Home of the Afar people, the Danakil desert, or Danakil Depression, in north east Ethiopia has the hottest recorded average temperature on earth, trumping Death Valley in the US. Temperatures regularly hit the mid 40s. A mining company mined huge quantities of potash here some years ago, but had to abandon the operation after two years because of extreme heat. Today the main - the only - commercial activity is salt mining, as it has been for thousands of years. Huge blocks of salt are levered out of the salt flats and cut in to 10 kilo blocks to be sold in the markets, having been transported across this baking desert by camel. They say the Afar people are able to work in this harsh environment because, like camels, they have an unusual ability to regulate body temperature.

The area is also stuffed with unique geology as well as active volcanoes, with fissures in the ground spewing lava and steam.

Written by  James Dunford Wood.

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