Known for recording temperatures of up to 60 degrees Celsius, this site is located in the Afar depression and, administratively, occupies part of northeastern Ethiopia, southern Eritrea and a large part of Djibouti.

Its inhabitants, present for two thousand years, have as their main economic activity the extraction of salt, which is cut by hand into tiles and transported by camel. The usual caravans of animals travel slowly through the desert carrying the grain.

Living a nomadic lifestyle, the people travel 15 to 20 kilometers a day to collect firewood and carry water. Their food source is goat or camel milk and also camel meat. The region also has many volcanoes, including Erta Ale, at 613 meters above sea level, and Dabbahu (1,442 meters above sea level), while its deepest point is the Danakil Depression, 100 meters below sea level.

Located above a crack in the earth’s crust, the immense plain dotted with salt, sulfide and sulfur formations records volcanic activity considered to be one of the most active in the world.

The Dallol volcano stands out, with its fiery fountains and range of colors ranging from orange to green, passing through white and bright yellow due to sulfur and other minerals. The inhospitable conditions of the place are the subject of study by scientists and geologists to find out how the life of animals and humans who inhabit it is possible.

The gas clouds coming from a volcano located below the surface are dangerous, with a level of magnesium so high that it is capable of destroying any cellular formation. The hyperacidity and hypersaltiness add greater danger to the area.

(Taken from Orbe)