Wildlife Photography Hides in Djibouti

Djibouti punches far above its weight as a wildlife photography destination for such a small nation. The Bay of Ghoubbet — a sheltered volcanic inlet connected to the Gulf of Tadjoura — is one of the world's most reliable whale shark aggregation sites, with juvenile sharks gathering in numbers that can reach 30+ individuals between November and January to feed on dense zooplankton blooms. The Forêt du Day on the Goda Massif protects the critically endangered Djibouti Francolin, found nowhere else on Earth, in Africa's northernmost Afromontane juniper forest. Humpback Whales pass through the Gulf of Tadjoura on their Arabian Sea migration corridor between January and March, and the gulf also supports large resident pods of Spinner and Bottlenose Dolphins year-round. The tidal flats south of Djibouti City are world-class for Palaearctic passage waders including Crab-plover, Broad-billed Sandpiper, and Sooty Falcon during autumn migration. Lac Abbé — an otherworldly landscape of steaming limestone chimneys in the Afar Depression — concentrates flamingos against a backdrop that appears prehistoric. Lake Assal at 155 m below sea level, the lowest point in Africa, adds flamingos on vivid turquoise saltwater against brilliant white salt crust for one of the continent's most distinctive landscape-wildlife compositions.