Salt Workers of the Danakil

For centuries the Afar tribe of northeastern Ethiopia has mined salt from the flats of the Danakil Depression, once part of the Red Sea but now the lowest, hottest part on Earth. Using large wooden poles, workers pry huge slabs of salt crust up from the plain, then cut and shape them into uniform blocks. They load the blocks onto camels and mules, then walk with them to market up in Mekele, a seven-day trip each way. This is how they’ve always done it, and this is how they continue to do it.

The salt workers toil in the blazing sun in intense glare. They don’t have luxuries like sun glasses so it’s very hard on their eyes. Joni, who has been to the Danakil Depression before, arranged with an Oregon senior center to donate sunglasses with lanyards, approximately 70 pairs of them, which we distributed to the salt workers when we encountered them on the road or at work. It was very gratifying to give this gift to them, something they so clearly appreciated.

We met caravans going both directions - to and from the market in Mekele. Those going to market carried heavy burdens of salt blocks, while those returning were loaded with hay, firewood, and anything else the Afar tribesmen needed from market. The caravan route goes at least partially on the highway, sharing the road with vehicular traffic.

A caravan returning from Mekele. The plastic bag with yellow label is a pair of sunglasses we’ve given him.

Another returning caravan. You can see bags of hay loaded on the camel.

This man had been at the tail of the caravan but ran forward to get a pair of sunglasses.

This large caravan of camels and mules is fully loaded with salt blocks.

Once we reached the site being mined for salt, we watched the salt workers at work for a while. Since Joni had last been there, the salt workers had apparently become a tourist destination - we saw lots of tourists there besides ourselves, far more than previous times she’d been there. We waited until several groups departed before distributing sunglasses to the workers.

Joni handing out sunglasses.

Carrie and Joni distributing sunglasses. The foreman (the one with the AK47) helped distribute them, keeping distribution orderly and ensuring everybody got a pair.

A happy sunglasses recipient.

After we’d passed out sunglasses to everyone, the salt workers seemed pleased to let us watch them and take photographs.

The poles are used to pry up large sections of the salt crust. It is then shaped into uniform blocks, tied together into pairs, and stacked in large stacks until they can be loaded on a camel or mule for transport.

Shaping a block using an adze. Each block weighs approximately 6 kg. Note the sunglasses on his head - we were there on an overcast day so it wasn’t nearly as bright as usual.

Sharpening an adze on a whetstone.

Mules resting before being loaded into a caravan.

Camels also resting.

A camel yawn!

Two workers securing blocks to a camel’s back.

Looking at this man’s eyes helps you understand why sunglasses are so useful to them.

Tying two blocks of salt together. The orange circle on his head is a flashlight - they start work before daylight.