Djibouti

“Djibouti? Where’s that?” I got asked when I announced my next destination.

Djibouti, sitting on the Horn of Africa, surrounded by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, is still unexplored and rarely features in tourist brochures. This former French colony neighbours Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia, and is a short boat ride away from Yemen. I travelled to Djibouti after a whirlwind tour of West Africa. It was only meant to be a point of rest for me as I was not expecting an adventure. Funny how life works, when we least expect anything, we get a bundle of surprises.

Lake Assal (above) is a beautiful gift given by Mother Nature to Djibouti. The colours of this unique natural wonder just took my breath away. Sitting at 150 metres below seal level, the lake is the third lowest point on Earth after the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee, and is the world’s largest salt reserve. The crater salt lake emits both green and blue waters because of the salt crystals. Here, you don’t sink in the water, but you float. I left Lake Assal feeling calm and captivated by its natural beauty.