Afar Goat Herders, Ethiopia, 2005

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)

Buy a print of this photo.