Photos

While we were walking up on our way to the first base camp on a 3 day and 2 night (only unfortunately) trek in the Bale Mountains from Dodola in Southern Ethiopia, this man harvesting his field called us while I was taking pictures of the beautiful scenery. He may have been excited to talk to us via our guide, or maybe as our guide Shebru told us he just wanted to point to Westerners how tough rural life was in this part of Ethiopia (though I doubt rural life is easy in any place in the world). I'm usually too shy to ask people for a portrait but this man just looked so happy to be with us (and we were actually maybe even happier than he could imagine), so I politely asked for a picture, and he posed very solemnely. He looked so kind and sad at the same time. Too bad we didn't have time to stay with him as we were kind of rushing to make it to the camp before nightfall. I sent him the picture a few weeks later though. He made me happy by letting me take a picture of him, and it was my due to be a respectful person and not take him just for cattle on a safari like unfortunately too many people do all over the world when they travel.

If you want to discover this great place, a few hours by bus from Addis Ababa, just check out the site about Bale Mountains Trekking, the project was partly handled by a German NGO, but most importantly involves loads of people all over the mountains as far as horse renting, guiding, food purchasing, etc go. Ask for Shebru, he's a great guy, and I'm sure he'll be glad to know he's turned into such a web celebrity :)

Check out the workshop as well to have just a snapshot of what the Bale Mountains can be like as you walk up to the first base camp before getting into a wet forest, and to see this man at work...