The mountain highlands of Ethiopia are a tough place to scratch out an existence… Extremely isolated and in a harsh, unforgiving environment, it doesn’t take much for things to go very wrong out here. And, in fact, this area was near ground zero for the infamous famines of the 1980s.

However, there is an undeniable raw beauty out here:

Driving through the mountains:

Some of the villages we drove through… Pretty primitive out here:

A Westerner elicits much excitement:

Given the desert-like conditions in the mountains, water is a very precious resource indeed. To capture as much of it as possible and to utilize it fully, the land near villages has been extensively terraced:

A dry riverbed:

This village was established next to a seasonal stream in order to capture as much water as possible when it is available:

Riverbeds usually have high water tables… This well was established in the middle of this particular riverbed to take advantage of that fact:

Those that lead lives of isolation out here have to be tough:

As a supplement to their meager crops, the Ethiopians also raise livestock… During a drought, the crops will fail from a lack of water. However, livestock can hang on a little longer by foraging the native vegetation. However, once that is gone, they die as well – soon to be followed by humans:

Sunset in the mountains of Ethiopia: