Erta Ale Basecamp -Lava Plateau- 
<Series 8 : Lave plateau>
We drove on the Danakil Desert for about 2 hours towards the northwest's direction, moving at low speed between the dark red lava plateaus while watching the Erta Ale volcano, and finally arrived at the base camp.

The base camp is located at Erta Ale volcano's foot and is the best place for trekking beyond the outer volcanic ring to the lava lake's vicinity.  It is possible to stay overnight, but since the ground is the lava plateau, it is impossible to set up a tent.  Instead, dozens of shelters had prepared, and a few people could sleep inside. 
Location: Afar Region, Northeastern Ethiopia, February 2015
For more information:​​​​​​​  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erta_Ale

Equipment: Canon EOS 5D markⅢ; Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8l Ⅱ USM; Capture One 20; Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
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The shelters were built by stacking purple-red rocks like red bricks and was shaped like an English "C"; the roof was covered with gramineous plants. 
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Colletion> 
Title:  To Afar Triangle in Ethiopia: one of the harshest places on Earth

A new adventure has begun; to meet the harshest nature on earth; to meet the lives of Ethiopian peoples living in the harshest places.


In 1974, several hundred pieces of fossilized human bones more than 3 million years old were found near the village of Hadar, Ethiopia, and it was found to be a female skeleton of Australopithecus afarensis, and she was named "Lucy".  

The broad-leaved forests that provided fruits: Lucy's main foods, had decreased drastically with the advent of the Sahara Desert and the Great Rift Valley, which began forming about 10 million years ago; it was necessary to descend to the ground and move between the trees to obtain the fruits.

The Afar Triangle, or Afar Depression(as known as the Danakil Desert), located in northeastern Ethiopia, was said to be one of the harshest places on earth and was formed by the Great Rift Valley.  In the Danakil Desert, the lowest elevation is below -100m above sea level and the dry season temperature is close to 50°C; surprisingly, this is the place where the Afar peoples live, besides, this place is a region with extremely active uplift: the volcano Dallol, which has the crater in the lowest place in the world on land: the volcano Elta Are, which has a low-viscosity lava lake.
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Photography by  Masakazu
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