I have written two versions 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:
With Simon and ChuChu feeling better we went mapping, visiting various Mursi villages in the process. The Mursi people are famous for their women who cut their lower lip and stretch it a little bit of a time eventually accommodating a round clay plate. Over time the put bigger and bigger plates in, some maybe with 15cm diamater! We also managed to see various wildlife and visit a mission station working with the Mursi. In the late afternoon we left Margo Park, ascending a snaking road before arriving in the town of Jinka. There we visited the museum before heading to the Rocky Campsite where we camped for the night. I saw in the Ethiopian New Year with a few locals while working on my blog before heading to bed
Long Version:
I awoke late at 6:15am to the harsh bark of the monkeys in the surrounding trees. After getting out of bed half an hour later, we all got busy packing up. A rather large baboon watched us from a short distance away with great interest...or perhaps it was keeping an eye out for some morsel it could quickly grab when we were not looking. For the first time on the trip i did some exercise and it felt great! Afterwards i washed some clothes and then jumped in the nearby Margo river to clean and refresh. In the rush i skipped breakfast although the others had their usual standard coffee ( i really dont why people are so dependant on it in the mornings) and rusks. Chu Chu and Simon C were feeling a little better which was good news indeed! Chu-Chu appears to be a little bit of a hypochondric but we accommodated him, providing him with anti-malaria pills as he thought he might have malaria.
Having left camp we again visited Park HQ to try and obtain any useful information. Unfortuantely the gentleman that we need to talk to was not there but we did get to see a nice little display of giant bones and antelope horns. When it came time to pay the park and camping fees i asked Chu Chu to ask them why we had to pay for a guard that did not guard, but instead slept like the rest of us. After much verbal back and forth, with voices getting louder and stronger; it appeared that was just the way it was and we would just have to accept it. I was not happy, but this is not the first time I have experienced corruption. I felt bad for Chu-Chu, as being our guide he was caught between the two parties.
We headed on our way passing through savannah with rick, dark soil. Along the way we spotted a black bird with a white tuft on its head looking like some 80's punk rocker. A little later a kudu ran across the road and then couple of hundred meters late a little tortoise crossed...in tortoise time :) . I also had my first experience of a teste fly actually managing to get through my anti-mosquito shirt.Fortunately i got him in time not to get bitten. At 10:30am we came across a family of wharthogs playing around while white butterflys fluttered here and there around them. As we headed north, the Mago Mountains in the distance, the landscape filled with tall trees, weighed down with weaver nests. .
At a checkpoint we had to hire a guard to accompany us into the Mursi tribe area and we had our first glimpse of the Mursi people. They are most well known for their women who cut their lower lip and stretch it a little bit at a time, eventually accommodating a round clay plate. Over time they put bigger and bigger plates in, some maybe 15cm in diameter! The unfortunate side affect of this process is that many of the women constantly dribble as the plate is only put in on certain occassions. They also insert small clay plates into their ears! I read the cutting of lips may soon be dying out with younger women being exposed to other cultures and now questioning the need to do it.
Feeling peckish, I handed out ginger biscuits to the team as we left the checkpoint. Along the road there were cattle with huge horn, and big trees that looked like super-sized bonsai. Whereever we stopped in a seemingly uninhabited areas, children would come out of the bushes to ask for something. Near 12pm we stopped briefly at a village of about 8 huts under the shade of a huge treee afterwhic we continued on, driving up and down little hills, the weather cloudy and overcast. The bushes along the way were tall in a variety of autumn colours.
Because the locals and especially the children kept asking for money for photos, or did not want to be photographed we had Chu-Chu take them instead. He is a very good and keen photographer and with the locals focused on us Farangi's he was able to capture them in their natural state. This enabled us to get some really good photographs that would otherwise not have been possible.
Around 12pm we crossed a river with men bathing naked alongside. The men wear a simple loin-cloth which leaves little to the imagination and is the height of easy clothing. After crossing the river we entered the outskirts of another settlement which had a runway for the missionaries next to it. At the end of the runway that we were waypointing we noticed another jeep track. This led to a 2 hour wild goosechase in search of hotsprings that were appraently alongside the road. In the end we found nothing and the road turned out to be a ranger road only used by them and the missionary, but you win some and you lose some. On returning from the jeeptrack we went down a road that led us to the Missionary compound.
After taking a little lunch in the missionary compound set in a beautiful woody valley with green grass and a river (just like Standford) we headed back, waypointing a lovely school along the way. It was refreshing to be around locals who did not beg but unfortunately the missionary lady was not too happy with us being there as she understandably did not want the children asking for things.
At around 2pm when we stopped to waypoint a camping spot we received a strange request from the locals who wanted razor blades. We found out that they use them to cut patterns into the hair on the head and judding by their hairstyles they arequite creative! Further along we saw kids play fighting with stick much like the Zulu's. I was told that they use these sticks in a initiation ceremony called "Donga" which if they pass allows them to marry. The men also decorate themselves through the use of tatoo's. Not the kind u and i know but ones where they damage the skin to create a variety of affects such as raised dotted lines and patterns. It must be really painful especially considering that they do it on the chest and arms.
Around 4pm as we were leaving the path we took a wrong turning. Rather than turning around Simon C decided to reverse all the long way back and ended up reversing into a ditch. Fortunately it was a simple matter of going forward again but another valuable lesson was learnt! Africa maybe backwards but you drive it forwards!
As we left the park the road snaked steeply up, tracing its way through many hills. In the late afternoon we passed through the village of Aver where children again asked for pens and something new; t-shirts. The area was very diffrent from the Arid Omo Valley; instead reminding me of Zanzibar. I noticed that the cattle in the area had ropes tied around their horns; perhaps to tie them up at night. We also briefly stopped so Taryn and Deon could get there troublesome gas cansister holder tight.
Finally around 5:45pm we reach the town of Jinka. Having read up a little earlier i knew the highly rated museum was open till 6pm, so we drove up there straight away despite the other team not wanting to come along. The stone-built museum is set high up on a mountain providing fantastic views of the entire region. Good thing we did stop though as the following day it was closed for New Years. The museum was fascinating and well worth the visit; covering the people of the Omo Valley and all sorts of topics. The information was quite shocking and interesting at the same time. For example female circumcision and the beating of wives are an expected norm in the Omo Valley cultures. Other topics included beauty and adornments, the womens role in society, bride and marriage customs, games, initiation rituals and the relationship of co-wives amongst others. Also on display were weapons, tools, clothing, dug out canoes, animals and more! On the floor was the skin of a lion with the words somethings along the lines of "Lye on me" which Simon C promptly did, resting his head on a specially made Mursi sleeping head rest which doubles as a seat; ingenious!
Thanking the caretaker who had kept the museum open an extra half an hour for us, we made our way down the hill, waypointing a mosque along the way as the sun set. Finally at 7pm we made it to the Rocky Campsite where we spent the night. Its set on a terraced hill providing lots of tucked-away camping possibilities. Taryn took the previous days curry and through in more onions, tomatoes and meat and we had another hot curry at the rather late hour of 10:30pm. After everyone went to bed i carried on working on my blog, taking myself off to the reception where there was electricity. At midnight i informed the local guys there that it was New Years and after brief congratulations i headed for my tent after looking up to yet another beautiful night sky!
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