Afrinkong
Nature & Landscapes
The Afar Triangle
Three tectonic plates pulling apart, and you can stand in the crack.
East Africa · Afrinkong
Djibouti
Where three plates pull apart.
Lake Assal at 155 metres below sea level, whale sharks in the Gulf of Tadjoura every winter, and the Ardoukoba rift where the continent is actively splitting — all of it in a country the size of Wales.
Where it is
Africa · East Africa · Djibouti
The land in brief
- Spans
- 160 km E–W, 200 km N–S
- Latitude
- 13°N to 11°N
- Borders
- 3 countries
- Sea
- Has a coast
- Best time
- November to March, when the heat is survivable and the whale sharks are in the gulf.
Also in East Africa
BurundiThe southernmost source of the NileEritreaArt deco Asmara, and the Dahlak islandsEthiopiaThe roof of AfricaKenyaWhere the safari was inventedRwandaLand of a thousand hills
Compare Djibouti with another countryAll fifty-four, worked through the same twenty-seven categories.When to come
JFMAMJJASOND
November to March, when the heat is survivable and the whale sharks are in the gulf.
01Highlights
What Djibouti is known for.
Six of the twenty-seven, and the ones most people come for. The rest are below — and none of them is filler.
Nature & Landscapes
Wildlife
Whale Sharks
They come into the Gulf of Tadjoura from November, in numbers, close to shore.
Mountains
The Goda and Mabla
Mousa Ali at 2,028 metres, and juniper forest above the coastal plain at Day.
Beaches & Coast
The Gulf of Tadjoura
Beaches at Sable Blanc and the Sept Freres islands, and reef straight off the sand.
Forests & Rainforest
The Last Juniper
The Day forest is a relic of a wetter Horn, and it is shrinking.
Afar and Somali
Two peoples, French and Arabic official, and a port that half the Horn depends on.
02Experiences
25 ways to spend the time.
Every country we cover works through the same twenty-seven categories, so you can hold two of them side by side and compare like with like rather than one brochure against another. Compare Djibouti with another → The two not listed here are the hero picture and the case for going, which has a section of its own below.
Landscapes
- The Afar TriangleThree tectonic plates pulling apart, and you can stand in the crack.
- The Goda and MablaMousa Ali at 2,028 metres, and juniper forest above the coastal plain at Day.
- Nothing PermanentThere are no rivers here. The water is in wadis, springs and the sea.
- Lake AbbeLimestone chimneys steaming on a dry lake bed, on the Ethiopian border.
- The Gulf of TadjouraBeaches at Sable Blanc and the Sept Freres islands, and reef straight off the sand.
- The Last JuniperThe Day forest is a relic of a wetter Horn, and it is shrinking.
Wildlife
- Whale SharksThey come into the Gulf of Tadjoura from November, in numbers, close to shore.
- Day ForestBeira antelope and the last Djibouti francolin in the juniper of the Goda mountains.
- Salt, Cut by HandSlabs still cut from Assal and loaded onto camels, on a route a thousand years old.
- The ArdoukobaA volcano that erupted in 1978 as the rift opened. The lava field is still bare.
People and culture
- Afar and SomaliTwo peoples, French and Arabic official, and a port that half the Horn depends on.
- The AfarSalt caravans still come up from Assal, and the Afar have worked that trade for centuries.
- Independence Day27 June, and the Afar and Somali dance traditions that come out for it.
- Weaving and WoodworkAfar mats and milk vessels, and carved wooden headrests that double as stools.
- Skoudehkaris and Yemeni FishSpiced rice with lamb, and whole fish baked in a Yemeni clay oven on the coast.
- Sable BlancShallow, warm, empty white sand an hour and a half from the capital.
- Khat at FourThe flight lands from Ethiopia and the city stops for it. Every afternoon.
Places
- Djibouti CityA French-Arab port city with a covered market, and the Horn's busiest container terminal.
- Arcades and CoralColonial arcades in the European quarter, and coral-block houses in the old town.
- Ottoman TadjouraOne of the oldest towns on this coast, with seven mosques and a sultan's history.
- The Lake Abbe LandscapeNot listed, but the chimneys are on every list of the strangest places on earth.
Ways to travel
- Snorkelling and Rift WalkingSwimming with whale sharks in the morning, walking a spreading rift in the afternoon.
- Small and Getting BetterA few good hotels in the capital and a diving lodge on the gulf.
- White on TurquoiseLake Assal at midday, when the salt is blinding and the water is the wrong blue.
- The Sept FreresSeven islands at the mouth of the gulf, with the best reef in the country round them.
03Why go
The case for Djibouti.
Why Visit This Country
Why Djibouti
Whale sharks, the lowest point in Africa and a rift valley opening, in a country you cross in a day.
Hidden Gems
The Sept Freres
Seven islands at the mouth of the gulf, with the best reef in the country round them.
Eco Tourism
Salt, Cut by Hand
Slabs still cut from Assal and loaded onto camels, on a route a thousand years old.
Heritage
The Lake Abbe Landscape
Not listed, but the chimneys are on every list of the strangest places on earth.
04Go deeper
All of Djibouti, four ways in.
Who would take youAfrinkong
The ground is ours right across Africa: your vehicle, your driver for the whole journey, and the days shaped around what you came for.
In Cameroon, Uganda and Namibia you travel with companies of our own as well.
Plan your journey →
Begin
Your Djibouti starts here.
Tell us the month, or simply the thing you want to see, and a guide who works there will answer.