View from the ship on the construction work near the sea port

Djibouti sits on the join between the African and the Arabian tectonic plates - the volcanic rock, salt lakes and hot springs offering evidence of ongoing geological upheaval. The Afar Depression, a continuation of Africa's Eastern Rift Valley, passes through the Tadjoura region of Djibouti, and here can be found the striking salt lake, Lac Assal, at 155m below sea level, the lowest point in Africa. The Depression meets the sea at the Goubbet al Kharab or Devil's Cauldron (not, as us sceptics would have it, named by those trying to market diving holidays, but for its harsh environment). Indeed, one of the planned dives was to be in the Goubbet at La Faille - the crack between the two tectonic plates! Through the mouth of the Goubbet, a tidal narrows, is the Gulf of Tadjoura, the branch of the Gulf of Aden which cuts into Djibouti.