Day 70 - The Omo Valley

Point of departure : Turmi

Point of arrival : Mago National Park, Omo Valley

Accommodation: rooftop tent @ Mago National Park Camp site

Km travelled today: 166km Cum: 12 710km (gravel 166km cum 3 334km)

Countries so far: 7/16

Where to next? Yabello

No of photos taken : 18 (cum 3 189)

This morning we headed out with our guide to visit the local Hamer village.

The Hamer tribe - consisting of +/- 35 000 are found in the south eastern section of the Omo Valley - east from the Omo River to Lake Chew Bahir. They are the archetypal people of South Omo.The women are striking with their thick plaits of ochre-coloured hair hanging down with a heavy fringe , leather skirts decorated with cowries, and an elaborate and eclectic selection of body decorations: copper bracelets around their arms and colourful beaded bands hanging around their waists. Married women are recognised by their thick copper necklaces - usually one or more.Wife number one has the copper necklaces in addition to a circular wedge (+/- 10cm long) projecting out of the front.The copper necklaces itself indicates how many wives a man has in total.The women also have body scarring - thick welts created by cutting themselves and treating the wound with ash and charcoal.The men are dressed more plainly but also have body scarring.They paint themselves with white chalk paste before a ceremony or dance.The clay hair buns on the men is an indication that they have either killed a dangerous animal or human being in the last year.The Hamer people are pastoralists and like the Maasai take great pride in the size of their cattle herds.They are closely allied to the Bena people (who live north of them) and the Bena women are distinguished by their calabashes.Their villages are incredibly neat and the huts are constructed of wood, mud and thatch.The main event in Hamer society is the Bull Jumping ceremony (between February and April) which last 3 days.On the third day the women get drunk in order to get ritualistically beaten with sticks. This is entirely by choice and shows devotion to the boy jumping - Marina has declined to participate in this ritual and John will just have to take her word for her devotion!The more devoted the women are the more they taunt the men to beat them.The initiate, naked and sporting an unkempt Afro hairstyle, jumps from one bull to the next (6 to 8 bulls in total) and repeats this performance until everyone is satisfied.If he is successful he may take a wife, if not he has to repeat the initiation next year.

Then back up north towards Key Afer and then north west to Jinka to visit the Mursi tribe.Having got in quite early and now understanding the logistics of getting to the Mursi village, we decided to press on another 27km to the Mago National Park and camp there.We had to arrange for a guide to meet us the following day.Camping here was almost wild, with no facilities to speak of but a very pretty spot amongst the fig trees.For the second time on our trip we used our own shower.

The Mago National Park is 2 162 sq km and was proclaimed in the 1960's.The park is mainly thick acacia woodland and due to the poor roads not many tourists visit the park.It has over 100 mammals and 300 bird species.The Mursi tribe live on the eastern side of the Park.

Day 71 - 9th January
Point of departure : Mago National Park
Point of arrival : Yabello
Accommodation: rooftop tent @ Hawi Hotel, Yabello
Km travelled today: 334km Cum: 13 044km (gravel 280km cum 3 614km)
Countries so far: 7/16
Where to next? Addis Ababa

At 07h30 we met up with Hyandu our guide and set off to visit the Mursi village. We have been advised by few people that the Mursi are quite aggressive in that they insist on having their photograph taken in order to receive payment. What we found they were a bit pushy but we never felt threatened and we relied on our guide to get them to back off.

The Mursi tribe - the most famous of the Omo tribes - known for their "debbi" (lip plates), number around 5 000. They are found around the Mago National Park - east of the Mago River and west of the Omo River. When a woman reaches the age of 20 a slit is cut beneath her lower lip creating a hole between the lip and the tissue below. During the next twelve months this gap is stretched until a "lip loop" is formed, large enough for a small clay lip plate which is inserted between the lip and the mouth. As the lip stretches so it's the plate is continuously replaced with a larger one - the largest being around 15cm in diameter and the woman should be able to extend the lip loop over her head. In this tribe the men certainly get a lot of lip from their women! No Mursi man can marry until he has won a "donga" (stick fight). Using long sticks (about 2m) the contestants cover themselves in white chalk paste and fight one another. Injuries are common and there are strict rules however deaths do occur. The winner is carried off by a group of eligible women who decided amongst themselves who will marry him. Like the Maasai, their social organisation consists of age groups each with their own rights and duties. Every decade the group moves up until they become elders (the most highly regarded and important members of the tribe). The Mursi are nomad cattle herders and grow crops. They eat 40 different varieties of leaves and use the cattle for their blood and milk.

We leave the village and head back to Jinka - it's market day in Jinka today and we were hoping to see some of the other tribes namely the Ari and the Bena … but this was not to be - probably too early as the market had only been going for 2 hours.

The market was a bit of a disappointment in that not much local product on sale (except for locally made alcohol) - mainly a dumping ground for Chinese over runs of plastic shoes and cheap blankets and clothing. A mixture of old and new world - the young Mursi girls with their traditional regalia and lip loops with westernised bags filled with their shopping items. Once again we are surrounded by children "faranji give birr".

There is one particular young boy who hounds John and John gets into the car and shuts the door. The kid then knocks on the window and points to the front right wheel. John thinking that this is a ploy for him to open the door again ignores him.
After a Hara beer (local Ethiopian beer) at the Jinka Resort we head off towards Key Afer, Weita, Konso and finally Yabello - our overnight stop 255km away.

We arrive at Yabello, set up camp and John notices that our right front wheel is quite flat (less than 50 bar) - ANOTHER PUNCTURE! John is convinced that little rascal in Jinka sabotaged the wheel - as we found a metal spike embedded in the tyre at an angle. John and Graham commence repairing the puncture when the plug inserter BREAKS! So once again, we need to change the wheel. Out comes the hydraulic jack and they change the wheel. Relaxation at last!!