Horn Deserts

The Danakil Desert stretches across the Afar lowlands in a landscape of salt plains, volcanic cones and basins below sea level. Ancient incursions of the Red Sea left thick deposits of salt as the water evaporated. Lava flows dammed valleys to form lakes such as Afrera, whose shores bear crusts of salt. Afar miners cut salt from the desert and load it onto camels for the journey to market.