Erta Ale Volcano

Erta Ale is a continuously active basaltic shield volcano located in the Danakil Depression of the Afar Region. Standing 613 meters high, its name translates to "Smoking Mountain" in the local Afar language. Erta Ale is famous worldwide for harboring one of the world's longest-existing active lava lakes, which has been continuously molten since at least 1906. Visitors often trek up the gentle volcanic slope in the cool of the night to reach the rim, where they can look directly down into glowing, bubbling molten basalt rock churning within the summit caldera.