From the spectacular world of the Omo Valley we make our way to the main road that will lead us back to Moyale, the border with Kenya. But before we bid our gracious farewell to Ethiopia after hosing us for the past 23 days, we set off on a 20km detour to explore one more unique surprise.

Ode, our loyal GPS, is less familiar with Ethiopia and forces us to use the old-fashioned way (asking locals) of finding the small town of El Sod, that supposedly sits on the rim of a fantastic crater. We have little trouble in finding our way. While the locals – of the Borana tribe – do not speak much English, they were able to point us in the right direction when we asked for “El Sod” which means “House of Salt”. As we arrived, the village appeared to have nothing remarkable, aside from small huts with roofs made mud with growing grass (seems like the notion of a ‘green roof’ was in style here way before the green movement in the western world).

With the light rain and an overcast day, we were just about ready to call it quits. But since we made it so far, we agree to at least park and take a couple photos of the supposed crater. With any winding roads or a tremendously scenic approach, we didn’t expect much. Yet, the view merited at least a decent  “wow”. Despite the rain, decided that we might as well make hike down for a closer look.

El Sod (known as House of Salt) in southern Ethiopia is one of four crater lakes in the region. It’s lake, 800 meters across and 100 meters deep, contains precious salt.

Supporting the local guide association we pay for Doba Barako to show us the way down to the lake. Slowly – frequently being passed by donkeys – we descend the rocky and steep path. “Now the lake is full”, explains Doba “only the experienced men can go into the lake to harvest the salt”. For centuries, the lake has been an infinite source of salt, both for humans and domesticated animals. “Now, in the rainy season there is a lot of mud with the salt and it rich in minerals and only good for animals”, says Doba as we approach the pitch-black lake.

A local lixu carries a large chunk of black salt ashore.

Clearly tourism is not the only business the crater-lake fosters. We were mere spectators of the lake’s true venture, black salt. We witnessed a bustling natural factory at work.  The brave men who venture in to the darkness below the lake’s surface are known as lixu (pronounced li-to), or salt divers. They scale down a wooden pole (dongora) to excavate the mineral-rich black salt sometimes as far as 10 meters below the surface.

The skilled underwater excavators sell their product by the bucket-full. Two buckets fill up a bag of about 120lbs that is loaded on a poor donkey that lugs the heavy black mud up to the crater’s rim. Each bag is worth about 50 birr (less than $4USD). However the same bag of muddy salt, frequently fed to camels and other domesticated animals, can be sold for up to 120Birr once it gets to Moyale. While it may not seem like much, relative to earnings in Ethiopia is proper compensation for the hard work.

Divers stick plugs in their noses and ears because the salty water are be extremely toxic.

The 120lbs bags of black salt are hulled up the mountain by donkeys. The 340 meter climb is no easy chore.

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