Ethiopia - Part 6

Saturday, 17th November

We are still in Ethiopia but only just. We have just arrived in the Omo River Valley which is the most south western corner of Ethiopia where Ethiopia, South Sudan and Kenya meet on Lake Turkana. The Omo Valley is widely described as the part of Ethiopia most untouched by outside influences. The plan is to spend a couple of days exploring, then travel south along the eastern shoreline of Lake Turkana before entering Kenya. 

This part of Ethiopia is so remote that there is no official border crossing here and the area is largely inaccessible in the rainy season due to the number of river bed crossings but we have heard from people travelling up that it is currently passable.

Our shock absorbers finally arrived after 10 days of emails, phone calls, frustrating visits to the custom offices and patient waiting. Luckily we couldn’t have been in a nicer place than Wim’s Holland House in Addis. By the time we left, we felt like part of the family. We also used our time to catch up on a number of things: Heather on her blog, Ian doing an oil change and Don even making a start on his tax return.

Anyway, two hip replacements later (the car!) it was nice to be on the road again and we arrived late last night at Paradise Lodge on a lake near Arba Minch where we had stayed on our way up a few weeks ago. Sadly, they had dug up the camping area so we spent the night camping in their car park. Not quite the paradise it was first time around!

We left early this morning and had another great day of fantastic scenery travelling through the mountain pass of the highlands to the plains of the Omo valley.  As we reached the highest point of the pass we stopped and looked down into the valley where the Omo river snakes through indigenous forests as far as the eye can see.  Due to massive deforestation in the rest of Ethiopia there is almost no forest left and all four of us realised how much we have missed this very African landscape.

Looking down into the Omo River Valley

Sunday 18^th November

We are staying in a nice camp by a river shaded by Acacia trees. Today we need to decide whether we stay here for a few days or head straight on into Kenya.  Ian and Heather’s Ethiopian visa runs out in a couple of days and Ian wants to leave enough time in case we have to backtrack  and exit Ethiopia on the more official border crossing should we hit trouble by way of finding impassable roads. Us girls want to go to the local villages and markets and are hoping to witness one or two of the traditional tribal celebrations.

There are several tribes living is this region but the most famous are the Hamer and the Musi. The Musi woman are best known for their tradition of wearing plates in their lower lips (a custom thought to date back to the slavery trade period when to be disfigured meant being save from being sold!) and the Hamer are famous for a tradition involving young males jumping over a row of bulls as part of an initiation ceremony. Only once they have completed this ritual are they allowed to marry. This event happens once a week and if we happen to be here on the day we will try and see if we can witness it.

Tuesday 20^th November

We managed to watch the bull jumping yesterday and it is an event which has left a deep impression with us.

The actual bull jumping only lasts about five minutes and is the culmination of a three-day long celebration. It is preceded by a particularly brutal practice lasting several hours. The ceremony starts off with chanting, singing and dancing mostly by the woman of the initiate’s clan – sisters, cousins, aunts and the mother. To show their support the woman then break from the dancing circle one at the time and offer themselves to be whipped by the peers of the young male.

We had read about this practice beforehand but what you witness is totally unbelievable. The woman implore the men to strike harder and harder and line up again and again to have their backs struck to the point where they have open wounds and are bleeding. If they feel that the strike has not been hard enough they will get hold of his hand and not let him go until he strikes again. Apparently it is a great honour to bear the scars and it is custom to rub ash into them afterwards to discolour them permanently.

The most extraordinary thing is that the woman don’t flinch as they are hit, they don’t even blink. Once they have been whipped they stand around casually in a circle laughing and joking with each other.  The whole event has a jolly party atmosphere!

It is difficult to describe how it feels to witness such a brutal custom. The initial reaction is quite sickening and even when it is obvious without any doubt that the woman seem to entice the men who at times look quite reluctant, it is difficult to watch.

We spent the evening back in our camp pondering over what kind of cultural pressures make a woman feel honored to be treated in such a way. 

The actual bull jumping which followed was a much more acceptable affair. Several bulls were chosen by the young male and then held in a line by other male members of his family. He then jumped on top of the first bull and ran across the line up several times to the cheers of everyone present.

                                       a walk in the park in comparison!