6 am. Woke up with the sun by the lake Assal. Pretty
colors in the sky. It is going to be a beautiful day. The night was good. No
visitors beside the flying and non flying insects. We had parked the pick up by
the two huts just in case it would be raining. Hard to believe it would but we
had a couple of rain drops after diner and the soil was moist at some place,
kind of quicksand. This was not a camp site and we had wondered whose huts it
was. Most probably nomadic people. No shower, no drama. I came with a lot of baby-wipes.
Anyway useless. At 9 am it is already so hot that, with or without shower, you
will feel sticky… I didn’t say stinky.
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| Lake Assal |
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| Lake Assal |
Exploration around lake Assal. Pretty, pretty, pretty and
still nobody. The only evidence of human presence are those quiet salt
factories at each sides of the lake.
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| Lake Assal |
Heading north east. The road takes us by Ardoukoba
volcano, a different surrounding. On the way we stop on a beach because we saw
the beach’s sign. A Turk with a Russian accent warns us. A couple of days ago,
a shark attacked a teenager in the shallow waters. Just to have a taste of it
we dip our foot in. Just the foot. The water is not cold but it feels like it because
it is so hot here. Another stop to get more bottles of water. We are drinking
so much.
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| Ardoukoba volcano area |
Still some locals on the side of the road asking for
water and/or a ride. We slowed down to ask where they are going. We thought
three or four of them had climbed in the back of the pick up but, when we dropped
them off at Tadjoura, we counted eight of them. No wonder why it was hard to
drive uphill.
Lunch at Tadjoura was interesting. I ordered gambas and I
had grilled small pink shrimps… fresh from the can. Walk around in Tadjoura,
the white city. Slow motion, it is so hot. Goats are eating garbages. The lady
who sales the Khat is making 100 Djiboutian Francs (50 cents of euro) profit on
each sale. No almond Magnum in what seem to be an ice cream shop, only a group
of friends chewing some Khat. The Khat is the local legal drug, imported
everyday from Ethiopia. It is a plant that causes excitement and euphoria.
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| Tadjoura |
Not much more to do in Tadjoura so we continue driving
east to the white sand beach. You really need to be motivated to get there,
have a good 4 x 4 and an expert driver. Off road, off GPS, off map but we go. Not
so white sand but nice to dip our foot in the water and a nice challenge for
Veronique who seems to enjoy that kind of driving. I tend to stress and close
my eyes when I can’t even see the cliff edge. On the way back to the main road
we meet a convoy of expat asking about the road conditions. My kind of fun is
more, driving fast on endless roads, using the other side of the road when it
curves and, avoid the camels.
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| White sand beach by Tadjoura |
On the way to Obock we stop at a village where we saw
Versailles castle and a French flag. It was the shop of an artist, blown away
by the wind a few months ago. I always feel uncomfortable when locals hate or
love French. Independence is always better than colonisation in my mind.
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| On the road |
We will spend the night at Obock in a real bed and have a
real shower in a real bathroom.
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