PHOTO: Green Hills in Ethiopia’s Omo Valley are Home to the Dorze Tribe

This stunning landscape in the foothills above Arba Minch, Ethiopia, is home to the Dorze Tribe

Many of the indigenous peoples that inhabit southern Ethiopia have settled in the lowlands, but members of the Dorze Tribe prefer to live in the mountains that surround the Great Rift Valley. Twelve Dorze villages are scattered across these mountains, each nestled in a green glade like the one shown in the above photo. The … Read more

PHOTO: Mursi Woman with Lip Plate in the Southern Omo Valley of Ethiopia

Mursi woman with lip plate in the Omo Valley in southern Ethiopia.

The Mursi people are among the least developed of the 56 indigenous tribes that inhabit the southern Omo Valley in Ethiopia. I visited this tribe during a day trip into the remote Mago National Park. Thick, black mud sucked at my shoes as I walked among chest-high straw huts scattered around a small clearing. There … Read more

One Vegetarian’s Tale of an Ethiopian Food Disconnect

Fasting Yetsom Beyaynetu platter served on a huge sheet of Injera, the very best of Ethiopian food

I LOVE Ethiopian cuisine. I was first introduced to it 12 years ago, in Tanzania. I took one bite of Injera, the spongy, sourdough flatbread that Ethiopians use to scoop up everything on their plate, and was immediately hooked. Not only is Injera delicious, it’s made with fermented teff flour, which is milled from a … Read more

PHOTO: Banana Harvest in the Lush Konso Highlands of Southern Ethiopia

Banana harvest in the lush Konso Highlands of Southern Ethiopia

Until the early 1980’s most cultivated land around Arba Minch, Ethiopia, was devoted to growing maize, cotton and sweet potato. In 1984, experts in Ethiopia’s office of agriculture began discussions with area cooperatives, hoping to convince farmers to plant Cavendish bananas on a portion of their land. This had been attempted previously, with little success. … Read more

PHOTO: Traditional Woven Hut in Amora Gedel National Park, Hawassa, Ethiopia

Traditional woven hut in the town of Hawassa in Southern Ethiopia

In Amora Gedel National Park, on the shores of Lake Awassa in Hawassa, Ethiopia, I happened upon this this traditional woven hut, constructed in the style of the Sidama people. These descendants of the ancient Kingdom of Kush live around the lakes in Ethiopia’s Great Rift Valley. Today the Sidama and their sub-tribes number about … Read more