Tucked away in the northeast corner of Ethiopia, edging along the tense Eritrean border, the Danakil Depression is a scorching and brutal showcase of the earth’s most raw elements. Unsettlingly perched at the junction of three tectonic plates, Danakil’s epic wasteland displays blinding salt beds, jagged rock formations, searing desert landscapes, and explosive volcanoes; the “average” year round temperature is 34 degrees Celsius. Here, in the harshest depths of the rift valley 100 meters below sea level, vast expanses of “white gold”—salt—has been the economic lifeblood for centuries.