The Afar Triangle is one of the Earth’s hottest and driest regions, where temperatures on the bare plains often rise above 50 degrees Celsius, intensified by the fierce, scorching winds known as Gara, or “Fire Wind.” Much of the landscape is dominated by desert and salt flats, cleaved by vast cracks created by the intense heat of the sun. Despite these harsh conditions, the Afar people, who consider themselves the oldest ethnic group in Ethiopia, have inhabited this arid land for at least 2,000 years.