Southern Ethiopia – Turmi – Dimeka – Omorate

The 6:00 start today allowed us to see the beautiful sunrise

These plants line the roads and though they look like fruit are just large pods that are very dangerous.  Messin, our driver said just a tiny drop of the milk from the pod will cause instant blindness.

We drove to the Omorate area and took a donta, the name of the boat made from one piece of wood across the Omo River to the village of the Dasenech people. The Omo flows into Lake Turkana.

The village homes are dome shaped, made from wood and covered with anything available.

I paid a fee of 200 birr to allow me to take photos in the village to the woman on the right which she is counting.

Hair styles of the women vary according to whether they are single, married without children or married with children.

Mens’ hair is also very ornate. This young man is decorating a small stool the men carry for sitting on and for resting their heads on when they sleep.

The young girls as well as older girls were playing string games.

 

 

Softening a goat hide.

Village elders.

Working on crafts to take to the market.

Amazing to see how much they carry.

From this village we went to the market in Dimeka which is considered to be one of the unspoiled markets in Ethiopia.  Hamer people from three different areas come to this market.

We spotted some very interesting birds on the way.

Coffee in the shade at the market.  Ethiopian coffee is very strong and very smooth.

Hamer women wear their hair short and decorate their dreads with red clay and butter.

The goat skin skirts are weighted down with hand made metal beads.