The vast Danakil depression marks the beginning of the Great Rift Valley, the largest, longest and most prominent fault in the Earth's crust. Here, the underlying magma lies nearer to the surface than any other place on the planet. In the middle of the depression, the Erta Ale volcano appears like a large lava lake in continual eruption. The northernmost part is covered by a thick salt crust, the residue of an ancient sea which once covered the entire region. On this totally flat surface, covering hundreds of kilometres, several hundred men break up salt slabs with pickaxes and poles, just like their neolithic ancestors in the past. These are the Afar, a race of nomad warriors greatly feared by the majority, and the only ones capable of working in these infernal conditions, where the temperature often exceeds 50°.
