The Afar settlements where we camp are the most uncomfortable, filthiest places we’ve ever been to. They are set up in the middle of stone fields (which also serve as common, open air toilets) with ramshackle, dirty huts. It is too hot to sleep inside a hut or under a tent so we sleep on elevated wooden planks outdoors with the hot dusty desert wind, the “gara”, whipping our faces all night long and covering us with a thick film of sand.
