Lower Omo Valley
The tribes of this part of
southern Ethiopia are one of the most popular tourist attraction in
the country. The most visited are the Mursi, with their famous lip
plates, and the Hamer, of the bull jumping ceremony, but the region
is also inhabited by the Ari, the Banna, the Bumi, the Karo and the
Surma. The base to visit the villages from is Jinka, a town of
18,000 people in the hills above the valley.
Konso
A base for visiting the Lower Omo, Konso is also
the main town of the Konso people and their fascinating culture.
Easily reachable villages, such as Machekie, display the famous
Wagas – wood statues erected in honour of Konso warriors after
their death. You will also see the uniquely constructed hillside
houses, which include a tunnel as an entrance to protect against
intruders.
The Mursi
The most famous of the tribes, the pastoralist Mursi are notorious for the lip plates worn by the female population. At the age of around 20, the clay plates are inserted in a slit between the lower lip and the jaw and can be up to 15cm in diameter. The larger the lip plate, the greater the value of the woman when she is married. The stick fighting, Donga, between men competing for the right to marry is also a sight worth seeing. The most visited villages are along the banks of the Mago River in MagoNational Park.
The
Hamer
The approximately 50,000 strong
Hamer are famous for the women’s hairstyle, which is done using
ochre and resin, and also for the jumping of the bulls ceremony – a
rite of passage for young men. The ceremony starts with lots of
face painting and then a walk to an open space to wish the bull
jumper luck in his life. Then the potential suitor gets naked and
starts running across the bulls. If he manages to do so without
falling off he is ready to become a man and his father can then
choose him a bride. Until he proposes, which can take months, he
has to keep on the skin worn during the ceremony and can only drink
milk and eat honey and meat.
Jinka
At an altitude of 1500 metres,
Jinka is a lovely, laid back, green town with a friendly feel -
great for spending a few days. It also has a more comfortable
climate than the lowlands below it. The town of around 20,000
people has better facilities than elsewhere in the region,
including banks, hotels and petrol stations. Additionally, there is
a very well kept museum with a library lots of info on all the
different tribes of the south – Abore, Hamer, Bana, Ari, Dasenech,
Nyangatom, Mursi and Maale.
Key Afar
Key Afar is one of the larger
towns of the Omo Valley and at 1800 metres offers a refreshing
break from the stifling lowlands. The town is largely populated by
the Ari, who, as in Jinka, wear modern clothes when living in the
urban centre. The town, which is on the Konso-Jinka , boasts a
large market on Thursday selling traditional and modern goods where
the Ari, Hamer and Bena proudly display their colourful traditional
dresses – made from the leaves of the enset and koisha plants in
the case of the Ari – and their red, blue and black
beads.