Category Archives: Africa It is hot, and arid, and a long way from anywhere. The harsh environment is at least part of the reason why the 16+ ethnic groups who live in the far reaches of Ethiopia’s Omo Valley, near the border with South Sudan, have been left alone to maintain their traditional lifestyles and cultural practices. One […]  There are some sights – no matter how many times they have been shown in photos or on film – that you just have to see for yourself. Sure, there are stock images online that are taken in better weather conditions and from better angles, and the hosts of travel programs get superior entry and […]  You could call them Ethiopia’s 0.1%. That is the approximate proportion that the Hamar (or Hamer) people, an agro-pastoralist tribe in the Omo Valley, make up of Ethiopia’s total. Most of these Hamer-speaking people still live a traditional, semi-nomadic lifestyle on their fertile tribal lands in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region (SNNPR) of the country. Care […]  ‘Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.’ This sense of dislocation – in a positive way – often arises when travelling off the beaten track. In Southern Ethiopia, I was so far off the popular routes that most of the ‘highways’ I was on weren’t paved! Around the city of Arba Minch – […]  “And King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all that she desired, whatever she asked besides what was given her by the bounty of King Solomon. So she turned and went back to her own land with her servants.” – 1 Kings 10:13 Ethiopia – and its capital Addis Ababa – is the quintessential paradox. […] |
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