Situated in the Afar Triangle, i.e., between northeast Ethiopia, southern Eritrea, and northwestern Djibouti, the Danakil Desert, or Afar Desert, is one of the hottest and most inhospitable places ...

Are you sick?” In reply, Mohamed Elema Hessan—wiry and energetic, the ultimate go-to man, a charming rogue, my guide and protector through the blistering Afar Triangle—doubles over and laughs.

It was difficult to know. The world’s poorest people travel from many distant lands to perish in the Afar Triangle of Ethiopia, one of the hottest deserts on Earth. They walk into these terrible ...