In every town/village, regardless of size (even if it’s a half block long), there is a foosball or ping-pong table (or some other type of group game table) located on the side of the road in the center of town that locals gather around to play. This foosball table was in a speck of a town along the road from Shashemene to Arba Minch.

Shopping at the Addis Mercato in Addis Ababa, the largest open-air market in all of Africa. You see these exact mattresses stacked for sale like this everywhere you go in Ethiopia.

As you drive to the top of Addis’ Mount Entoto, you see women of all ages walking down the mountain carrying enormous bundles of eucalyptus branches strapped to their backs weighing 65 to 85 pounds. They carry the bundles 18 to 20 miles down the mountain (having already walked from wherever they live up the mountain) to markets in Addis where they are sold for fuel.

I stopped along the road from Shashemene to Soddo in Aje to take photos of the giant cacti and out of nowhere, one villager after another began to appear. Suddenly I was completely surrounded by 25 or 30 of these beautifully, super colorfully dressed people who spoke no English but were babbling at me non stop, and in the presence of the giant super green cacti, is was all so surreal. These were just the first few people to arrive.

A nun and her friend (?) pose in front of an Ethiopian Orthodox church in Alga. When she saw me taking photos of the church she beckoned, and let me take her photo, but not before spending about five minutes straightening out her clothes and fixing herself up (with her friend’s help). It was very sweet.

Hanging out on the back steps of the Holy Trinity Church in Addis Ababa.

A nun outside the Holy Trinity Church in Addis Ababa.

Kids in the trees on the banks on Lake Abaya. Along the road from Shashemene to Arba Minch.

Herding cattle along the road from Arba Minch to Key Afer /Jinka. When their carts are empty they stand; once full, they sit atop whatever loads they are carrying.

A potter in the village of Alga. She has no tools, no wheel and no kiln. She made everything by hand using her might and the sun.

The bartender/cashier at a local restaurant I ate at in Jinka.

An Alaba/Halaba village aong the road from Shashemene to Arba Minch in southwest Ethiopia. The Alaba people are known for the images they paint on the inside and outside of their huts.

A member of the Konso tribe, who are often seen wearing this type of homemade skirt, in Konso.

An Alaba/Halaba woman shows me inside her home, which she shares with eight other people and livestock. The Alaba people are known for the images they paint on the inside and outside of their huts. Along the road from Shashemene to Arba Minch in southwest Ethiopia.

Having lunch at a local spot in Jinka.

Goofing around in Alga.

In every town/village, regardless of size (even if it’s a half block long), there is a foosball or ping-pong table (or some other type of group game table) located on the side of the road in the center of town that locals gather around to play. This ping pong game was being played along the road in Soddo.

A young Desanech girl crosss the hot, dusty plains, walking from her village to the Omo River nearby. In Omorate.

You see hundreds of people walking along the roads to reach their closest town’s market on market days. Along the road from Soddo to Arba Minch.

Boys I met along the road from Arba Minch to Soddo. The boy on the left had a huge hatchet in his hands, but he put it behind his back when I took his photo.