving through the dry plains toward the Danakil, we often find ourselves talking with travelers about the birds and animals living in this seemingly harsh environment.

The Danakil is not a safari destination, and wildlife sightings are never guaranteed. However, if you keep watching the landscape during the journey, there is much more life here than you might expect.

Birds Along the Danakil Route

Birds are probably the wildlife travelers are most likely to notice during the journey.

The open plains, acacia country and areas around seasonal water sources support a variety of desert and dryland birds.

Depending on the route, season and a little luck, travelers may encounter birds such as:

• Somali ostrich
• Kori bustard
• Arabian bustard
• Secretary bird
• Vultures and other raptors
• Francolins
• Sandgrouse and other dry-country birds

Bustards are particularly interesting in this region. Arabian bustards have been recorded at locations including Erta Ale, Lake Afdera and other parts of Afar.

Gazelles & Antelopes

Gazelles are another group worth watching for as you cross the open Afar landscape.

Wildlife documented in the wider region includes:

• Soemmerring’s gazelle
• Dorcas gazelle
• Gerenuk
• Beisa oryx
• Salt’s dik-dik

Research involving Afar pastoralists found jackals and antelopes/gazelles among the wildlife they most commonly reported encountering during their movements through the region.

The gerenuk is particularly interesting because of its unusually long neck. It is adapted to dry bush country and can stand on its hind legs to reach leaves from shrubs and trees.

Hamadryas Baboons

Another animal you may encounter while traveling through the wider Afar region is the hamadryas baboon.

They are well adapted to the rocky and dry landscapes of northeastern Ethiopia and are documented in protected areas of Afar.

Jackals, Hyenas & Other Predators

The Afar landscape also supports predators and scavengers, although many are much harder to see during a normal Danakil journey.

These include jackals and striped hyenas.

Larger predators such as cheetahs and leopards are documented in parts of the wider Afar ecosystem, but these should be considered rare wildlife rather than animals travelers should expect to encounter on a Danakil tour.

The African Wild Ass

One of the most remarkable animals associated with Afar is the African wild ass, particularly the Somali wild ass.

It is extremely rare and should not be presented as something travelers will normally see on the standard Danakil route. Remaining populations are associated with remote protected areas of northeastern Afar, including the Mille-Serdo area.

Its ability to survive in such an extreme environment makes it one of the most important wild animals of the Afar region.

Camels – The Animal You Will Definitely Notice

The animal travelers associate most strongly with the Danakil is not actually wild.

Camels are everywhere in the story of the Danakil.

Afar communities have traditionally used camels for transportation and livestock, and camel caravans have long been associated with transporting blocks of salt from the Danakil salt plains.

Around the salt-mining areas and Lake Asale, seeing camels crossing the enormous open landscape is one of the classic experiences of traveling through the Danakil.

You will also regularly see goats, sheep, cattle and donkeys belonging to local communities.

Wildlife Makes the Drive Part of the Experience

A Danakil journey involves long drives, but those drives are part of the experience.

Instead of seeing only empty desert, watch the acacia bushes, open plains, rocky hills and areas around water. You may suddenly notice an ostrich running across the landscape, a bustard walking through the grassland, gazelles in the distance or a secretary bird searching the ground.

After years of traveling through the Danakil, these unexpected wildlife encounters are still one of the things that make the journey interesting.

The Danakil may look empty from a distance, but the desert is more alive than it first appears.

Experience the Danakil Depression

Wildlife is only one part of the journey. Traveling through the Afar landscape also brings you to active volcanic terrain, enormous salt flats, colorful mineral formations and communities that have adapted to one of the world’s most extreme environments.

Explore our Danakil Depression tours and experience the journey through Afar for yourself.

Experience the Danakil Depression

Wildlife is only one part of the journey. Traveling through the Afar landscape also brings you to active volcanic terrain, enormous salt flats, colorful mineral formations and communities that have adapted to one of the world’s most extreme environments.

Explore our Danakil Depression tours and experience the journey through Afar for yourself.