A CEREMONY THEY CALL BULL JUMPING - A ONCE IN A LIFE TIME EXPERIENCE

WEATHER: Sun finally out and 27C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: The Bull Jumping

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Can’t think of a single thing

BUYS OF THE DAY: A beer at 11am – well Massimo bought it for me – does it still count?

WORD OF THE DAY: How much is it – Well it’s not Christmas – Massimo buying a bracelet from a Hamar

What an awesome day we had yesterday.  I still can’t believe we saw what we did and that we were so welcome into the whole ceremony.  Yes we had paid, but only money to the family, not to the other 150 people there.  It was like being a fly on the wall and watching everything you wanted to without getting hassled. 

Today we are heading to a Hamar Market a few hour’s drive away.  We were able to have a bit of a sleep in this morning with breakfast at 8am and our departure set for 9.30am, but seeing as we were all ready to go early we left at 9.10am, which in hindsight was a good thing as it got us to the town and the markets before all the other mazunga’s (oh that’s Kenyan) I mean farangees.

It took us just over 1.5 hours to get there and today we were in car number 1 and what the ducks have nick named Zoom Zoom, as Zeme does tend to have a bit of a lead foot.  He drives a lot like me, so I can’t really complain, but car number one is still the sardine to me as we have to cram 3 people in the back as Minaloo has the front seat.  On days like this though, he does share the front with our local guide, so Gilley was packed in the front as well, so sardine definitely seemed appropriate today.  As the market doesn’t start till 11am, we got there a little early so we took a walk down to the river where some tribal people were getting their tobacco all prepared and ready to sell.  They have them stored in the nuts, which the ladies have turned into handbags.  There were a few local children also around and there was the cutest little girl, she was about 4 and had beautiful curly hair and massive brown eyes till Josephine asked her what her name was and her big brother came over and said she was a he, to which Josephine’s face must of looked a little skeptical, so the big brother proceeded to pull down his younger brothers pants to show us his mr Johnson and yes indeed she was a he.  He stuck to Josephine like glue the 2 hours we were there and I rekon he was the cutest kid I have seen to date, handsome and beautiful all at the same time.  I wish I could remember his name, Josephine would know.  Cute.

This market was a lot smaller than what we have been used to.  The main sale items were jewelry for the farangees, honey and butter.  We got a total of 2 hours here and once again a farangee hangout the later the morning progressed.  It was nice to walk around and not get hassled and asked to take photos of them here.  Massimo, Josephine and I had had enough after walking around for 90 minutes and so with around 30 minutes to kill, so we went to the Tourist Hotel, which seems to be a bit like the Royal Hotel in Australia, there seems to be one in every village / town and ordered a beer.  It was after all nearly lunch time, 11am wasn’t breaking too many rules!!  So after 2 rounds Massimo went to pay and they were 20 birr (1.30AUD) each but a local had just paid and he was charged 15 birr.  Well Massimo didn’t like that and let it be known that as well.  After a little bit of debating and ribbing back and forth in good fun, the beers became 15 birr and everyone was kept happy.  But it isn’t unusual to have a farangee cost and a local cost and certainly Ethiopia isn’t the only one to have adopted this process.  While we were having the beers we would get hit up from buying jewelry to wooden head pillows, which Massimo bough both, but there was one lady trying to blindly over charge Massimo for a bracelet to which he replied it wasn’t Christmas!  It was so funny and the poor Hamar lady had no idea what he was talking about, but he did end up buying it from her, but not for the price that she was asking.  I got sucked into a letter that was written in English asking for sponsorship for the local football club.  They had a signup sheet, with a list of all the players and their playing numbers, the kid there was number 9. and a sheet where you put your name down and how much you donated, so it looked as above board as it was going to get in Ethiopia so Josephine and I both contributed money, so hopefully it wasn’t a scam and the money does get to the club. 

So back in the cars and back to camp just in time for lunch.  Cook has been pretty good with all meals except the porridge that he cooked this morning was a bit of a hit and miss with the group.  I don’t eat porridge anyway, so it made no difference to me.  Free time and time to try and get some blogging done.  I can feel the days slipping by and I am falling more and more behind in my blog.  Not from lack of wanting to get it down, but is a power issue, not being able to recharge or after a busy day I am just too tired at night to type it up.  Needless to say my notebook and my written notes are my lifeline and I know I have enough information on there to complete the day, but when we have massive days like yesterday that has so much information I feel BAD that I am not getting it typed up that day.  I know I will eventually get back up to date, but this doesn’t help the ‘moment’.   

We were super lucky that the Bull Jumping was still on today, we were super lucky that the event was literally across the river from our camp and we were super lucky that the river, after 2 days had subsided enough for us to be able to walk across it to be able to even get to the event.  There was a 4WD that tried to cross the river this morning that got stuck and Gilly and friends had to help them get out – which for them is good as they were rewarded with some cash for their efforts.  As the event was so close to camp we could hear the women’s bells around their legs, they are so loud as they walk, they have approx. 20 bells per leg and they are around the size of a .20c piece so you would expect a bit of noise from them I guess.  Also there was a lot of horn blowing and whistles and it sounded awesome from the other side of the river.  So at 2pm Gilly came back for us to head over and watch the festivities in the lead up to the main event.  So we headed over the river that was a raging torrent 2 days ago.  There was still running water in some sections of the river, but certainly nothing to worry about and we ended up having to take our shoes off and wade through the mud and water.  I am sure my travel doctor would have had a heart attack knowing I was walking bare foot in mud in Ethiopia. 

The atmosphere was in full swing when we got there.  There was the whipper from yesterday already there and around 15 women all dancing with their bell legs, whistles and horns all going berserk.  We were the first farangees there, so we were able to pull up a great pew and just sit and take it all in.  There was a lot of the same stuff from yesterday with dancing woman in a circle, but there were no dancing men today.  The mood would change and the crescendo would change to manic to restful to manic again and the single ladies were trying to stir up the whipper so that he would start hitting them.  The girls even BYO their own whips and they must have picked them all from the same tree, as he would strike them the branch would break into a few pieces – dodgy whips.  When Minaloo arrived, he had also bought along some camp chairs, so we were able to get closer to the action and be more comfortable.  That’s Gap Adventures for you people always thinking about our comfort. 

I stuck close to Gilly as he had only just finished his own Bull Jumping experience personally himself around 10 weeks ago, and the whipper was a guy from his own village, so he was able to get us up close and personal to some of the things that were going on.  He also took my camera and got some great people shots that the tribe didn't mind him taking that a farangee just wouldn’t have been allowed to take, so I BIG thank you goes to Gilly for this up close and personal touch that I know the other guys just wouldn’t have gotten.   

So after some more preparation, the whippers getting face painted and the woman getting some more whipping it was time to walk the 10 minutes to where the cattle were waiting and where the actual jumping would take place.  I told Gilly to keep my camera and I would take video of the event, so that I would have both mediums.  Sometimes a picture cannot give you the noise and atmosphere of what is happening at that point in time, this was definitely video footage material.

As we were waiting for the BIG event we had made some friends with the kids.  They were really interested in a few bruises I had on my arms, as my skin is white and I had black spots.  I have actually got them from kids poking me, so I demonstrated this to them and they were just fascinated.  They also taught us a song in their local language, which also video, so I will make sure I load it all on Facebook to share it all with you.  Nothing like local interaction when there is no money or ulterior motive.  The kids were really sweet and quite clingy which I was fine with; everyone needs a little hug every now and then. 

So to remind you the Bull Jumping is a rite of passage for men coming of age and must be done before a man is permitted to marry. The man-to-be must "jump the cattle" four times to be successful (only castrated male cattle and cows may be used to jump over). This test is performed while naked (except for a few cords bound across the chest) as a symbol of the childhood he is about to leave behind him. On completion of this test, the young man joins the ranks of the maza - other men who have recently passed the same test and who spend the next few months of their lives supervising these events in villages throughout the Hamar territory.  The cattle are held still by maza, so the physical risk is limited. The ceremonies end with several days of feasting, including the typical jumping dances, accompanied by as much sorghum beer as the cow-jumper's family can provide to the visitor, which is what we saw getting prepared yesterday. 

Once again I was lucky to have my camera in Gillys hands, as there is a special ceremony only for the Hamar that involves the whipper and the jumper sitting feet to feet on the ground and then the relatives surrounding them in huddle style where they perform secret man’s business.  Well Gilly got the camera in there and I got some unreal pictures of, yes his penis, and what they did was things for luck using rings etc…  I didn’t quite get the full story but I got the pictures and once again awesome thanks to Gilly!  You rock!

On the day of the initiation itself, the Maz are charged with the important job of steadying the cattle over which the novice must jump. Late in the afternoon, they line up some beasts side by side ,one holding the head and another the tail of each animal and hold them closely together in a specially chosen area which has a clearly marked symbolic entrance at one end and an equally clearly marked exit at the other. The most recently initiated Maz greased with oil and charcoal circles the animals.  The young man is then brought in, totally naked, his arms pinioned by two of the Maz. When they release him, he runs speedily towards the cattle, jumps onto the back of the first cow and then runs across all the remaining animals. At the far end of the line he jumps down, turns around, then leaps back up again and repeats the routine in the other direction. Altogether he makes four runs and finally - if everything has gone well – there is a lot of dancing and excitement.

For the Ukuli to fall during the jumping is considered bad luck - and for this reason, great efforts are made by the Maz to keep the cattle still. A single fall incurs no penalty and is blamed on the movement of the animals. Any boy who fails to complete his four runs, however, will be publicly humiliated: he will be whipped by his female relatives in the middle of the initiation ground and thereafter, for the rest of his life, he will be teased, insulted and beaten by both men and women. Understandably, few novices allow themselves to fail in this way – luckily we didn’t see that happen today!

I tell you though if you weren’t paying attention you could have missed the whole thing.  The jumper doesn’t waste any time and it is all pretty much completed within minutes for the actual jumping event.

It was AMAZING to see and it’s another one of those things that Minaloo said is rare for his tours to be in the right place at the right time and to have it directly across from camp was an additional bonus. 

So after 4 hours of seeing this amazing ceremony we were some of the lucky ones that didn’t have to fight the crowds to get back home, it was like a mass exodus of a concert and man we had worked up a thirst.  BUT as mentioned before the generator doesn’t switch on till 7pm, so no cold beers, so Minaloo, Zeme and I headed into town to the ‘bakery’ and got a beer along the way from one of the bars.  We literally only stayed for 2 as we had to get back to dinner, but it makes you appreciate when you get a cold beer in Ethiopia it is a pretty special occurrence.

So after two MASSIVE days with the Hamar people and our last night in Turmi this place will certainly leave a lasting impression on me.  With our camp site by the banks of the river, under massive mango trees, hearing the Columbus monkeys in the trees above us at night time and amazing people – what else could you ask for from a tour and a destination?  I officially LOVE Ethiopia.

OUR AMAZING DAY WITH THE HAMAR PEOPLE

WEATHER: Wet to start with but then fined up in the afternoon 25C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Seeing a Hamar ceremony for a bull jumping event

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Can’t think of a single thing

BUYS OF THE DAY: My shout at a local bar for 8 beers was only 5.80AUD!!!!

WORD OF THE DAY: I’m off to the Bakery

We were to see 2 tribes today.  That of the Karo people who live on the banks of the Omo River and we were in luck today, that there is a Hamar Ceremony for a bull jumping event in a week’s time and we have been allowed to attend this very special occasion this afternoon. 

So up at 6.15am for a 7am breakfast and on the road at 7.30am heading to the Karo Tribe.  Today we had Lemma at the wheel and we were in car number 4.  The ducks love Lemma as he is also a bird enthusiast and is more than happy to stop at bird sightings and use the duck binoculars to help with the identifying.  The Karo tribe is known for their body painting and also their scarification.  We only had to travel 63km one way but it took us just under 2.5 hours to cover that distance.  The roads in sections were only accessible via 4WD and the rest was on rocky and sandy roads.  It was slow going, but I sometimes don’t mind this as it gives you a chance to have good look around.  There were a lot of birds on this section of the drive, to which the old ducks were very excited about, but there were also these MASSIVE termite mounds for most of the drive as well.  They were well over 5-6m tall and some of them were over taking the trees.  They were amazing natural structures!!!

The village was located on the top of a cliff face that had million dollar views of the Omo River in a bend – it really was a sensational view and we were lucky that we were the first tourist group of the day, so we got pictures of the people ( which we paid for) and of the village.  We all broke up and got given an hour to walk around, talk to the tribe and just soak in another tribe that also has nothing to do with the outside world bar the farangees coming in each day.  So of the body painting was a little scary to say the least, there was one guy that looked like a skeleton and Josephine and I saw him together for the first time and said you wouldn’t want to run into him on a dark night, he really looked terrifying!  There are only around 2000 Karo people left, and they were a very beautiful tribe.  The women were stunning and they had used the elephant foot flowers to make crowns to wear and another distinctive feature of the Karo people is that they have their chin pierced and wear flowers, nails anything that will fit through the hole as decoration.  They weren’t as pushy as the Hamar and the Mursi but there was certainly no free photos unless you could sneak them in when they weren’t looking, which is rare, they are all over the photography and pretty switched on to all the tricks of the trade!  They also have shorter hair but use the clay to protect their hair and bodies and also have that red colour to them. So after an hour at the village, as we were leaving more tourist groups were arriving, so maybe they do get more contact with the outside world than previously thought, but at least we had arrived first and beat the other companies.  So we drove for the 2.5 hours back to camp where we had lunch waiting for us and free time for a few hours before heading to the Hamar ceremony.

The drivers went and played some soccer on the dry river bed with some local people, so I went and watched for a while and then thought I better get some blog writing done so I was sitting at the table in the communal area and I heard Lemma call out to us all to come and have a look at the river, there was water coming.  I had Massimo with me and we got up straight away and we walked the 50m to the river bank and it was like a mini tsunami coming down the dry river bed.  Because of all the rain that we had over the last 24 hours had finally caught up and this water was coming all the way from Jinka 60km away. It literally was a wave of water coming down the dry bed and it was moving quite fast.  All I could think of was that the guys were playing soccer there only 30 minutes before and we were in the river bed yesterday having a look around not even thinking that 24 hours later it would be full of rushing water.   You can see how quick and swift a tsunami would be, based on what we saw, one minute it was dry the next there was a torrent of water rushing past us and it was getting higher by the minute.  It really was a phenomenon and something I hope I am not on the wrong end of if I am ever to see anything like it in my lifetime again.  We had one of the guys John caught down on the bend of the river, so I think he must have been walking when he saw the water coming and ran for the bank.  Talking to Lemma he knew something wasn’t right and heard the water and said that he also felt a cool change /breeze as well before he actually saw the water coming too.  It was a freak natural occurrence.

So at 2.30pm we left camp and only had to drive 10 minutes to the village where we were to watch the ceremony that precedes the actual Bull Jumping event by a few days, sometimes a week prior.  We met our guide at this time for the next 3 days Gilley, a young fella who was born in the village and hopes to become an eye doctor when he finishes school to help the woman in the community.  As they use the wet red clay for their hair, it runs into their eyes and causes an eye disease in them as they get older.  So is a ridgy didge Hamer person and he was good to have around to ask a lot, and I mean a lot of questions.

Bull Jumping ceremony is the most dramatic and significant ritual, which represent a life-changing event for the young man who passes from boyhood into early adulthood. First the boy to be initiated delivers invitations to his neighbors in the form of blade of dried grass knotted in several places. These knots are a calendar of days and each day the guest must untie one of the knots until the day of the ceremony arrives. 

Each young man undergoes an individual ceremony. On the first day several hundred guests gather, among them the Maz (who are still single and have recently gone through the ceremony) who arrive in a long line decorated with feathers, necklaces, and bracelets and carrying long thin, flexible branches which will be used as whips. They participate in a coffee-drinking ceremony, which is regarded as a blessing.   The ceremony is a preparation for what is one of the most important events in a male Hamer’s life and it is an event called the Bull Jumping.  The ceremony is done 5-6 days in advance with the whole village and family all getting together to prepare the food and the alcohol all the while singing songs about the young man doing the leap and all the good things in his life.  For us to attend we donate money that goes directly to the family, so they get something out of it sand it also gave us free reign to take as many pictures as we wanted.  So when we got there the place was buzzing and the first thing we saw were jumping men in a semi-circle.  There would have been over 30 of them all singing and clapping and then 4-5 of them would stand in the middle of the circle and jump up and down like a Masai jump to give you an idea.  There were a few women on the other side of the circle and they would come in every now and then and the men would chase them out of the circle after they had finished jumping.  It was AMAZING to see and I rekon I stood there and watch this for over 20 minutes, with them doing exactly the same thing each time.  It was a hive of activity.  Just behind the jumping men was a temporary shelter made from tree branches and leaves the size of a half tennis court and there were woman on one end of the shelter in a row, crushing sorghum and singing in a rhythmic motion, while the elders of the village looked after the children while all this was going on.  They were all sipping coffee from these huge nuts, which I can’t remember the name of and everyone was just working in harmony getting ready for the big party.  There were men down the other end of the shelter preparing and making sorghum beer to which we tried some of the alcoholic sorghum that was offered by one of the older gentleman, and not wanting to offend his I tasted a tiny piece of the grey mushy matter, which wasn’t pleasant but it wasn’t disgusting either.

There was one pint when one of the older men walked past me and slapped me on the arse as he went by.  Zeme saw this and said something to Gilly.  I wasn’t offended at all, we are after all guests at their ceremony, but Gilley and Zeme wouldn’t let it rest and 10 minutes later the old codge came over and click clicked a sorry to me, which was embarrassing accepted.  Gilly said while I was in his care, he should be looking after us and that it wasn’t acceptable, so it was sweet when he put it like that.

Besides the dancing men the other thing that stood out for me was the whipping of the single women. The maza are also responsible for a ritual which precedes the main cattle jump. The women of the village (and in particular, the would-be jumper's sisters) purposefully provoke the maza into lashing their bare backs with sticks which inflict raw, open wounds and scar them for life. However, these wounds are seen as the mark of a true Hamar woman, and all the village's women participate.

Their main responsibility is to help the initiate during the rituals of preparation prior to jumping, but they are also mandated to participate with him in various ways in the initiation ceremony itself. An early task, for which only the Maz are ritually qualified, involves whipping the novice's young female relatives. The young women of the Ukuli family highly decorated their hair and bodies covered with grease (usually butter); dancing and singing in circles, beg to be chastised by the Maz since in this way they can demonstrate the strength of their devotion to the boy. The more abundant and extensive the scars, the deeper the girls' affection to the boy who is about to become a man.  It was amazing to watch all these young woman vying for a position for the Maz to whip them and we aren’t talking about just tap on the back, he rounded that arm and got full force into his swing with a long thin branch.  The women wouldn’t even flinch when they were hit and they would push and shove each other out of the way so that they could be next.  Sometimes the jostling would get too much for the Maz aka whipper and he would have to run away and he would have 10-15 woman chasing him wanting to be whipped.  Even when we weren’t watching that particular ritual, which is going on at the same time as the dancing men and woman, you can just hear that whip making contact on skin and it is just such a foreign sound to our ears.

It was weird to be given free reign while we were there to take photos.  There were woman getting ready in tying these bells the size of .50c pieces around their legs just under their knees and then they would dance in a circle like around an imaginary fire and them all jump up and down in a tight circle at the end to them do it all again, with whistles and horns blowing with the bells on the knees all clanging it was pretty awesome to also watch this.  Keeping in mind all this was happening at the same time as everything else, and I just kept walking around the whole proceedings not believing that I was actually experiencing something so sacred.  Minaloo said he probably sees one of these ceremonies twice a year, so it isn’t like it happens all the time, so we really were quite lucky we were there.  There is also more good news that there is an actual bull leaping event happening tomorrow and that we had an opportunity to go and see that if we wanted to.  Um hell yes.  It was to cost is 300 birr (17AUD) but this was also a great and rare opportunity and to get a ceremony and a bull leap was just about unheard of. 

So after sitting under the make shift shelter and trying some of the local coffee from the big nit, which tasted like tea we headed back to camp after an unforgettable couple of hours with the Hamar people and a tradition that has not changed and that we were accepted willingly (even though we paid it only went to the family not to all the other people) it was AWESOME.  The sights and sounds was something I will never forget and it was an amazing experience and we were so lucky were there and permitted to be able to watch it all.  This has been one of the highlight of my trip so far. 

What an awesome way to finish an awesome day.  One thing that does work against Ethiopia is that their drinks are rarely cold.  The camp doesn’t turn on it’s generate till 7pm, so the beers are in the fridge, but there is just no power to keep them cold during the day.   Minaloo knew how desperate we were for a cold beer, so after dinner Zeme, Cook, Minaloo and I went for a drive into town to the ‘bakery’ to buy some ‘bread’ for breakfast tomorrow.  So on the way we stopped for a COLD beer that turned into 4 and a few moves on the small dance floor before heading back to camp just before midnight, without any bread can you believe there was none left!  Who would have thought?  We made good time as just after we got back the heavens opened up and it rained for most of the night again for the second time in a row.

MEETING THE MURSI, BANNA AND HAMER PEOPLE

WEATHER: Cooler and 29C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Visiting the Mursi people for the second time

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Crap showers at the camp

BUYS OF THE DAY: 30 minutes of internet for 2AUD

WORD OF THE DAY:

So this morning I wake to the sound of the same cow bells that put me to sleep last night.  It was weird being in a tent on my own – I miss my Tentie. The weather  hasn’t improved that much, but I don’t think it rained overnight, so instead of wet mud it is now a little drier and now not sticking to our shoes as much.  Breakfast was a miracle prepared by our cook for the next 4 days of scrambled eggs, bread and spreads.  There is also peanut butter especially for our American friend Bobby, who is stoked about that!

This morning we headed back to the village at 7.15am, and this time armed with our camera’s and to be honest I was a little apprehensive about just how much hassle we would be given after yesterday’s meeting with them when we didn’t have cameras.  We were also accompanied by the ranger and also a guard of some sort, which was no=ice to know when the kids got too pushy they were told to back off.  Remembering that no-one spoke English except the word photo (of course)There is nothing worse than getting hassled by anyone, the last time that I got really cranky was when we were in the Nairobbery Markets and I didn’t think that could get any worse, well the Mursi come in a close second if not first.  It’s awful.  So as a group we set off, with small notes to pay for our photos as we saw fit to take and prepared for the onslaught.  As soon as we stepped out of the main gates we were swamped more by children than adult to start with, lots of pushing and touching and asking for photos.  The average price you pay for a photo in Ethiopia is 2 birr (around .11c) but the cheeky Mursi were asking for 4-5 birr, which is still peanuts in the scheme of things and the main problem is firstly getting the money out when there are 10 people milling around and making sure you have the smaller notes to be able to give them.  You knew today was photo day as everyone looked like they had out a little more effort in to what they were wearing than yesterday.  There were more painted faces, more ladies with headdresses and the boys and men had their fighting sticks with them.  Don’t get me wrong it is still their natural dress, but not every day, more for ceremonies etc……  Minaloo had mentioned that instead of us all trying to pay small notes and all vying for pictures and the tribal people fighting, to try and strike a deal with the village to pay one lump sum payment and then we could take all the photos we wanted.  That sounded like a far better plan, in the long run probably costing us more, but totally worth it to not have the hassle.  Well after a few discussions and going back and forth the tribe agreed on 1000 birr (58AUD) total for the 12 of us, which I might point out is a lot of money for them and we were now able to take what we wanted.  The downside of this system was that they them all stood in a large circle all next to each other while we walked around the inside of the circle and snapped away.  I felt bad now that it was done this way and now that I was allowed to take the pictures I didn’t take as many as I probably wanted to.  It was too weird.  Not to say I didn’t get photos, these people look amazing and they really are oblivious to the outside world and they are the people you see in the National Geographic magazines when you read about tribes.  It is amazing that these people still are around in today’s world.  Western people have a lot to learn about culture sometimes, as we go around our modern, high tech world we now live in.  No electricity out here, no mobile phones, no internet, no gadgets.  They literally live off what the earth provides them.     

So after 1.5 hours in the village, some of the woman had figured we had got our value for money and started to refuse getting their pictures taken, I guess there has to be a line drawn somewhere and I totally understand that, so as they followed us back to the medical compound and watched the last of the camping equipment packed up, we were back on the road again.  I was in car 3 today and our man Johnny was the driver.  I have to say that experience has left a lasting impression on me and something I do rate up there with my San Bushman experience in Namibia and know I will never see anything like that again.  It was AMAZING. 

We arrived back into Jinka at 10.30am for a short stop to restock the food supplies.  So I got dropped off at the internet café for 30 minutes with a promise that Johnny would be back for me which he was right on time for the collection.  John walked down and he had to walk back, now who was his driver for the day?  We were kind enough to offer him a lift back to the hotel in our car.  The internet speed is surprisingly fast, so I got to send off a few emails, internet banking and of course Facebook. 

We drove again for another 1.5 hours to a town called Key Afar.  You can really tell the difference in the tribes as you move around the country.  The hair is different, the clothes are different, and their facial features are different.  One thing that is constant between the tribes is their physical makeup.  The tribal people are generally tall, slim and they are so muscly and fit looking.  Which when your only mode of transport are your feet, you are going to be muscly walking up and down the mountainsides carrying what you need at your side.  I have also noticed that the woman don’t carry much on their heads here like in East Africa, it is all on their backs tied or strapped on.  As we drove, there were a lot of the Banna people walking to town with their goods on the backs to sell their wares.  Today is the once weekly market in Key Afar which we were going to visit after we had our lunch.  We ate a tuna pasta salad that had been prepared by cook, a coke to wash it all down with and then we had a guide that was to take us around the market of the Banna people.

Each market that we visit has been a little different, but it is an amazing place to walk around.  There is a lot of colour, talking, noise and of course we get our own fair share of stares being the ‘farangee’ (white people) walking around.  There were a few more ‘farangees’ at this market than we have seen anywhere else to date.  Josephine, Massimo and I lost the group at one stage, to give you an idea on just how busy and bustley it is, so we did our own self tour knowing we had to be back at the restaurant for our departure at 1.45pm. Massimo played a little football (soccer) with some of the local kids on the way down the road and I had some older teenage boys come up and ask me questions to practice their English.

So another 2.5 hours on the road got us into Turmi and into Hamar Tribal territory at 4pm.  This tribe again is very different from the other 2 tribes we have seen today.  To be able to say we saw three tribal groups in one day is pretty cool in itself, I don’t know anywhere else in the world that you would get this diverse cultural experience in one day.  AMAZING.  We are staying in Turmi for 3 nights, which will be great to be in one place.  We got dropped off into town, using this word loosely, it is pretty much a one main street kind of place, with a few shops and bars lining the main thorough affair.  There was a small woman’s market that we took a walk around, as the cars headed to camp and set up for us (I could get used to this) and we got to mingle with the local Hamar people.  The children like anywhere were friendly and the Hamar are also over the photo game and we had to pay for any shots that we wanted to take.  Seize the opportunity while you can, who can blame them.  They certainly aren’t anywhere as pushy as the Mursi though.  The Hamar people have distinctive hair, dreadlocked and coloured with the red mud of the area and the woman also wear neck bangles for the want of a better word.  If you are married there are 2 bangles around your neck and if you are a first wife, you get the privilege of wearing an additional neck bangle.  I guess when you know no better and this is tradition, what can we say?

We were collected after an hour in the town.  We had created quite a stir and people were all milling around as the boys were talking to the local women and children.  Josephine and I decided to take some time out and sat out the front of what was the local corner store and talked with our new friends of 4 children, whose English was quite good as they attend the local school in Turmi.  There was one memorable moment when one of the children, who would have been around 4 years old, came over and without sounding mean, he had ears bigger then Prince Charles and when he had his back to us, we couldn’t help but laugh as the sun shone through them and made them pink.  Josephine and I ended up calling him Goddam from Lord of the Rings, it was hilarious, but he was cute as a button, so hopefully that will save him when he gets older.  He was such a cutie and Josephine and I referenced him for the rest of the trip.

Camp was only a 10 minute drive away and when we got there our tents were all set up and raring to go under massive mango trees.  The shade from the trees was welcomed as it was pretty hot out today.  It was only 29C but it felt a lot hotter than that.  All we had to do was get our bags from the car and dump them off.  We were all keen for a shower as there were no showers the previous night at the Mursi Village.  They had 2 blocks of showers so Bobby and I thought we would be smart and walk to the furthest ones, but the water pressure was terrible and Bobs had to turn his off for me to be able to get enough pressure for a dribble to come out.  After not having a shower for nearly 36 hours, I would take a dribble any day but plans of me washing my filthy hair was going to have to wait till tomorrow when I changed shower blocks.  No hot water, but with the temps outside of 30C, this was okay.

The camp had an open communal building where they sold beer and soft drinks and had a long table with camp chairs where we were going to have our meals for the next 3 days.  It was a pretty cool set up.  The toilets were surprisingly okay as well.  They had proper toilets, but instead of flushing, they had a massive barrel of water in the cubicle that you would splash a few cup full’s of water in the bowl and it was just as good as a flush!  They didn’t really smell too much either which is always a bonus.  I think I am starting to get a little soft on that department and just a whisp of a feral faeces smell and I am dry retching.  The camp site is located on the banks of the river which like all the rivers we have driven through was dry as a bone.  So before dinner some of the group went for a walk on the dry river bed and saw some Columbus monkeys and some birdlife before coming back just before sunset. 

We had a pretty BIG day today and had been on the road for a large part of that. So after our briefing with Minaloo for tomorrow we all pretty much retired to bed for the night with lightening streaking across the sky, we looked like we were going to be in for some rain, and just as I dropped off into my dreamland the first drops of rain hit the tent.  I love sleeping in a tent when it is raining.

TRAVEL DAY BETWEEN TRIBES

WEATHER: HOT 30C, sunny and humid

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Seeing the Mursi tribe – even though they are pushy

BUMMER OF THE DAY: It really is quite humid

BUYS OF THE DAY: Lunch in Jinka

WORD OF THE DAY: Dic Dic’s and Blu Blu Blu Blu Blu

We have a big travel day today with 200km to travel.  Alarm went off at 6am, breakfast was at 7am and we left early again at 7.50am.  I have to say I am finally starting to feel half human again after that dreadful Araki stuff.  That 65% proof can really knock you for a 6!  Can you believe that!  Yeah probably not the smartest move, but by geez I had a great night! 

As I was packing my bag I saw a spider on the wall right near my bag.  I am not a spider person by any means, but I was in Africa and trying to live by the rule that I have to expect all creatures’ great and ugly have a chance to live.  So I kept packing around this spider the size of 2x.50c pieces till it moved to within jumping distance to my nag and I just had to draw the line, so I took off my shoe and took a swipe to kill the bugger (stuff the Africa thing) and of course I missed and it ran under my bag.  Bloody hell.  So I finished packing, zipped the bag and moved it carefully near the door with no sign of the now blood sucking scary spider.  I went for breakfast and when I returned to pick up my bag, momentarily forgetting about the spider till I saw him leering at me from one of my backpack straps, so there was no missing this time as I swiped him off my bag, grabbing it and then making a run for it leaving this dreadful animal in the hut for his next victim.  I hate spiders.

Today is car number 2 and Abraham our driver.  Today was pretty much views of the Omo Valley the whole day and beautiful scenery with our final destination of seeing the Mursi (Moorsi) people.  These guys are the ones you see with the lip plates and their ears with blocks of wood inserted and beaded necklaces. 

We are still getting hit for the Highland plastic bottles as we drive along.  Highland is a brand of bottled stilled water, and they are chasing the empty bottles.  They don’t speak English so all you hear as you drive past is “Highland” “Highland” Highland” with these children the age of 8-10 running beside the car.  It is sad, as what harm can a bottle do, but it is the culture of the begging that we just can’t cave into.  It is tough when you know you have empty bottles, but we are not helping by giving into them.

After passing through a tribe checkpoint, we came off the mountains and hit the agricultural flat plains and the temperature has risen an extra 5 degrees with it.  As far as the eye can see were cotton fields and a lot of the traffic today slowing us down were herds of cattle on the road that we would have to honk to get the dumb animals to move to one side.  The roads are amazing so far today, but we have been warned the last 60km this afternoon will be rough going.  The people have also started to change.  The local people now have longer hair dreaded into small locks, their clothes have also changed with the men not wearing shirts and to describe it a sarong like material wrapped around their waist held up by a belt.  Their bodies are so lean and strong looking, but looking at the mountains we are again climbing, they certainly get the exercise.

We arrived into Jinka just before midday, so we placed out lunch order at the hotel we were eating at and then jumped back into the cars and went and visited the Jinka Museum while we waited.  It was actually a pretty good museum going through the cultural differences based on a conversation boards stuck on the wall between people.  It was a nice difference to learn about female circumcision, which is still practiced today and the information behind the lip plates and to see the actual size of these things is just unbelievable and will be super interesting to see them on the ladies. 

After lunch it was time to head into Mago National Park and to our final destination and first camping night of the trip and my first night into tents without my tentie L.  As I am not sharing with anyone I am going to have a tent to myself which is okay based on the demographic of the group, but I hope there is some-one available to help me set it up.  The weather is starting to turn and there were some black clouds and small showers as we drove along.  The scenery is amazing and having the black clouds helps enhance your pictures and makes for some great photos.  There was one point where we were coming off a mountain with a view into the valley and it was raining in a section of the plain and not around it.  It was like a tap had been turned on just in that area.  It made for a great photo – it looked amazing.

Just before entering the national park, we visited a small village of Ari people and got a brief look into their village.  They showed us how they make that wicked wicked stuff I drank Araki, and just the small of it as a sample was passed round was enough to make my stomach turn.  Ugh, it really has a distinctive small as well as taste and I just couldn’t do it.  There were women there picking the dry kernels off the cobs which they then crush, ferment and make the Araki.  The perk of their job, was there was always a glass of the Araki by their side, not a bad perk, not sure if the liver would agree though!

Mago National Park is one of the National Parks of Ethiopia. Located in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region about 782 kilometers south of Addis Ababa and north of a large 90° bend in the Omo River, the 2162 square kilometers of this park are divided by the Mago River, a tributary of the Omo, into two parts.  The Park was established in 1979, making it the newest of Ethiopia's several National Parks. Its highest point is Mount Mago (2528 meters). Minaloo told me that there would be plenty of opportunity to see Dic Dic’s on the trip and Mago National Park was the place.  After driving for only 20 minutes we saw our first set of Dic Dic’s.  The trees are pretty close to the road here, so the Dic Dic’s were only 5m away from the car.  They are just the cutest animals and the smallest of the antelope family, and I have to say they just might be edging out the giraffe as favorite animals.  In total we drove foe around 2 hours in the park and we saw 14 Dic Dic’s!!!  How awesome is that and I think I took a photo of each of them as well.  They are flighty critters, so you have to be quick before they bounce off into the shrubs.  We also got warned about the Tse Tse fly, which are primarily found on cattle and apparently the bite hurts like hell and there are versions of the fly that make you sleepy after you have been bitten.  Well this particular fly does hurt like hell, as I got bitten, but it doesn’t make you sleepy, but man it hurt.

So after driving for 2 hours and with the rain on and off all day, we got to a section of the dirt track that was quite muddy and on a small incline.  Number 1 crew and Zeme attempted to get up the slope to no effect, so they tried again, and again and again, till eventually they got bogged and had to be rescued by car number 2 crew, which was us.  So after winching the car to us and with 6 men pushing the car backwards we got them unbogged and a change in game plan on where we were going to camp that night.  Minaloo’s main concern even if we all got up the slope, if it keeps raining then we could possibly get stuck out here and throw the rest of the programme out.  So plan B was put in place pretty quickly and we turned all the cars around and headed to another site where we could camp for the night.  Number 3 and Johnny got bogged on the way out, but only for a round 10 minutes and no help was nesscessary which just means that Minaloo made a great call on turning the convoy around at that point.  It meant driving for an extra 2 hours, but we got some more great scenery of the Omo Valley and we also stopped a few times and managed to get a group photo as well for the books.  It really is beautiful out here.  AMAZING.

We travelled the way we had come back for around 45 minutes, which was fine with me as it gave us an opportunity to try and see some more Dic Dic’s and then headed further over the mountain ranges getting us into the largest Mursi (Moorsi) village in the area just before 5.30pm.  As like any village once we pulled up we got mobbed by the locals, but these are locals in the true sense of the word.  Besides westerners visiting the village for income for them, they still live a very traditional way of life.  The children didn’t have clothes on, the woman have a simple blanket wrapped around them, so they are also half nude and the men wear a sarong like piece of material around their waist and either have a fighting stick in the hand or a AK47 gun (calashkinoff).  The guns are a status symbol that is part of the dowry when they get married.  They need the guns to fight neighboring tribes and we just aren’t talking about a word fighting, they shoot each other if required.  It is serious stuff out here and it is hard to not do a double take when driving along seeing guns slung over the men’s shoulders as an everyday accessory.

So we got out of the cars camera less.  The Mursi people are renowned for being ruthless in asking for money for photos and Minaloo just wanted us to walk around the village without all the hype to take away from the experience and getting hassled for money and us getting side tracked.  The other thing is they fight over who gets a picture and who gets the money and then a whole new set of issues for them and for us.  I mean how bad can they be I hear you ask.  Well it was the best move not having our cameras, as we really were want for a better word attacked from all angles.  People come running out of their huts to come and check us out and try their luck in making some money.  Once they knew we didn’t have our camera’s they laid off a little bit, but it was very full on and definitely detracted from the experience to start with.  The Mursi people look like those you see in books when you read about Ethiopia.  They have the lip plates, which were as big as a tea saucer, they have inserts in their ears, some of them as big as a .50c piece, they have beautiful jewellery on, some had faces painted, others had on head dresses made out of beads and some had babies either hanging off the side of them or on their backs in slings.  There were also some women that didn’t have the lip plate in, so there was a big piece of loose skin hanging down which is technically their bottom lip and it was just incredible that can be done to your body.  The men had on the sarong skirts around their waist and the children as mentioned were nude or partially clothed or just had beads around their protruding bellies, but otherwise naked.  As it had also rained here recently the whole village was mud.  As you walked the mud stuck to your shoes and pretty much your foot just grew in size as more and more mud stuck to the sole.  As usual I was a bit of a ‘freak’ show if I was to put it crudely.  It is my size that fascinates them.  The children kept coming up to me and trying to put their little hands around the top of my arms and thought it was hilarious when their fingers could just touch or not touch at all.  It would be easy to take offence to it in the western world, but they really have no contact with the outside world except us, so beside being white I really do look different to them, and I am here looking at them, so I guess it works both ways, I am sure if they had a camera they would probably take pictures of me to!  I have also had a bit of sunburn from driving in the car, so when they touch my skin it goes from red to white and back to red.  This they find fascinating and were getting a good old kick out of that!  My boobs were another interesting thing for them.  There were a couple of times they lifted up my shirt so I let them do it once as I have a bra on anyways, but I had to draw the line when they wanted to keep on doing it.  My bracelets are also a subject of fascination.  I have pretty much collected a bangle from each country that I have been to, not wearing them all at once of course, but out of the 5 that I am wearing this trip is my beaded bangle from Namibia and it has been the most popular, which is a little strange as they have beads here, so I am sure they could make their own.  They are all happy to pose for photos in lei of a swap for the bangle.  Firstly it’s a little hard to give one bangle when there are 15 children all around and I paid like 6 bucks for that so that would get me like 80 photos and we can’t encourage begging so it is a big fat NO I’m sorry kiddies.  You can look at me with those big beautiful brown eyes all you like but the answer is still no.

So we walked around the muddy village while our camp was getting set up in the grounds of the medical centre that has nearly been completed in the village.  As it had rained recently there was a lot of mud which didn’t seem to faze the Mursi, they don’t wear shoes and at one point we walked across some ground cover that had prickles and the kids walked on their heels and were prickle free on the other side.  I mean we were also walking through cow poo, mud, prickles you name it and we had shoes on, they were in bear feet.  I wonder what they think of us wearing shoes, wearing clothes walking around with our fancy cameras.  So we were out and about for around 40 minutes before it started to get dark and to be honest it was good to get a little break from them as well.  They are a very full on tribe and it wears you down and I am not looking forward to tomorrow when we head back in armed with our camera’s.  Heaven help us then!!!

So camp was set up between 2 buildings in the medical centre.  When we got back more than half of the tents were already up and they were just finishing the last few.  So the drivers had been driving all day and then they had put up our tents for us as well.  That is pretty amazing.  As I am on my own I have a one man tent, which is big enough for me, it is just one of those tents that is low and flat, so you can’t stand up in it.  We were also given a mattress cover and 2 thin mattresses to sleep on, which actually look okay.  So my sleeping bag and pillow make another appearance for the first time in 5 weeks.  There are no showers here and apparently a really dodgy drop toilet, which I didn’t use; my call of the wild was taken in some bushes at the back of one of the buildings on advice from the previous toilet uses. 

Even though we were in the medical compound, it wasn’t fully enclosed, so some of the villagers could come and go as they pleased.  It was only to a certain extent though, as we had a park ranger with an AK47 at the ready guarding us all night and he would shoo them off if there were too many hanging around.  Which was a good thing as dinner was served I would hate to have these hungry faces looking at me eat my delicious dinner, it just wouldn’t be right.  So tables were set, table cloths and all, for dinner with camp chairs in one of the alcoves out of the rain and by candlelight, so it was a nice way to finish the day.  As we got in late to camp, dinner was a little late getting to the table and we were all pretty tired by this time, but we sucked it up and after dinner Minaloo has a Mursi friend that lives in the village, Olibilley, so we got him to come over for us to have a chat with him.  It involved a triple translation as he spoke Mursi, to which it was translated by the park ranger into Ethiopian and then Minaloo would translate for us into English.  There are 12,000 Mursi and only 2 of them can speak English.  It was interesting though and we asked about his wife and he is getting a second wife that is going to cost him 38 cattle and pretty much cleans him out.  He keeps a few cattle for himself and then starts to collect his herd all over again.  He is also one of the few that has left his village for a cultural exchange to Addis Ababa and then to Japan for 11 days.  So we are talking about someone that has never left a remote village and got on a plane to a place full of neon lights and Japanese people to which he had never seen before.  A few things he mentioned was a metal box that went up a tall scary thing ( lift in a building) and a snake that had no head or tail ( a train) and food that went around on a small track constantly ( sushi train) and the lack of open spaces, grass and trees.  It would be kind of scary and it reminded me of Crocodile Dundee when he went to the city or The Gods Must be Crazy. 

We went to sleep to the sound of cow bells and cattle walking in the field next to the medical centre.

It was a BIG day but totally rewarding and this is what we came to Ethiopia to see.  This tribe was amazing, even though they were chasing a buck out of it all, at the end of the day are they any different just making the most of an opportunity, they just don’t realize how pushy it is but I would classify this as a once in a lifetime experience and once again Ethiopia has shown some true colours and it is just an amazing country.

MEETING THE KARO PEOPLE

WEATHER: Hot and 30C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: I’m alive

BUMMER OF THE DAY: I’m alive

BUYS OF THE DAY: My hot Sprite I skulled in Arba Minch - hangover cure

WORD OF THE DAY: I’m alive

Well breakfast was at 8am.  Somewhere along the line I remembered to set my alarm and I was up and about at 7am.  I was a little worse for wear, actually I think I was still pissed from the Araki from last night, but it wasn’t mixed with anything, it was pure alcohol, so I should pull up okay right?  At breakfast as I ate the best scrambled eggs I have ever had and Josephine poured me a cup of tea talk was going around the table that I had slayed a hyena and had around 13 of those god awful shots.  I was still a little queasy, so I didn’t say too much for fear of losing my breakfast.

We were on the road at 8am, leaving early, which was fine with me to get us to where ever we were going earlier.  The ducks and I was back in car number 1 this morning aka ‘the sardine’ with Zeme as our driver.  I felt a little sorry for the ducks as all 3 of us have to fit in the back in car one and not being able to have a shower I wonder if I had that alcohol smell about me?  If I did the ducks didn’t say anything and trust me they aren’t backwards in coming forward, if it was an issue they would have said something.  As we headed back down the mountain Zeme had on some tunes and The Gambler came on.  Of all songs!  I’m in Ethiopia, on the top of a mountain after a BIG night and I get The Gambler playing.  AWESOME!!

We have 120km to travel today and is expected to take a few hours.  This gives you time to soak in the scenery and just observe the people as we drive.  As we head further south, you can notice that they are darker than the people from Addis.  They remind me of Kenyans, their skin is jet black.  I’ve also noticed that they are huggers.  If they see people they know, they instantly hug each other, and you can see they are heart felt hugs and they also have this groovy hand shake.  They put out their hand to shake, they put their other hand on the elbow and then you lean in and then bump opposite shoulders.  It is so cool and I just love to watch them do it.  The males are also hand holders and I like that in a cultural with none of this homophobic stuff here and it’s awesome.  The scenery has also changed the further south we go.  It is now getting drier and flatter as we left Arba Minch but there are still green trees and plants around, it’s just not as lush as from where we had come from. 

We arrived into Konso at 11.45am to our accommodation for the night and the place was called Strawberry Fields and it was an Eco-lodge.  They were individual round clay huts, but as I was on a single, John and I were given a hut to share.  Never fear I didn’t share my room with a 60 year old, there was a wall dividing us, but the rest were complaining how small they were inside, so I told them to settle and come and check out our half dome if they wanted to see small.  It was big enough for me though with a bed, a tiny table and a chair that if I sat on it would collapse under me, but it was good for me through my stuff all over.  The hut was made of mud and straw and they had white washed the walls half way up, so there was bits of dried dirt that would fall down on your stuff.  I can see now why, beside the mozzies, that they had a net over your bed while you slept.  Also John and my hut was the only one without electricity, but that’s okay.  I had my head torch and they would supply us with a lantern after dinner for the room. We had time for showers before we were to head to the Konso village.  The showers were individual standing bamboo huts and we all had a key to get into our individual showers.  It was pretty cool with the wind blowing through the bamboo screens, it felt a little liberating standing there nude as the breeze licked your skin AND they had hot water as well, so after 2 full days of not showering and still a little seedy it was just what the doctor ordered.  The toilets are also ecofriendly and they are drop toilets that didn’t have smell.  Can you believe that?  You basically have to lift the lid off the hole, after you’ve done your business you put a cup of ash in the hole with a handful of straw, pop on the lid and you are done.  It is a pretty amazing system and one that all the supplies are available locally.  There is no electricity during the day and the Eco Lodge has solar panels for the electricity at night, so you need to get in fast t charge your appliances as once the solar electricity is gone, it’s gone till tomorrow.  Now in full ET (Ethiopian Time) we have ordered dinner already so we shouldn’t have to wait for too long tonight and we will order breakfast tonight after dinner.  ET baby…..

So we left at 2pm after lunch and headed to the village of Konso.  The Konso society is largely agricultural and involves the irrigation and terracing of mountain slopes. Staple crops include sorghum and corn, with cash crops including cotton and coffee. Cattle, sheep, and goats are raised for food and milk.The village was on the side of a small hill so the view walking the tracks of the village was pretty amazing.  Polygyny is an accepted practice among the Konso, imagine more than one wife!  According to the 2007 national census, they numbered 250,430 of whom 10,470 or 4.18% are urban dwellers, the rest live in clusters of villages in their traditional huts.  Unlike most Ethiopian peoples, the Konso live in large defensive villages, each governed by an autonomous council of elders and divided into smaller administrative neighbourhoods. The social status of all males, and of some females, is defined by a, generation-grading system symbolised by stelae erection.

This was the first place that I have also been getting a lot of stares and some laughing.  Being a little precious from my nights drinking I asked Minaloo why they were laughing at me.  But he doesn’t speak the language of the Konso, so he didn’t know, but was taking a guess that it was because I was fat.  Well I told him politely that the word large was better than fat and when you look at it from their point of view the whole Ethiopian population is skinny, I guess I would be a bit of an unusual occurrence, assuming they don’t get a lot of ‘larger’ people travelling in their country.  So I didn’t get cranky and every time I walked past them and they laughed I took it all in my stride.  The Konso also farm on terraces and they will plant more than one crop on the terraces in case something doesn’t do well that year they still have something else to rely on rather than literally having all their eggs in one basket.  Pretty smart really – so they are mixed Agriculturists!!

Our next visit was to meet the Chief of the Konso people.  This guy is pretty important to the tribe even to this day.  He lives in a compound tucked away in the wilds of the village that took us 30 minutes on the worst roads to date to get there.  When we arrived we let him know we were here and he asked for a few minutes to get ready, so we took a walk to the families graveyard where his father and his grandfather have been buried.  It took us around 15 minutes of walking through the forest to get there and it was worth the walk.  The graves have a bamboo roof over them and they are represented by Waka’s.  The Konso are notable for the erection of Wakas, memorial statues to a dead man. These stylised wooden carvings are arranged in groups, representing the man, his wives, and one who has killed an enemy or an animal such as a lion or a leopard is depicted with his vanquished adversaries.

It is good luck to pick some leaves and leave them on the Waka, so not one to pass up some luck, I placed my leaves on both graves and hope that when I next need my travel god these will come in handy with my karma.  Unfortunately walking back Josephine took a stack over a tree root that was on the path, I mention this as I don’t want to be painted as the only mongo on tour that falls over stone sober, so Josie, together we fall and we are now keeping score on who is going to have the most falls on trip.  I have a feeling I know who it maybe, but I will not jinx myself so early on in the game.

The Chief was ready when we got back and we sat under a large bamboo hut (without walls and doors) and waited for him to arrive.  First impressions always count and when he breezed in and shook all out hands individually, he really had some charisma and charm about him and he felt like a leader.  His history in a nutshell was he was in Addis studying civil engineering when his father, the current Chief, passed away.  So being the oldest he was in line to take over his father’s place and dropped all his studies and the city life to move back to the village and take up his responsibilities.  Now that is cultural and traditional responsibilities all wrapped up for you in a modern world.  He is now married and has 3 children; his oldest is a son and who will take over from him when he passes away, he hopes anyway.  But his 8 year old son attends meetings and some Chiefly duties, so he is being groomed from an early age and he knows what is expected of him.  There are 300,000 Konso villagers and the Chief sees to land disputes, family disputes and generally just tries to keep the peace.  He is the only educated Chief, so he now has studied some courses in disputes and has a laptop and keeps in touch with the 8 other Chiefs via mobile phone, so the modern world has popped its head in there while still keeping the traditions alive.  We got around 40 minutes with the him and he was well spoken, his English was just about perfect and I could see he would be very approachable and a kind person.  After a walk around his compound that has been in his family for 5 generations we said our farewell to this pretty amazing person and headed to the Konso Museum for 40 minutes before heading back to camp for the night.

We’re not sure us staying at the Eco Lodge has anything to do with the food prices but they have been extortionate compared to the rest of the country.  In the ‘real’ world it is still considered cheap but we paid 1AUD for the tea instead of .30c, now it sounds like we are a bunch of tight wads and you don’t mind paying a little more when you are in the middle of nowhere but for it to be nearly triple the price is a little rich.  For lunch, dinner and then breakfast the next day I paid 20AUD total for the 3 meals, which is still pretty cheap right!  We shouldn’t whinge, but it is the principle.

So after a MASSIVE day hung over like a bastard, I was living by our Intrepid rule we introduced on my last trip of not going to bed before 8.01pm.  So at 8.10pm – I set off up the dark pathway with my head torch as the promised lanterns weren’t charged properly and after reading for a nano second I fell asleep in my half mud hut, in the deep south of an awesome country, under my net into a fitful and desperately needed sleep.