Lake Karum

Imagine this for a job opportunity. Your work day consists of spending 8-10 hours in 50C (122F) heat, without any shelter, performing the hard manual labor of cutting blocks of salt from the surface of a lake. Welcome to the life of the salt miners of Lake Karum, an endless expanse of white close to Dallol. I’ve never seen anything like it. I was on the verge of passing out after spending ten minutes doing nothing more than talking to these people. But like machines, they continued to saw, lever, slice and dice, taking a break only to wave the flies from their face. If that doesn’t sound like the career for you, don’t worry, you’ve got options. How about the life of a caravan driver? Responsibilities include walking your camels 7 days over desert and salt pans from the nearest major township of Mek’ele, packing the beasts with 200kg of salt apiece, and hiking back to sell it.