Endangered camel caravans of the Ethiopian salt mines
Arrival of big companies and technology advances, threaten ancient livelihood at Ethiopia's dried, salty inland seabed.
Danakil, Ethiopia -
Salt miners ply an ancient and gruelling trade in Ethiopia's
northeastern Danakil Depression, one of the hottest and lowest places on
Earth.
Danakil contains vast salt flats as well as sulphur springs and rumbling volcanoes created by the grinding of three tectonic plates. Yet this inhospitable landscape manages to support the Afar people, a Muslim group straddling the borderlands of Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti.
Each day, Afar miners chop salt from the earth under a blistering sun, then load the minerals on to camels and donkeys which march for days to market towns to the west where the mineral is sold.
Danakil salt was once so valuable people used it as currency, but each rough hewn slab fetches only four Ethiopian birr (about 20 cents) at the mine today. With such small profits for such hard labour, the ancient trade may soon give way to more lucrative pursuits.
The Danakil also holds large deposits of potash which is used in fertilisers, and numerous mining companies are lining up to begin extraction.
A railway being built from Djibouti and a new tarmacked road traversing the old salt route may soon render the traditional camel caravan obsolete. Until then, the Afar miners will continue their tough way of life, scratching a living from this desolate stretch of salt.
Danakil contains vast salt flats as well as sulphur springs and rumbling volcanoes created by the grinding of three tectonic plates. Yet this inhospitable landscape manages to support the Afar people, a Muslim group straddling the borderlands of Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti.
Each day, Afar miners chop salt from the earth under a blistering sun, then load the minerals on to camels and donkeys which march for days to market towns to the west where the mineral is sold.
Danakil salt was once so valuable people used it as currency, but each rough hewn slab fetches only four Ethiopian birr (about 20 cents) at the mine today. With such small profits for such hard labour, the ancient trade may soon give way to more lucrative pursuits.
The Danakil also holds large deposits of potash which is used in fertilisers, and numerous mining companies are lining up to begin extraction.
A railway being built from Djibouti and a new tarmacked road traversing the old salt route may soon render the traditional camel caravan obsolete. Until then, the Afar miners will continue their tough way of life, scratching a living from this desolate stretch of salt.
The salt flats of the Danakil Depression were formed
tens of thousands of years ago by the evaporation of an inland sea.
Salt miners have come to inhospitable land for generations to extract the precious resource.
Simple axes are used to cut large slabs of salt, which are then pried out using wooden poles.
Other miners use hand tools to shave the slabs into
bricks which are loaded on to the backs of camels. Each brick costs four
Ethiopian birr, about 20 cents.
Up to 30 bricks of salt are loaded on to each camel.
The weight of each load is sometimes so much that even these sturdy
beasts collapse under it.
The camels and their keepers walk for one to two days
from the low-lying mines to a salt trading town called Berhale in nearby
mountains.
In Berhale, the camel's load of salt is traded and the
caravan turns around for the return journey to the mines.
On rare occasions, the salt flats flood with a few
inches of water when sustained winds push water from a nearby lake
across the depression.
Depending on the time of day, the salt can take on a pink, grey, or white appearance.
Most Afar people are pastoralists who herd camels,
sheep, donkeys, and cattle, but a minority make their livelihood from
the salt business.
In the summer, temperatures in the Danakil Depression
can reach 45C. Even in winter, the daytime temperature can top 35C.
A fast-working salt miner can produce dozens of finished bricks at a time.
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