Lake Asale is a hypersaline lake at 116 metres below sea level, one of the lowest points in Africa, covered in a thick crust of crystallised salt that extends for kilometres in every direction. The salt here is extraordinarily pure — the result of repeated evaporation cycles over millions of years — and has been harvested for trade since ancient times.
The spectacle is the salt caravan. Afar miners descend to the lake with long camel trains, spend several days cutting rectangular slabs of salt (each weighing about five kilograms), loading the slabs onto camels and donkeys, and beginning the multi-day journey back to Mekele and onward markets. The sight of a salt caravan crossing the shimmering white flats, men and animals silhouetted against the heat haze and the distant volcanic peaks, is one of the defining images of the Danakil. The work is brutal — temperatures exceed 50°C at the salt surface — and the miners work in the pre-dawn hours to cut and load before the worst of the heat. Travellers with organised tours typically witness the loading before sunrise, which is the best time to visit.