Expedition Objectives:

1. The chance to attempt to become the only people alive to cross the Danakil Desert in Ethiopia on foot. The expedition will make use of camels to carry the burden of water, rations and equipment and will leave from Mekele on the western side of the Danakil Depression to attempt the first ever complete crossing of the desert from North to South. The expedition will head north east into the depression to the salt mines then turn south, following the base of the depression past Erta Ale and finishing on the banks of the Awash River. The Danakil has claimed many lives, and many expeditions have met their end here. It is the hottest desert in the world, with recorded temperatures reaching 65 degrees C. There are lava lakes, volcanoes, salt pans, noxious sulphur pools and it is home to the Afar people, a clannish tribe with a fearsome reputation as warriors.

2. One million camels pass through Mekele, a town on the edge of the Danakil Depression, as part of trading caravans providing a livelihood for many Afar and Tigray tribesmen. With goverment plans to build a road across part of the desert, the expedition will attempt to discern the future impact of such a road on tribal trade in the region.