Photographer: Alex Póo

“The desert is too vast to accommodate lies.”

This is how Brahim, our 63-year-old Tuareg guide, explained why things are different in the desert. Brahim was the human GPS who guided our expedition to Libya for a front-row view of the solar eclipse in 2006.

Our long history of Saharan travel began in the early 1980s, when we opened the agency. Those first 4×4 routes through Algeria and Morocco gradually expanded. Mauritania, Tunisia, Niger, Egypt and years after the Chad, Sudan and Libya completed our range of trips to the Sahara Desert.

Travel to Ethiopia for 14 days with departure in January to participate in the festivals of Timkat and St George.

Travellers can discover the exceptional vitality of Ethiopians during their religious festivals: Timkat in the spectacular setting of Gondar with the fascinating Fasilidas Baths decorated; the St George in Lalibela will allow us to enjoy the beauty of its famous churches. The rock-hewn churches of the Tigray complete this tour of the oldest Christian kingdom in Africa.

The collection of paintings and engravings on rocks and walls in Tassili N’Ajjer is the world’s largest open-air collection of Neolithic art.

A World Heritage Site since 1982 and a Biosphere Reserve since 1986, its walls bear the traces of prehistoric civilizations which, almost by miracle, remain in the midst of a terribly hostile climate much of the year.

The Tadrart is the objective of our next trips to Algeria from October to March, with Red sand dunes and an impressive canyon, where fantastical landscapes conceal sculpted stone formations and springs of crystal-clear water.

The Timkat festival, is the most important festival for Ethiopian Orthodox believers. Timkat takes place every 19 January and lasts three days. Forty percent of Ethiopians identify as Christians and are among the Christian traditions oldest in the world. This celebration of Epiphany recalls Jesus' baptism in the Jordan River with ritual recreation and parades with replicas of the Ark of the Covenant.

A trip to Ethiopia to discover the exceptional vitality of Ethiopians on the occasion of the celebration of their most outstanding religious festivities.
The Timkat celebrations in Ethiopia reveal the spirituality and emotion of the people of Gondar, reaching their climax at the bathing pools during the re-enactment of Jesus’ baptism.

Near Erta Ale volcano (‘smoking mountain’ in the Afar language) lies Lake Afrera. Its waters do not quench thirst, as it is a salt lake, but its minerals are a source of wealth. Water is channelled to its shores, where it evaporates, leaving fine white salt of the highest quality in the Danakil. Millions of years ago, the entire Danakil Depression was a vast sea. As it evaporated, it left enormous salt deposits, which are a source of wealth today.

It is worth visiting the salt workings to see the grid lines marking each property. After the salt flats, our next destination is Erta Ale volcano.

Ethiopia presentation: Thursday, 23 October at 19:00.

On Thursday 23 October, our colleague Juancho Pozuelo, who has guided several of our expeditions to Ethiopia, will share first-hand insights into this spectacular and unique route.

During the presentation, photographs and videos from previous expeditions will help us get a feel for the trip and discover the details of what awaits us.

Please confirm your attendance by calling 93 265.23.91 during office hours.

Upcoming trips to Ethiopia

There are currently only 5 active lava lakes on the planet. This December we travelled to the east of Ethiopia to photograph one of them: the Erta Ale.

See details of our photography route through Ethiopia.

Salt lakes as white as ice, spectacular volcanic eruptions and black lava flows, lakes and geysers painting the surface in a multitude of colours… This is the Danakil, where temperatures reach 50°. The only people able to live here are the Afar pastoralists, who trade in salt extracted from the plain.