In northeastern Ethiopia and southern Eritrea, a vast desert of 100,000 square kilometers stretches as far as the eye can see. The fringes of the Danakil Desert are home to the Afar people, who rely heavily on the desert for their livelihood. Even though the region is among the hottest and most arid in the world — with temperatures reaching 145 degrees Fahrenheit in the sun — the Afar people continue to regularly trek through the desert terrain on their camel trains. It's a world filled with sand, salt, heat, and volcanic activity. Sulphurous hot springs, active lava beds, and salt lakes dot the landscape. Why would anyone want to spend time in this harsh environment, let alone travel through it regularly? As with many "crazy" things humans do, it all comes down to money. The Afar people make their living by mining slabs of salt from the flats surrounding the Danakil Depression and loading the slabs onto camels to travel miles back to the nearest city to offload their precious cargo. If you're a geology buff and considering a trip to check out the unique region, you might want to hire a security force to get you there and back in one piece. Despite the forbidding nature of the Danakil, some of the locals definitely get salty about their rights to the area. In 2012, rebels attacked a group of tourists visiting the Erta Ale volcano in the Danakil Depression, killing five people, wounding seven, and abducting four others. like to vote me thanks
