I’ve found my perfect balance on the doum-palm raft. Sitting with my legs dangling in the water, nothing could be more elemental than this: A spotless blue sky over a jade green lake in the longest rift on earth, heated under the ceaseless sun. Looming on its southern horizon is Mount Kulal with its moisture-fed sky forest that is a biosphere reserve. Around us is a desert sprawled with ancient black lava earth including an island that’s pure lava rubble.
There are more superlatives to add: It’s the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake. By volume it is the world's fourth-largest salt lake after the Caspian Sea.
