Across Abyssiniya Tour PLC.

The Danakil Depression is the northern part of the Afar Triangle or Afar Depression in Ethiopia, a geological depression that has resulted from the divergence of three tectonic plates in the Horn of Africa. It has a complex geological history. It is a vast plain and about 125 m (410 ft) below sea level, which makes it the lowest and hottest place on planet earth. The Danakil Depression is the hottest place on Earth in terms of year-round average temperatures. Temperatures average 94 degrees Fahrenheit (34.5 Celsius) but have been recorded above 122 Fahrenheit (50 Celsius )

The area is often referred to as the cradle of humanity; in 1974 Donald Johanson and his colleagues found the famous Australopithecus fossil Lucy, which has been dated 3.2 million years old[5] and many other fossils of ancient hominins have been uncovered here, prompting many palaeontologists to propose that this area is where the human species first evolved.

The Danakil is one of Earth’s most unusual environments. Renowned as not only the hottest on the planet’, but also home to salt lakes, lava lakes, volcanoes, and colorful acidic springs.

Volcanic activity heats spring water, bringing sulfur and iron to the surface, leaving behind yellow, green, and orange deposits. For centuries, locals have been trekking in with camel caravans to mine the salt by hand. When it is not farming time in Ethiopian highlands, farmers travel with their camels to the Danakil to mine salt bars and sale it in the highland. Some of them travel from as far as Sekota which is about 200 km from the Danakil.

For the last years I have been guiding tourists and television crew making documentary into the alien-looking landscape.

The hardest job I made in my life was in Danakil with BBC World for making a documentary “ The Hottest Place on Earth .” you can watch it online.

For 38 days in 50 degree centigrade working everyday for more than 12 hours. We were totally 52 people( 16 BBC crew, 12 drivers, 2 guides, 1 Afar language translator, 3 cooks, 3 assistance, 3 camp manager, 12 local assistance.

This is my most attractive place in the land of Ethiopia. I travel there leading film crew and tourists. I made 14 documentaries up to now. I lead more than 30 tourist group in this land, the Danakil.

It is " A Must See Place On Earth. "

Have a look the pictures.

Danga, zagne( stick fight culture of the Suri people :

Suri/Surma ) :

A sport and ritual the Suri take extremely seriously is stick fighting. It's said to be one of the fiercest competitions on the entire African continent. Here among Ethiopia's Surma tribe, the Donga, Stick Fight takes place in the name of love In most cases, stick fighting is done so young men can prove their masculinity and to find wives. It is a way for young men to prove themselves to the young women. This ritual is called Donga or Zagne. Donga is both the name of the sport and the stick they use for the fight. Stick fight is central in Suri culture. In most cases, stick fight is a way for warriors to find girlfriends, it can also be a way to settle conflicts. On this occasion men show their courage, their virility and their resistance to pain, to the young women.

The fights are held between Suri villages, and begin with 20 to 30 people on each side, and can end up with hundreds of warriors involved. Suri are famous for stick fighting, but they are not the only ones to respect such a custom, as the neighbor tribe, the Mursi were also practicing these traditional fights.

The day before the Zagnei, fighters have to pure themselves. They do it by drinking a special preparation, called Dokai, which is made of the bark of a special tree, which is mixed with water. After taking it, warriors make themselves vomiting the drink. The water is supposed to bring with it many of the body’s impurities. After this ritual they don’t eat until the following morning. Warriors walk kilometers to come fighting at Zagnei, which takes place in a clearing. They stop when crossing a river in order to wash themselves, before decorating their bodies for the fight.

Some years ago the Ethiopian Federal government tried to ban most of the ‘harmful customs’ all over the country in different tribal people, such as cattle-raiding, lip plates and stick-fighting in Surma, but effort ended with out any result.

Fighters arrive on the Donga field all together, carrying the strongest man, dancing and singing. Some fighters wear colorful headdresses sometimes with feathers on it, and also knee-protectors. But most of them use no protection at all and fight completely naked in order to show their bravery. They also wear strings of decorative colored beads around their necks given by the girls and waist, but their ge****ls are most of the time uncovered and they are barefoot.

All of them get a chance to fight one on one, against someone from the other side. In the beginning each fighter looks for an opponent of the same stature, and exchanges a few held back blows with him in order to test him. If both fighters feel they have found a match, they suddenly throw themselves into the fight, hitting ferocious fast strokes with their sticks. If one of the warriors knocked out or puts paid to his opponent, he immediately declares himself the winner. Zagne consists in qualifying rounds, each winner fighting the winner of a previous fight, until two finalists are left.

It is strictly forbidden to hit a man when he is down on the ground. During these fights there are referees present to make sure all rules are being followed. Many stick fights end within the first couple of hits. Nevertheless the fights are really violent, and it is quite usual to see men bleeding. Stick fighting has proven to be dangerous because people have died from being hit in the stomach. Loosing an eye or a leg during the fight is quite common, although it is strictly forbidden for a fighter to kill his opponent, and if a fighter gets killed during the fight, his opponent and all his family are banned from the village for life.

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Across Abyssinia is a dedicated tour company mainly working on tour and filming.
We organizing tours of unusual orntonlesd known plac es, what we call it off the bitten truck.

In addition, 50% if our job is fixing it location manager for TV and Documentary. We worked with BBC, Aljezira, ZDF German Television, CNN, sky TV, Belgium Radio and TV, Tokyo Broadcasting Trlevision, Nippon TV, Supper Sport and many uncountable channels.

We also worked with/for worldwide famous people like Jimi Carter, Bill Clinton Initiative, Marike Slomka, Bill Gate etc..

Our Moto is to show the world our country's history, nature and culture.