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.

Southern Ethiopia – Arbaminch to Turmi

Emerald Resort and Lodge in Arbaminch.

Stunning views.

Such exhausting work this traveling.

Baboons outside our room.

This morning’s village visit turned out to be a disappointment because the guide did not speak English but the drive the rest of the way to Turmi sure was not.

The roads are a challenge to drive. If they are not full of pot holes they are filled with people and animals.

Bee hives were evident in many of the trees we passed.

Young boys are seen everywhere on the road dancing the hip dance for a few birr, the national currency.

Examples of terraced farming in the area to help eliminate erosion.

The rock work in front of this home is also evident on all the terraces for farming.

Omo tribal homes.

Two girls from the village.

Traditional material used for skirts and pants for the people in the area.

At a lunch stop every child around came out to sell us something so instead I had them pose for a photo and paid them 5 birr each, the standard amount per person for taking a photo.

Women carrying feed for animals.

Firewood lined up along the road for sale.

What a way to get you to stop your vehicle.

Restaurant from the outside at the Burska lodge in Turmi.

Southern Ethiopia – Sodo

Leaving London as the florist below the flat were getting ready for Valentines Day.

We arrived in Addis Abbaba in the morning and immediately left for Sodo. On the way we stopped to see the Tiya stele which were recognized in 1980 as a World Heritage Site.

Our guide was a very enthusiastic anthropology student so was keen to give us a ton of information about them. A museum is being constructed to house the artifacts and provide information about the site.

On Day 2 of our program – our driver calls it our program – we left Sodo at 9:00 and arrived in the mountain village of Dorze at 11:30 and a two hour tour. On the way our driver told us about how bananas are picked green then driven all night in the dark to arrive yellow in the markets in the morning. He said there are often a lot of accidents attributed to the long hours the driver put in.

On the way we passed Lake Abaya. It is separated from Lake Chamo by what the locals call God’s Bridge. Lake Abaya is red in color and Lake Chamo blue. You can see God’s bridge between them.

The traditional homes in Dorze are built in the shape of elephants which were hunted here but are no longer in the area. The traditional homes are made very tall using bamboo for the structure and banana leaves. When the termites eat through the lower level they cut the bottom part off and move the upper part to another location. Once they have been cut down three times, the last portion is used for storage.

The animals stay inside at night to provide heat for the family.

The sleeping areas are on either side of the entrance. Children sleep in the loft and younger children on mats on the floor.Many chairs are in the home for the drinking of coffee with guests.

Beer is made from ground sorghum, barley, wheat and maize mixed and dried above the fire in banana leaves for up to four months. It is then ground and mixed with water then fermented for 1 week. The beer is drank from these gourds.

Women spin the cotton and the men do the weaving in the village.

We saw how pulp is removed from the base of the false banana plant.

The pulp is placed between layers of banana leaves and stored in the ground for up to three months to ferment.

Once it is fermented it is chopped repeatedly to remove cut the fibres that remained in the plant.

Once the pulp is chopped it is mashed with water patted into a pancake form and cooked on the fire first in banana leaves then browned on the skillet.