Djibouti - Lake Abbeh: its cultural landscape, its natural monuments and its ecosystem

"Lake Abbeh: its cultural landscape, its natural monuments and its ecosystem, testifies to the great stages of the history of the earth and men. Of tectonic origin and inscribed in a graben framed by two horsts, Lake Abbeh, is an endorheic salt lake of East Africa located straddling the border with Ethiopia."

Source: UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List

Lake Abbe, Djibouti. An extra large size postcard. Thanks to Vinson of Malaysia.

Djibouti - Le Lac Assal

"Lake Assal is an endorheic salt lake in East Africa, in the center of Djibouti. This lake is located in the east of the Afar depression, at an altitude of 153 meters below sea level making it the lowest point of the African continent. It is part of a graben framed by two horst, assembly formed by the opening of the Great Rift Valley. It is separated from Ghoubbet el Kharab, which is an extension of the Gulf of Aden via the Gulf of Tadjourah by Ardoukoba volcano that last erupted in 1978..."

Source: UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List

Postcard 1
Lake Assal is the largest deposit salt in the world. Thanks to Ronald of Sweden who visited Djibouti.

Postcard 2

Lake Assal of Djibouti. A nice extra large postcard. Thanks again to Vinson of Malaysia.

Djibouti - The Moucha and Maskali Islands

"Located at the opening of the Gulf of Tadjourah, the Moucha and Maskali Islands are madreporic reefs emerged. The emergence of these reefs dates from the late Pleistocene (140,000 to 100,000 BP years) and shows the uplift that accompanies the opening of the rift. These small desert islands include a lush mangrove of mangroves. Their underwater landscape of great beauty is composed, among others, of multicolored algae and coral gardens. Their fish-rich waters are home to an exceptional marine life such as: the red-billed phaeton Phaethon aetherus, the reef Egretta gularis, the white spoonbill Platalea leucorodia, the chestnut-bellied Ganga Pterocles exusta and probably the stingor spider Acrocephalus stentoreus or the whale shark (Rhincodon typus), the banded stingray (Taeniura lymma) and others as well as various turtles. Some of these species are endemic, including the white-winged gull, Larus leucopthalmus. The Moucha and Maskali Islands are also marked by their sandy beaches and exceptional natural scenery."

Source: UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List


Multi-view of Djibouti with photo of Maskali Islands in the centre of the bottom row in the postcard. Thanks to DAO of United Kingdom for this beautiful postcard mailed from Djibouti.

Djibouti - The historical urban landscape of the city of Djibouti and its specific buildings

"Due to its geographical location, at the crossroads of Africa, the Middle East and the Indian Ocean, Djibouti was, since the Middle Ages, an important commercial hub between the Arabs and Africa, especially for the traffic slaves or the aromatics trade. It is through historical facts that the city was built. In 1862, France returned to the region of Obock and acquired it by a treaty with the chiefs of this region. In 1890, the French governor Lagarde decided to transfer the seat of the government located in Obock to Djibouti cape, a peninsula which opens widely on the Gulf of Aden. On this marshy site the Governor Lagarde undertakes to establish the bases of an urban fabric, Djibouti-city, which will become in 1896 the chief town of the colony called French Coast of Somalis."
Source: UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List

Place Mahmoud Harbi of Djibouti City is named after a fervent Somalian who wanted merger of Djibouti with Somalia. Thanks to Ronald of Sweden.