The Danakil African Desert is a depression in northern Ethiopia and southwestern Eritrea that is home to the world's most unusual, violent and poisonous desert.
Nature has set many traps here in the form of terrible volcanoes, toxic gases, sulfuric waters and unbearable ruthless heat, and the unique landscape of the desert, shimmering with a riot of colors, resembles a distant fantastic planet.
This strange place was discovered in 1928 by the traveler Tullio Pastori, who walked with his team more than 1300 km, from the western point of the desert to the salt fields.
There is a legend that a long time ago a valley of unprecedented beauty was green in this lowland. Once a sorcerer summoned the demons of the four elements into this world, which got out of control and killed the caster. Each of these creatures of the underworld sought to possess the most beautiful and fertile point in the world, in order to sow fear, horror and destruction there for centuries.
The demons chose the place where the Danakil Desert is now spread, but they could not decide which of them would be in charge. To resolve the dispute, they organized a battle of the forces of earth, water, fire and air in the valley.
Each of the rivals was so strong that after several days of demonic war there was nothing left of the beautiful lands and there was nothing to divide. According to this legend, all modern dangerous beauties of Danakil are echoes of that inhuman battle.
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The pearl of the desert is the unconsolidated lava lake of Erta Ale volcano. The seething lava splashes out, freezes, cracks, breaks and sinks in huge pieces. It is difficult to convey in words all the beauty of this devilish spectacle.
The local volcano Dallol strikes with a completely different view - a low salt dome, which is located at the lowest point in Africa. Boiling sulfuric acid and gases painted its surface in the most incredible shades.
Lake Assale, which is also located in this desert, is the saltiest lake in the world. Salt crystals have covered almost all the shores and sometimes people come here to collect pieces of white layers for further transportation to the city.
This place is inhabited by two tribes: "Red Afars" and "White Afars". They both consider themselves the masters of this desert, which often leads to armed conflicts. How ironic: earlier this place was divided by demons, and now people are fighting for it …