Afar Cattle Herders, Ethiopia, 2005
Photograph by Carsten Peter Zebu cattle driven by Afar herdsmen raise clouds of dust in the baked Danakil Desert near Semerea, Ethiopia. The Danakil is among the most forbidding places on Earth, a land of dry sands, active volcanoes, burning salt flats, temperatures that often top 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius), choking winds, and suffocating days of no wind at all. (Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Africa's Danakil Desert: Cruelest Place on Earth," October 2005, National Geographic magazine)
Gelada Monkey, Ethiopia, 2005
Photograph by Carsten Peter A gelada monkey sits for a portrait in the Ethiopian highlands. These baboon-size animals are more terrestrial than any other primates except humans. They are the last surviving species of ancient grazing primates that were once numerous. (Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Africa's Danakil Desert: Cruelest Place on Earth," October 2005, National Geographic magazine)
Climbers on Ertale Volcano, Ethiopia, 2005
Photograph by Carsten Peter Climbers in Ethiopia's Danakil Desert prepare to descend into Ertale volcano. The volcano, which has been active for nearly a century, has a lake of molten lava at the center of its caldera. (Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Africa's Danakil Desert: Cruelest Place on Earth," October 2005, National Geographic magazine)
Afar Herdsmen, Danakil Desert, Ethiopia, 2005
Photograph by Carsten Peter A group of Afar nomads leads camels through Ethiopia's Danakil Desert. The Afar regard themselves as one ethnic group, though their population of about three million is divided among Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti. "We are the people who move," said one Afar woman. "From the beginning that has been our way." (Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Africa's Danakil Desert: Cruelest Place on Earth," October 2005, National Geographic magazine)
Afar Goat Herders, Ethiopia, 2005
Photograph by Carsten Peter Afar goat herders use a reed mat to shield their campfire from the steady winds of the Ethiopian Danakil Desert. The Afar are a nomadic people who drive their camels, donkeys, and goats in search of the region's scant pasturelands. Centuries of defending their territory and their herds has made them fierce. One Afar custom, now defunct, declared a man could not marry without first killing an enemy tribesman. (Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Africa's Danakil Desert: Cruelest Place on Earth," October 2005, National Geographic magazine)
Karo Woman, Omo Valley, Ethiopia, 2000
Photograph by Jodi Cobb A woman from the Karo tribe, with customary short braided hair, looks through the doorway of a mud building in Ethiopia's Omo Valley. With under a thousand members, the Karo are the smallest of the valley's four main tribes. Karo men and women are known for their ritual scarification. Men scar their chests to represent rivals killed from enemy tribes; women with scarred chests are considered sensual and attractive. (Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Enigma of Beauty," January 2000, National Geographic magazine)
Omo Region, Ethiopia, 2000
Photograph by Jodi Cobb In southern Ethiopia's Omo region, a Hamar child peeks out from under her mother's shawl. The Hamar are among the most elaborately attired of Ethiopia's ethnic groups. Daily dress may include piles of beaded necklaces and metal bracelets, beaded belts and headbands, leather skirts or loincloths, and elaborate, sculptured hairstyles. (Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Enigma of Beauty," January 2000, National Geographic magazine)
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