Dimeka – BeverleyandJohn's2018Travels

After this market in Dimeka we went to see a traditional bull jumping ceremony.

The Bull Jumping Ceremony is where a young boy jumps lines of bulls to show the community that he is old and mature enough to carry the responsibility of marriage. Once completed successfully his father will choose a wife for him from another Hamer village. This is the young man who the ceremony was for today.

The ceremony begins with the young women from the community dancing for almost 2 hours in the heat. It was 32 that day.

So many striking women.

The necklace this woman is wearing with the extension in the front indicates she is a first wife. Hamer men can have up to 3 wives. So many striking women and so much energy.

This woman would be a second wife as she has two necklaces without the larger one.

The next part of the ceremony is called the whipping, rather barbaric from our perspective, but the young women are chased and whipped by the brothers and relatives of the young man the ceremony is for.

The scars are a symbol of the amount of suffering the women are willing to endure for their new husband’s family.

Next a painting of the young man for the next ceremony begins.

The new groom is blessed by the men of the his family and his wife to-be’ s family to ensure the passing on of the family lineage through the birth of many healthy children.

New the bulls are selected for the jumping.

While everyone watches.

Getting ready to begin..

and finally the jumping.

Our wonderful accommodations that evening.

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.