After an uncomfortable night of vomiting and diarrhea, Christi starts a course of ciprofloxacin today (and for those of you keeping count we have both had two courses of ciprofloxacin now – and all since we have been in Africa). The Dark Continent is not for the faint hearted nor for those with a delicate GI system, but Christi is a trooper and we keep going. In fact Fekade our driver-guide is determined to show us as many of the ethnic groupings in the southern Ethiopia as possible and two more are the list for today: the Arbore and the Tsemay. Before we delve into the culture of these two groups, though, I did want to make another comment about Fekade. Naturally he is always on time for our morning departures (although as far as I can tell he never stays in the same hotel as us), but what is most remarkable is that he cleans his Toyota Landcruiser daily. In the dusty, sometimes muddy, south of Ethiopia his (white) SUV simply attracts dirt inside and out. Yet every morning he and his car both arrive in pristine condition. Christi and I are very impressed. Fekade even brings a fresh pineapple with him and Christi nibbles on it tentatively.
We leave Turmi lodge at 7 am and drive east, bypassing the Hamer mountains, which rise 5,000 feet above us, before looping back to the north. Fortunately the weather has been kind during our trip, although it is bloody hot and the air conditioning in Fekade’s SUV is most welcome. We drive out of Hamer territory and the Lower Omo Valley along a gravel road. Throughout our exploration of this area we have consistently spotted wildlife, including baboons, dik-dik (small deer), foxes, and guinea fowl and today is no different. In fact the roads, which are normally fairly busy as locals go about their daily activities, are deserted and wildlife is all we spot.
The Arbore inhabit the fertile Rift Valley. These people are thought to be descendents of the Konso tribe who live further to the east (more about the Konso tomorrow, but they are the most numerous of the ethnic groupings in southern Ethiopia numbering some 250,000). In that respect the Arbore people are culturally closer to the Konso, having little interaction with the Hamer and Banna tribes. Fekade tells us that the Arbore are one of the few tribes in this area to practice both male and female circumcision. Again there are few Arbore left, less than 7,000 is the best estimate.
Barely have we stepped out of the car, when the locals (predominantly girls and women) descend and start pawing and grasping my arm shouting “Photo! Photo!” It’s all too much for a still delicate Christi who returns to the SUV. The women are verging on the hysterical and I have to ask Fekade to intervene and bring some order. The village elders start whipping the women to calm them down. OK, I made that last part up, but boy are these women aggressive. Now the one thing guaranteed to turn a hysterical woman into a silent statue is to take their photo. Where moments before a Tasmanian Devil was unleashing her fury, now it’s as if the petrificus totalus spell has just been employed. Fekade urges them to lighten up a little and once I’ve snapped a few smiling faces the subject rushes over to the SUV where Christi hands over the money through an open window.
A further hour up the road and we stop again, this time at a Tsemay village. These people are also closely related to the Konso and the Arbore, but are much more laid back than their cousins to the west. Indeed, they barely acknowledge our presence and certainly do not rush up to me desperate for me to photograph them. The downside to this of course is that it is hard to find people who want to be photographed and who are wearing traditional dress. Much like the Ari, the Tsemay have largely forsaken animal hides in favor of pants and shirts.
Finish the day in another lodge, this time in Konso, which allows Christi to nurse her stomach in relative peace for the rest of the day. Tomorrow we will tour one of the Konso villages in the area and by the end of the day we will be back in the delightful arms of the Hilton Hotel in Addis for two nights. Then it will be my turn to grasp and clutch at every sliver of luxury I can get!
Blog post by Roderick Phillips, author of Weary Heart – a gut-wrenching tale of love and test tubes.
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