Our trip to Danakil Desert in March 2019 proved to be a worth destination though we cancelled the last stop of our trip, a visit of the Erta Ale. Shortly before we were heading for that spectecular adventure a swiss group had told us we would probably be disappointed due to the lot of smoke around the crater lake making it impossible to get the expected pictures.
So we can only recommend to gather absolutely reliable information about the current situation at the volcano before you are planning to visit the place.
I added some fantastic Erta Ale footage of Philippe Loriot (www.aventurevolcans.com) who shot some spectacular scenes of the lava lake in January 2018. Thanks to Philippe and Ephrem Amare for the very beautiful music!