Obama's first tour of the continent as the first African-American president was largely quiet. He stopped in three African nations — Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania — and paid homage to the ailing former South African President Nelson Mandela.
His trip ended on Tuesday, after a historic appearance with President George W. Bush during a wreath-laying ceremony in what was a rather unprecedented, unplanned overseas meeting.
The two presidents came together to lay a wreath for the victims of the 1998 U.S. embassy bombing in Tanzania — part of simultaneous al-Qaeda attacks on U.S. embassies in Tanzania, Nairobi, and Kenya.
During Obama's trip, White House photographer Pete Souza was there to document every moment. We've gathered 30 of the most memorable. (All captions are Souza's.)