Oscar Travel

26/05/2023

Ras Dashen

11/03/2019

04/01/2019

መልካም ገና

09/09/2016

Happy Ethiopian New Year!

07/09/2016

From how the churches were built, to modern rituals that take place in them, here are 10 things you didn't know about the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela.

16/07/2016

27/10/2015

The Danakil Desert is one of the hottest
and cruelest places on earth, with
temperatures rarely falling below 40-60
C (104-140 F) during the day. Salt
mining has been the livelihood of the
Afar people for hundreds of years and
still continues to this day. Barran
landscape, dust storms, unbearable
heat and no water – hard to believe
how anything can survive here. As the
caravan neared, I heard the men yelling
something and pointing at my water
bottle, without hesitation I gave them
all the water I had with me. The setting
sun does little to relieve the heat and
they still had at least an hour to the
nearest village.

27/10/2015

Mursi is one of the 20 tribes living in
Omo Valley in southern Ethiopia. Cattle
is the main way of life for the people
of this region. Not only essential for
survival, the number of cattle
determines the wealth and status of a
village. Almost every adult tribe
member, whether male or female,
carries a gun. Cattle stealing, clashes
over grazing land and water access
disputes are quite common in the area.
The Ethiopian government does little to
interfere and lets the tribes sort our
their problems on their own.

27/10/2015

Life in Omo Valley is not all about
tribal rivalry and warfare. Behind their
initial serious demeanor and war body
painting, the Karo people are very
welcoming and friendly. On the
morning of our visit, as adults were
tending to livestock and brewing
coffee, several boys were having a
jumping contest. Even in these harsh
lands sometimes it’s all about living life
in the moment and having fun.

27/10/2015

The legends of Lalibela state that
angels and men built the churches
together. To this day, the exact details
of their construction remain a mystery.
Each one is built from solid rock top to
bottom. Pictured above is the famous
church of St. George. It took us a
while to find it – one can only see the
top when up close, at first glance it’s
difficult to imagine the church is
actually 50meters (150 feet) tall
underground.

27/10/2015

Karo men paint their bodies and faces
with white chalk to look as fierce as
possible. It’s a daily routine that scares
off enemies and also serves the
purpose of making themselves more
attractive to the opposite sex.

27/10/2015

As we were photographing around a
Bodi tribe’s village, a man approached
us and communicated that he wanted a
portrait with a gun. He started with a
few typical poses with him standing
and the weapon up, but soon got really
into pointing the gun at everyone,
including our group. Clearly, he was
having a lot of fun with the photo
session. Later he said “I was imagining I
shot you all”, laughed and walked away.
Luckily we made sure the gun was
unloaded before handing it over. Land tours and travel

27/10/2015

As the sun rises over Lake Asale, the
salt traders are nearing the end of their
three-day trek from the nearest town
of Mekele. They will spend the next day
excavating salt, cutting it up into bricks
and loading the camels for the trip
back. Each load a camel carries earns
around $10, barely enough for the
miners to feed their families and
survive in this barren land with little
resources. The entire region feels as if
it is frozen in time. The local Afar
people still live and work as they have
been for centuries.

18/08/2015