I have written two version of each item so if you are in a hurry read the short version.
If you like detail skip the short version and read the long version further down.
Short Version:
After waking early we got organised in a lazy fashion. After doing some “homework” I joined the others down by the river for a nice swim. Afterwards we all swam across the river to visit a traditional village on the otherside. After visiting the village (which included visiting one of the huts, seeing how they live, what they make etc) we swam some more and then drove back to Turmi. There we picked up another local guide, dropped Deon off at the camp site and went to watch the “jumping the bull” ceremony of the Hamers tribe. Then we returned back to campsite where we setup camp, had a braai, did some computer work and headed to bed.
Long Version:
I was awoken around 5:30am to sound of men braking rocks...I guess they start work really early. It was so close to my tent that at one point the chips hit my tent. 15 minutes later I heard the sounds of big drums beating along with what sounded like wailing. Adding to the cacophony were many Cockrels crowing in the morning. Finally the sound of the crickets could be heard filling in the quiets between. Strangely the drums and stone breaking stop around 6:15am as the sunrise turned from orange to a pale pink reflecting off the clouds through my tent.
I decided to stay in the tent and work on the blog while the others were still asleep. With Simon C awakening I decided to get up and we got busy with preparing for the day, the baby baboon, “O2”, creating havoc with our campsite, stealing cutlery, eating the butternut and anything else it could get its hands on. Around 8am Chu Chu our guide entered camp and a short while later the rest of the group headed down to the river for a swim while I stayed in camp to finish our “homework”.
Around 9:15am with the sun already strong and hot I drove down to the river and joined Taryn and Simon C for another swim in the river while we waited for Deon to arrive. While we waited we chatted with the locals and watched them play a complicated game with stones called duhuar. I should mention a rather funny trait that all the Ethiopians seem to have. When they listen they often withdraw there breath almost as a replacement for "Oh" but to us it sounds like shock or suprise. You have to hear it to understand how funny it is!
At around 10am we swam across the river with a couple of local children to visit the village called Ratee located about 300m from the banks of the river.. The river is really strong so we had to start about 100m upstream just to get to the otherside. I found it really hard but Simon C ( a former provincial swimmer) found it easy!
Children met us on the otherside and taking our hands walked us and our local guide to and through the village set in the middle of a dusty, dry almost barren landscape. With the exception of a bit of plastic and corrugated iron incorporated into their beehive shaped stick dwellings, they live like they always have, wearing traditional clothing of leather cover from their navel down. The young kids simply walk around naked. Inside the village (surrounded by thorn bushes for what purpose i am not sure) we watched one woman grind wheat ( a UN initiative i think) with a stone, another one weave leather with a horn of goat to create a sort of backpack that they use to carry things. We also visited an old lady inside her hut and had a chat (through Chu-Chu who spoke the local guide we had who spoke to the woman!). The floor of the hut was made of goat skinds and the side adorned with everytime items such as guords, and cooking utensils. While we were busy being shown the village Deon was in search of some home made brew (bear). Inside the village women came up to use carry pots on their heads. Some of them had a feather sticking out their chins as a kind of adornment. Tthey wanted money in exchange for a photos as did just about everyone in the village :(. We also witnessed their lack of care of animals with one boy throw a boomerang like weapon at a dog for fun, the dog yelping in pain. Fortunately an elder berated him for doing so. Its certainly a tough life being a dog in this village.
The whole experience brought into focus how important basic neccesaties are like health care, food and water. I decided to take a dug-out canoe back across the river for the experience, with fish eagles soaring above us. Its amazing how stable they are although it takes a long time for the boatment to pole across the fast flowing river...especially 3 of us in one boat (or hollowed out log if your prefer).
After our little excursion we head back to Turmi, along the way spotting some big vultures. In Turmi we had to hire a local guide to take us to watch the "Bull Jumping" Ceremony. We were not happy having to pay someone as it then becomes less authentic and a show (although trust me, this is authentic as it gets). Deon was not intererest in going (which created more tension as we he felt we were pushing him so we left him with the Land Rover at the campsite we be staying and then rushed off at 3:30pm along a 4x4 road and a dry riverbed to our destination. With large leafy trees providing us shade from the hot sun (35'c agaiin) we took a short walk along the river bed until we reached the area where the initial part of the ceremony was being held.along with a gawk (a new collective noun i am using) of tourists.
So before i tell you what happend i need to give you a bit of background. I got different stories from different people so I may be wrong in why things take place. When a man wants to take a wife he must "jump the bull". This involves lining up a number of bulls side by side with the participant jumping onto the back of the first one and then leaping from back to back until he jumps off the back of the last bull to the ground. He then turns around as jumps back onto the bull and across the backs of the others until he jumps off to the place he started. He does this twice. If he succesfully completes this he can pick ANY available woman he likes and she must marry him! (after discussion between fathers). When the woman is picked she will cry for hours and stay at home for a couple of days. Incidentally if a man has already jumped the bull and has a wife he can take another by simply rubbing cow dung in her hand... its considered a binding marriage contract!
Now in order to show honour to the man that is jumping the bulls the females in his family (normally his sisters) are whipped. By whipped i mean thin flexible branch being whipped as hard as possible across thieir naked backs which have been rubbed in fat. This cause the skin to open up and bleed. The more they are whipped the more they honour their brother and the more standing they have in the community. Some of the womans backs look llike someone has taken a cat'o'nine tails to them. Its totally barbaric but they REALLY want to be whipped. Their are special "beaters" who do the whipping and they literally beg to be whipped. Fortunately the brother can say when enough is enough to prevent them from mutilating themselves. Also the woman prevent each other from being whipped to much. I must repeat that the women really wanted to be whipped. I am told they drink beer before hand to help with the pain and perhaps get them in the mood?
Ok so that was a small, small overview. When we arrived men were being painted (I think these were the beaters who have a vertical feather around the head to indicate that they are a beater), and then we heard a woman singing, the sound getting stronger as she danced her way towards one of the beaters. She then danced in front of him, presented the tree branches to him so he could choose one to whip her with.Once he had take a branches of his choice he indicated to here wear to stand, raised his arms and brough the branch down hard across her back, cutting her skin open like a knife. He repeated this a few times sometimes hitting her across the top of her arms. She cried out and fell to her knees. At first i thought it was because she was in pain and could not handle it but it was actually because her brother had said no more and she was unhappy because she wanted to show him more honour. This particular sister got whipped at least 10 times afterwrards (over a period of about 3 hours). After watching this I was almost nauseated, and i felt like i was paying to watch someone get whipped, gladiator style. I ended up not videoing, it was so graphic.
After the whipping of various women we took a walk up the hill to the village. The surrounding vegation is semi arid, with a few trees including the ever present acacia thorn tree. Near the village was what appeared to be a specially built, large area encircled by a low wall of thorn branches. Insid we were seated under a specially built pergola cover with branches and leaves that provide shade to the locals and tourist a like. There were a lot of men and women underneath, seperated by gender, both sexes talking and drinking beer. The seating area overlooked a sort of semi-circular parade area and during the course of the next 2 hours we watched women dance-marching around it, singing and asking and getting whipped from the beaters. We also saw men dancing, Masai style jumping up high in unision. Sometimes the women would face off and dance facing them.
Large pots of coffee and beer were slow cooked and available to anyone who wanted. Simon tasted the beer but was not impressed, especially by the old women (who prepare it) spitting into it! I had a nice chat with one of the tourist there, a french civil engineer working in Chat of all places. Taryn had a nice chat (through our guide) with a young, local girl who was quite fiesty. During my travels i have come across so many obviously intelligent girls and when i think of what is in store for them because of their culture i just wonder if perhaps somebody should come along and grant them the opportuntiy to have an education.
While I was there the father of the bull jumper sacrificed a goat and cooked and ate some of its liver in rememberance of a son that had died. There was also a ceremony where the bulljumper handed over various items to the man who would prepare for the next bull jump.
Around 6:30pm we finally made our way further up the hill to where the cattle had been take to. On the way the bull jumpers had to chase two cows across the hills (another tradition). At the top of the hill the elders selected and seperated 4 bulls while boys watched on from a tree and the women and men gathered in a semi circle around them. Some of the girls continued to get whipped, some seemingly desperate for it. Finally the moment we had come for arrived. The man have come back from his run and completely naked walked around the animals and then without much fuss lightly jumped up and across the backs of the animals that had been lined up. He did this 4 times and then it was over. We returned to our vehicles taking some lovely photos of the sun as it set of the land of hills and mountains.
After driving back and dropping our guide back in town we headed back to our campsite set amongst giant Mango trees. I got busy with the homework while Simon C prepared roasted veggies (potatoe, onions, garlic, seasoning, butternut, carrot and one or two other veggies) which was done in tinfoil on a nice big fire. With the veggies we had steak which Taryn cooked (she is very fussy about her steaks). It was another yummy and healthy meal.
After a very late shower (yeah, another shower!) i prayed and headed to bed (in my tent) where I continued my blog while listening to the very strange sounds of some unknown animals which I imagine were baboons or monkeys in the branches above
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