1. These women carry haystacks in the hot sun for miles to their home so their cattle can graze.

2. The Nagash Lodge in Weliso glows at night. Their pool and showers are fed from the abundant, natural hot-spring waters in the area.

3. Lake Tana, the largest in Ethiopia, is the source of the Blue Nile. Water plunges as the river descends through the country on its journey to the Sudan and finally Egypt, where it converges with the Nile.

4. This little boy is exhausted from climbing up Wonchi Crater barefoot. He knows he can get money from the rare tourists that visit by guiding them around the area. If he’s lucky, the other guides will pool their earnings.

5. This fallen obelisk in Axum is one of many that were built as early as the 6th century, probably to indicate a burial site. The details of the construction of this massive structure are still a mystery.

6. Our family’s nanny, Etsada, prepares berbere, a main ingredient in Ethiopian cooking. She cuts peppers and leaves them to dry so they can be crushed into powder.

7. A hand-carved statue of Tekle Hiamanot, a holy father turned martyr who legend says lost his right leg for praying on it for 22 years. He then prayed for 7 more on one leg and converted the locals to Christianity.

8. These are ceremonial crowns and processional crosses used by priests for Mass and festivals such as Timket. The crowns date back centuries, belonging to old monarchs.

9. This man notches wood to use for construction in the village of Kosyee.

10. A local shepherd agrees to pose for me as I ask, “Photo lansa?” He was raised at the local church from the age of 5 following the death of his parents.

11. The landscape of Ethiopia is a lush paradise at the end of the rainy season. Yellow flowers, called Meskels, bloom during the festival of the same name in September, and are used in ceremonies. Storage huts are nestled in this field, stocked with tef — wheat grains — that are the primary ingredient for injera, a spongy, sour bread that’s a staple of Ethiopian cuisine.

12. Villagers that live on the way to Wonchi Crater. They yell “Ferenji! Ferenji!” as I pass, which means “foreigner.”

13. This 16th-century castle was built by the Portuguese who settled during the peak of competition over Indian Ocean trade routes. They helped the Ethiopians defend against Muslim expansion in the area and maintain the region’s Christianity.

14. I hear the friction of sticks as this shemany — cloth weaver — produces a traditional Ethiopian textile called tshama. His work is done on a handmade loom as he moves his arms and legs up and down like a puppet on a string.

15. One of the many native monkeys that characterize and make their home at Negash Lodge. This little fellow finds no banana inside the peel and isn’t afraid to mock me.