The Hawassa fish market was very interesting. We had an excellent local guide. The Marabou Storks were fascinating.

The fishermen were fishing for tilapia, nile perch and catfish in Lake Awassa.

Fish soup is a specialty at the market with each stall having its own variation on the spices.

Selling combinations of spices in bags or

on plates with raw  fish.

Come on try it John, it’s not really that hot.

Monkeys all over the market.

Our guides card.

John wanted a tour of the Rastafarian Village in Shashamane  Our driver stopped at the entrance to the village to hire a local guide however within five minutes of trying to recruit one,  two fights had broken out so we did not go in.

After Haile Selassie visited Jamaica in the 1930’s as the leader of the only Black independent state in Africa,  a movement named after his birth name  (Ras Tafari Makonnen) become popular is Jamaica and in parts of Africa. Many Jamaicans moved to Shashamene,  South of Addis Ababa and remain there today.