Ethiopia and the tribes of the Omo Valley
Jan 3rd, 2012, 06:01 PM
#1
Ethiopia and the tribes of the Omo Valley
I took a trip to the Omo Valley in Ethiopia to photograph the tribes in the Omo Valley. In 2009 I was on a photography workshop shooting black bears in Minnesota and met a guy from France there. He had a couple of external hard drives full of pictures from previous trips and some were from the Omo Valley. His images were incredible and I was totally blown away with what he saw and captured. When Sandy (divewop) emailed me about this trip - another photographer's scouting trip with a limit of 3 people and a reasonable price - I just had to go.
This trip report is the same one I posted on another website and I just copied it for here.
I left home Sept 15th and arrived back home October 9th. I flew from home to Dulles and spent the night there to catch an early morning flight on Ethiopian Airlines. I couldn't find many reviews about this airline so I had a little apprehension but all for nothing. The airline staff was friendly and nice, the airplane was clean, on time and no complaints. Except the food. Airline food is always pretty sketchy but flying from Ethiopia it wasn't good at all.
The carry on limit is 15 lbs and I had 75 lbs (plus 40 lbs checked). When I bought the ticket I emailed Ethiopian Airlines and asked them what I could do to make sure I could carry on my photography gear because their website said not to put cameras or expensive items in checked luggage. They replied and said they would do their best to accommodate me. I printed that email and showed it every time I had problems and was only really worried one time but it all worked out okay.
Anyway, I would fly Ethiopian Airlines again and now on with the trip. I flew from Dulles to Addis Ababa where I changed planes and flew on to Nairobi. I spent the night at the little hotel down the street from the Wilson Airport and Sandy met me there the next morning. We started the trip with 5 days in the Mara at Governor's Camp before the Ethiopia portion. Sandy and I went there together.
The trip leader for the Ethiopian portion of the trip, Piper, was on a workshop with Andy Biggs at Governors at the same time we were there so we were able to meet before the official trip began. And I finally met Andy after first "talking" to him on the internet almost a decade ago. Very nice guy, as you all know. He was very helpful when Sandy had camera and tripod problems and was able to get her tripod repaired in the machine shop there at Governors. Good on you, Andy. I wouldn't have even thought of that.
The Ethiopian part of the trip started with a 3:30 AM flight from Nairobi to Addis Ababa. Yes, 3:30 AM. Yes, it was a couple hundred dollars cheaper than the reasonable time flight. Yes, I was willing to get up at the time I’m usually going to bed to save a couple hundred dollars. At the Addis airport the first stop after customs was a toilet stop and the first intro to no toilet paper, a common theme in Ethiopia. I got my own roll and carried it everywhere.
At this airport you have to go thru a scanner when you leave the airport. They said they were looking for video equipment. I had no video equipment so no worries. We were met by our guide, Robel, who gathered us and our luggage and took us to the vehicles with our drivers for the next week or so. We drove to a hotel where we met our 4th traveling companion, Vaughn, and had breakfast. One more trip to the toilet (with TP) and we were on our way.
I quickly learned that you cannot drive in Ethiopia without your car horn. There were plenty of cars and people everywhere in Addis. Any signal lights or stop signs were ignored and you just honked your way along . Vehicles have the right of way over pedestrians so you honk your horn when you approach other cars or people, especially people walking in the direction you were driving that couldn’t see you coming. And you honk a lot. This would be for the whole trip.
We made a couple of stops in Addis looking for a place to pick up a bottle of bourbon and amarula. Once we finally found some it was $60-65 US dollars so we decided we would stick to beer and wine. But we did run across a very nice little grocery store and a pastry store. Vaughn indulged in a pastry and I got chastised in the grocery store for taking photos (it was such a neat, cute store!). We didn’t pick up beer or wine in Addis because “it will be available everywhere on the trip”.
The first 3 days are driving days. You might think we went a long way since we drove for 3 days but you would be mistaken. The roads are dirt/gravel and the cows and goats have the right of way. If the map I looked at was correct we traveled about 400 miles over the 3 days and we went from early morning to late afternoon/dusk every day. We honked our way along and made a few quick stops for photos but it was just slow driving.
We stayed in hotels on the travel days but we were on the non-tourist west side of the Omo River. The first hotel was on the nicer side (for a developing country) but the second left a bit (lot!) to be desired. The shower didn’t work at all in 2 of the rooms, 1 room didn’t have hot water and the 4th room did but it ran out when the first person was half finished showering. They did have flush toilets with TP, dirty sheets, doors that barely locked, windows that didn’t shut and they did have mosquito netting for the bed. The beer was cold and the food was good.
The 3rd night we arrived at our first village where we camped. We were quickly surrounded by children as we would be everywhere we went. Robel was pretty good about making sure we weren’t too mobbed and shooed the kids away after the initial meet and greet.
We met with the chief of the tribe and our trip leader, Piper, made financial arrangements to photo some of the people. I’m told that regular tourists pay 1 or 2 birr per click of the camera. We aren’t as good a photographers as they are and it takes us many clicks to get an image we are happy with so we made an arrangement for group rates. Usually it was 10 birr per photographer per subject (I’ll refer to them as models to make it easier). So if all 4 of us photographed one model, that model received 40 birr. This arrangement worked well for the first couple of tribes but towards the end of the trip the same arrangements were made but the models wanted more money. Each of us would choose our model and take photos and pay. Sometimes the model would then want to argue. Sometimes I would keep the money and just walk away and later the model would approach me with their hand out and accept the same amount I offered in the first place. Sometimes the model would follow me around (cussing me out, probably) and then I would call for our guide, Robel, or the translator. We picked up a translator/guide before we went into any village so any problems could be worked out. Sometimes some of us would leave in one vehicle and leave the guides there still arguing with the tribes people. (lots of sometimes in there. sorry!)
This trip report is the same one I posted on another website and I just copied it for here.
I left home Sept 15th and arrived back home October 9th. I flew from home to Dulles and spent the night there to catch an early morning flight on Ethiopian Airlines. I couldn't find many reviews about this airline so I had a little apprehension but all for nothing. The airline staff was friendly and nice, the airplane was clean, on time and no complaints. Except the food. Airline food is always pretty sketchy but flying from Ethiopia it wasn't good at all.
The carry on limit is 15 lbs and I had 75 lbs (plus 40 lbs checked). When I bought the ticket I emailed Ethiopian Airlines and asked them what I could do to make sure I could carry on my photography gear because their website said not to put cameras or expensive items in checked luggage. They replied and said they would do their best to accommodate me. I printed that email and showed it every time I had problems and was only really worried one time but it all worked out okay.
Anyway, I would fly Ethiopian Airlines again and now on with the trip. I flew from Dulles to Addis Ababa where I changed planes and flew on to Nairobi. I spent the night at the little hotel down the street from the Wilson Airport and Sandy met me there the next morning. We started the trip with 5 days in the Mara at Governor's Camp before the Ethiopia portion. Sandy and I went there together.
The trip leader for the Ethiopian portion of the trip, Piper, was on a workshop with Andy Biggs at Governors at the same time we were there so we were able to meet before the official trip began. And I finally met Andy after first "talking" to him on the internet almost a decade ago. Very nice guy, as you all know. He was very helpful when Sandy had camera and tripod problems and was able to get her tripod repaired in the machine shop there at Governors. Good on you, Andy. I wouldn't have even thought of that.
The Ethiopian part of the trip started with a 3:30 AM flight from Nairobi to Addis Ababa. Yes, 3:30 AM. Yes, it was a couple hundred dollars cheaper than the reasonable time flight. Yes, I was willing to get up at the time I’m usually going to bed to save a couple hundred dollars. At the Addis airport the first stop after customs was a toilet stop and the first intro to no toilet paper, a common theme in Ethiopia. I got my own roll and carried it everywhere.
At this airport you have to go thru a scanner when you leave the airport. They said they were looking for video equipment. I had no video equipment so no worries. We were met by our guide, Robel, who gathered us and our luggage and took us to the vehicles with our drivers for the next week or so. We drove to a hotel where we met our 4th traveling companion, Vaughn, and had breakfast. One more trip to the toilet (with TP) and we were on our way.
I quickly learned that you cannot drive in Ethiopia without your car horn. There were plenty of cars and people everywhere in Addis. Any signal lights or stop signs were ignored and you just honked your way along . Vehicles have the right of way over pedestrians so you honk your horn when you approach other cars or people, especially people walking in the direction you were driving that couldn’t see you coming. And you honk a lot. This would be for the whole trip.
We made a couple of stops in Addis looking for a place to pick up a bottle of bourbon and amarula. Once we finally found some it was $60-65 US dollars so we decided we would stick to beer and wine. But we did run across a very nice little grocery store and a pastry store. Vaughn indulged in a pastry and I got chastised in the grocery store for taking photos (it was such a neat, cute store!). We didn’t pick up beer or wine in Addis because “it will be available everywhere on the trip”.
The first 3 days are driving days. You might think we went a long way since we drove for 3 days but you would be mistaken. The roads are dirt/gravel and the cows and goats have the right of way. If the map I looked at was correct we traveled about 400 miles over the 3 days and we went from early morning to late afternoon/dusk every day. We honked our way along and made a few quick stops for photos but it was just slow driving.
We stayed in hotels on the travel days but we were on the non-tourist west side of the Omo River. The first hotel was on the nicer side (for a developing country) but the second left a bit (lot!) to be desired. The shower didn’t work at all in 2 of the rooms, 1 room didn’t have hot water and the 4th room did but it ran out when the first person was half finished showering. They did have flush toilets with TP, dirty sheets, doors that barely locked, windows that didn’t shut and they did have mosquito netting for the bed. The beer was cold and the food was good.
The 3rd night we arrived at our first village where we camped. We were quickly surrounded by children as we would be everywhere we went. Robel was pretty good about making sure we weren’t too mobbed and shooed the kids away after the initial meet and greet.
We met with the chief of the tribe and our trip leader, Piper, made financial arrangements to photo some of the people. I’m told that regular tourists pay 1 or 2 birr per click of the camera. We aren’t as good a photographers as they are and it takes us many clicks to get an image we are happy with
so we made an arrangement for group rates. Usually it was 10 birr per photographer per subject (I’ll refer to them as models to make it easier). So if all 4 of us photographed one model, that model received 40 birr. This arrangement worked well for the first couple of tribes but towards the end of the trip the same arrangements were made but the models wanted more money. Each of us would choose our model and take photos and pay. Sometimes the model would then want to argue. Sometimes I would keep the money and just walk away and later the model would approach me with their hand out and accept the same amount I offered in the first place. Sometimes the model would follow me around (cussing me out, probably) and then I would call for our guide, Robel, or the translator. We picked up a translator/guide before we went into any village so any problems could be worked out. Sometimes some of us would leave in one vehicle and leave the guides there still arguing with the tribes people. (lots of sometimes in there. sorry!)
Jan 3rd, 2012, 06:08 PM
#2
That’s pretty much how the trip went. We camped near the tribes and we each had our own little tent. The guides put up a toilet tent and a shower tent. We stayed in each spot 2 or 3 nights and photographed people in local villages.
On the first side (west side) of the Omo, once we were about a day out of Addis, it seemed that most people only wore the traditional clothes and no western clothes. No one spoke English on the west side (that we knew of). The Ethiopian government does provide school for the children and we saw schools in quite a few of the larger villages and small towns (and some health clinics). Once we crossed the river there were some kids that could speak English.
We would usually leave our camp between 5:30 and 6:30 am, depending on how close we were, and would stop on the side of the road somewhere and honk (of course we honked!) and a sleepy guide/translator would come out and hop in the car to ride with us to the tribe. We would take photos while the light was good and then head back to camp for lunch, downloading etc. Mid afternoon we would head back to the village to be ready for the good afternoon light.
Oh yeah, remember the beer we could buy all along the way? There isn’t any to buy. REALLY? And who planned this trip without verifying the beer situation? I have probably had maybe 10 beers in my life at home but on trips it just seems like beer tastes better so it was a real disappointment to not have any. I guess I shouldn’t say we didn’t have any because we were able to buy some in one village. But the seller didn’t want us taking them with us. He said we had to drink them there because he had to have the bottles. If he didn’t return the bottles to his supplier then he couldn’t buy more beer to sell. He made a big concession and let Robel take the beer to our camp with a promise to return the bottles in a day or two. So we did have warm beer in that camp.
Something I haven’t mentioned yet is we had no refrigeration (hence, hot beer). Solomon only cooked food that didn’t require any refrigeration. Almost every meal included a fresh tomato/onion/garlic/hot pepper salad. (It was good every time.) We were served a soup first course for nearly every dinner. Several lunches were pasta, the tomato salad and canned tuna. Or sardines. It was totally fine. Another dish he made was a potato and beet salad. He would cook them separately and then stir together with onions, etc. Any meat was freshly killed (chicken, goat). For breakfast he usually made scrambled eggs with tomatoes, onions and hot peppers. And fresh bread. There was fresh bread with every meal that they picked up from a store somewhere or a village. Not sure.
Oh, on the mornings we left camp early in the morning Solomon made us egg sandwiches and thermoses of hot water for coffee and tea. What a great guy. He cooked everything on 2 propane burners. Oh, and he made pizza! We were staying in a hotel and the guys were staying in a camp site a few minutes away. We went over there for lunch under the dozens of shade trees. It was so nice and cool and he served pizza! It was so good. The next day Robel told Solomon to make pizza again. Solomon said he couldn’t make pizza two days in a row and Robel said he thought we would really like it and we did. Pizza with tomato sauce and tuna. Yum!
One pleasant surprise was the Hamer tribe was having a celebration the day we visited. We went in the early morning and stopped at several villages and they were mostly empty. We were told the people were practicing for the dancing that afternoon and we found where they were and watched and visited with them for awhile. We went back in the afternoon for the celebration and there were dozens and dozens of other tourists there also.
The celebration was for a coming of age ceremony for one of the men. We nicknamed him Birthday Boy. After this ceremony he can marry, own cattle and have children. The more well know bull jumping ceremony takes place 21 days after this day and Birthday Boy gave Robel (our guide) a piece of long grass with the 21 knots in it to signify each day until the bull jumping takes place. Robel is supposed to break off a knot per day so he knows when to be there.
One part of the ceremony that was strange to me was whipping the female relatives of the Birthday Boy. The whipper is a friend of Birthday Boy and the women gather around the whipper and try to attract his attention so he will whip them on their back. I read that this whipping is to create a strong debt between the Birthday boy and his sisters and that if they need help in the future he will help them because of the pain they went through during the ceremony. There were a few bloody backs that afternoon. You could also see many healed scars from prior whippings. I forgot to mention that the women are blowing horns during this whipping ceremony and it's pretty loud with that and the jingling of the bells.
There was also lots of dancing by the men in a large circle. And part of the time young women went inside the circle and danced, too. I don’t know the significance of that. I never saw any of the tribe eating but the women were making beer and the men were drinking beer. They started getting a little tipsy in the late afternoon.
We stayed in Jima and Mizan on the way down and we photographed the Sheka, a couple of the Surma tribes and then we camped on the banks of the Omo River. The next morning we got up early, packed up camp and got ready to cross the river. We would be leaving our two drivers and cars there and they were returning to Addis. Once we crossed the river with all of our stuff, camping gear, Solomon and Robel we would be picked up by two new drivers and cars.
There aren’t any bridges so we would be taken across in a small aluminum boat. We could see a motor boat across the river but the tribesmen told us the motor didn’t work. Then they said it sometimes works but it may quit halfway across the river and then we would be in trouble so the only way was in the aluminum boat and being poled across. There were two tribesmen and they poled along the shore upstream far enough that they could ride the current and pole across the river. Our luggage (probably 100+ lbs per person – my camera gear was 75 lbs and my suitcase was 40 lbs) and all four of us went in one trip. The guys seemed to be working much harder with all that weight in the boat but we made it.
Another trip was made to bring over the camping stuff and Robel and Solomon. We got there around 8 am. Our new guides weren’t there. They weren’t there at 9 am either. Or 10 am. Worried much? Ok. Yes, I was. Robel wasn’t but it’s his job to make us comfortable so I’m sure he was faking not being worried. Finally, 11 am our ride showed up. We were on our way again. Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you that the motorboat that doesn’t work? At about 9:30 or 10:00, a guy showed up on the other side of the river. The guys that had poled us across in the aluminum boat jumped in the power boat, started it up, drove it across the river, loaded that guy up and drove him to our side. I thought the motor didn’t work. What’s up with that?
On the first side (west side) of the Omo, once we were about a day out of Addis, it seemed that most people only wore the traditional clothes and no western clothes. No one spoke English on the west side (that we knew of). The Ethiopian government does provide school for the children and we saw schools in quite a few of the larger villages and small towns (and some health clinics). Once we crossed the river there were some kids that could speak English.
We would usually leave our camp between 5:30 and 6:30 am, depending on how close we were, and would stop on the side of the road somewhere and honk (of course we honked!) and a sleepy guide/translator would come out and hop in the car to ride with us to the tribe. We would take photos while the light was good and then head back to camp for lunch, downloading etc. Mid afternoon we would head back to the village to be ready for the good afternoon light.
Oh yeah, remember the beer we could buy all along the way? There isn’t any to buy. REALLY? And who planned this trip without verifying the beer situation? I have probably had maybe 10 beers in my life at home but on trips it just seems like beer tastes better so it was a real disappointment to not have any. I guess I shouldn’t say we didn’t have any because we were able to buy some in one village. But the seller didn’t want us taking them with us. He said we had to drink them there because he had to have the bottles. If he didn’t return the bottles to his supplier then he couldn’t buy more beer to sell. He made a big concession and let Robel take the beer to our camp with a promise to return the bottles in a day or two. So we did have warm beer in that camp.
Something I haven’t mentioned yet is we had no refrigeration (hence, hot beer). Solomon only cooked food that didn’t require any refrigeration. Almost every meal included a fresh tomato/onion/garlic/hot pepper salad. (It was good every time.) We were served a soup first course for nearly every dinner. Several lunches were pasta, the tomato salad and canned tuna. Or sardines. It was totally fine. Another dish he made was a potato and beet salad. He would cook them separately and then stir together with onions, etc. Any meat was freshly killed (chicken, goat). For breakfast he usually made scrambled eggs with tomatoes, onions and hot peppers. And fresh bread. There was fresh bread with every meal that they picked up from a store somewhere or a village. Not sure.
Oh, on the mornings we left camp early in the morning Solomon made us egg sandwiches and thermoses of hot water for coffee and tea. What a great guy. He cooked everything on 2 propane burners. Oh, and he made pizza! We were staying in a hotel and the guys were staying in a camp site a few minutes away. We went over there for lunch under the dozens of shade trees. It was so nice and cool and he served pizza! It was so good. The next day Robel told Solomon to make pizza again. Solomon said he couldn’t make pizza two days in a row and Robel said he thought we would really like it and we did. Pizza with tomato sauce and tuna. Yum!
One pleasant surprise was the Hamer tribe was having a celebration the day we visited. We went in the early morning and stopped at several villages and they were mostly empty. We were told the people were practicing for the dancing that afternoon and we found where they were and watched and visited with them for awhile. We went back in the afternoon for the celebration and there were dozens and dozens of other tourists there also.
The celebration was for a coming of age ceremony for one of the men. We nicknamed him Birthday Boy. After this ceremony he can marry, own cattle and have children. The more well know bull jumping ceremony takes place 21 days after this day and Birthday Boy gave Robel (our guide) a piece of long grass with the 21 knots in it to signify each day until the bull jumping takes place. Robel is supposed to break off a knot per day so he knows when to be there.
One part of the ceremony that was strange to me was whipping the female relatives of the Birthday Boy. The whipper is a friend of Birthday Boy and the women gather around the whipper and try to attract his attention so he will whip them on their back. I read that this whipping is to create a strong debt between the Birthday boy and his sisters and that if they need help in the future he will help them because of the pain they went through during the ceremony. There were a few bloody backs that afternoon. You could also see many healed scars from prior whippings. I forgot to mention that the women are blowing horns during this whipping ceremony and it's pretty loud with that and the jingling of the bells.
There was also lots of dancing by the men in a large circle. And part of the time young women went inside the circle and danced, too. I don’t know the significance of that. I never saw any of the tribe eating but the women were making beer and the men were drinking beer. They started getting a little tipsy in the late afternoon.
We stayed in Jima and Mizan on the way down and we photographed the Sheka, a couple of the Surma tribes and then we camped on the banks of the Omo River. The next morning we got up early, packed up camp and got ready to cross the river. We would be leaving our two drivers and cars there and they were returning to Addis. Once we crossed the river with all of our stuff, camping gear, Solomon and Robel we would be picked up by two new drivers and cars.
There aren’t any bridges so we would be taken across in a small aluminum boat. We could see a motor boat across the river but the tribesmen told us the motor didn’t work. Then they said it sometimes works but it may quit halfway across the river and then we would be in trouble so the only way was in the aluminum boat and being poled across. There were two tribesmen and they poled along the shore upstream far enough that they could ride the current and pole across the river. Our luggage (probably 100+ lbs per person – my camera gear was 75 lbs and my suitcase was 40 lbs) and all four of us went in one trip. The guys seemed to be working much harder with all that weight in the boat but we made it.
Another trip was made to bring over the camping stuff and Robel and Solomon. We got there around 8 am. Our new guides weren’t there. They weren’t there at 9 am either. Or 10 am. Worried much? Ok. Yes, I was. Robel wasn’t but it’s his job to make us comfortable so I’m sure he was faking not being worried. Finally, 11 am our ride showed up. We were on our way again. Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you that the motorboat that doesn’t work? At about 9:30 or 10:00, a guy showed up on the other side of the river. The guys that had poled us across in the aluminum boat jumped in the power boat, started it up, drove it across the river, loaded that guy up and drove him to our side. I thought the motor didn’t work. What’s up with that?
Jan 3rd, 2012, 06:37 PM
#3
Sorry this is so long but I couldn't decide what to delete! It's better when you can add pictures where they belong.
Here are some of the photos. I'm still adding titles to them so you know what they are and they are pretty much in the order taken. Most of the people shots (other than the tribes) were grab shots out the car window or from a tuktuk.
http://cindywheelerphotography.com/p459206764
Here are some of the photos. I'm still adding titles to them so you know what they are and they are pretty much in the order taken. Most of the people shots (other than the tribes) were grab shots out the car window or from a tuktuk.
http://cindywheelerphotography.com/p459206764
Jan 3rd, 2012, 06:41 PM
#4
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 2,138
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
A fantastic report. I remember you discussing the trip before you set out. Can't wait for more.
An article was published on this region in a recent Conde Nast/Travel & Leisure issue. Did you see it?
Oh and I kinda like the system that what set up to pay the models in that the fee is agreed upon ahead of time. Very civilised.
I'm probably about ten years from making this trip myself, waiting for the installation of a few more creature comforts!
An article was published on this region in a recent Conde Nast/Travel & Leisure issue. Did you see it?
Oh and I kinda like the system that what set up to pay the models in that the fee is agreed upon ahead of time. Very civilised.
I'm probably about ten years from making this trip myself, waiting for the installation of a few more creature comforts!
Jan 3rd, 2012, 06:47 PM
#6
No, Femi, I didn't see the Conde Nast article. Creature comforts? This was definitely not a Conde Nast type trip. The east side of the Omo is a little more civilized. The lodging and food was much, much nicer. The rest stop toilets? Not so much.
Jan 4th, 2012, 03:34 AM
#7
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 371
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
sundowner, I'm so glad you posted all the details from your adventure as we are leaving in a week for Ethiopia. It's a birding/mammal tour, so we won't be visiting the Omo Valley but rather keeping to the central and northern areas. Hopefully the accommodations will be a little better than what you found.
Did you get your visa at the Bale airport in Addis Ababa? If so, was it pretty much hassle free and quick?
Thanks for the tip re: toilet paper...I'll put a roll in my backpack before we get on the plane and keep one there during the tour.
And thanks for the info re: food quality on Ethiopian Airlines...same airline we'll be taking to Ethiopia and then onward to Mumbai. Sounds like we'll be buzzing through our Kind Bars! Hmmm, maybe we'll buy a sandwich or two at IAD to bring onboard.
I wholeheartedly agree with Femi...don't delete anything!
Did you get your visa at the Bale airport in Addis Ababa? If so, was it pretty much hassle free and quick?
Thanks for the tip re: toilet paper...I'll put a roll in my backpack before we get on the plane and keep one there during the tour.
And thanks for the info re: food quality on Ethiopian Airlines...same airline we'll be taking to Ethiopia and then onward to Mumbai. Sounds like we'll be buzzing through our Kind Bars! Hmmm, maybe we'll buy a sandwich or two at IAD to bring onboard.
I wholeheartedly agree with Femi...don't delete anything!
Jan 4th, 2012, 06:47 AM
#8
ovenbird, have a great trip! I'm sure it will be awesome. We
didn't see much wildlife but did see my favorite bird, the ground hornbill, and several others birds and a couple of mammals.
Yes, we did get our visa in Addis and it wasn't much trouble. About the same as Nairobi if you've ever been there.
I think the plane was the cleanest at the end of the trip than any other long flight I've been on. Just get to the airport early. Everyone is allowed 2 checked bags (no charge) and it seemed to take forever to get checked in.
didn't see much wildlife but did see my favorite bird, the ground hornbill, and several others birds and a couple of mammals.
Yes, we did get our visa in Addis and it wasn't much trouble. About the same as Nairobi if you've ever been there.
I think the plane was the cleanest at the end of the trip than any other long flight I've been on. Just get to the airport early. Everyone is allowed 2 checked bags (no charge) and it seemed to take forever to get checked in.
Jan 4th, 2012, 10:32 AM
#9
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 371
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks for the helpful info.
Glad to hear the visa process is similar to the one in Nairobi, and not much trouble. Were you able to pay for the visa in US dollars?
We're probably taking the same flight as you did, ET501 leaving IAD at 11:00am. Do you think 3hrs will be enough time to check in or should we allow more?
Ground Hornbills are cool looking birds...they have such big eyes and long eyelashes (my favorite photo from South Africa http://www.pbase.com/deseml/image/136006186). We were so close to this bird we were able to hear it booming...very cool!
Glad to hear the visa process is similar to the one in Nairobi, and not much trouble. Were you able to pay for the visa in US dollars?
We're probably taking the same flight as you did, ET501 leaving IAD at 11:00am. Do you think 3hrs will be enough time to check in or should we allow more?
Ground Hornbills are cool looking birds...they have such big eyes and long eyelashes (my favorite photo from South Africa http://www.pbase.com/deseml/image/136006186). We were so close to this bird we were able to hear it booming...very cool!
Jan 4th, 2012, 12:46 PM
#10
Ovenbird, 3 hrs was more than enough at IAD. I think there were a dozen people checking in that early (including me!). It's returning home from Addis that seemed to take forever in a very long line but I was late getting to the airport and arrived probably 1.5 hours before flight time. When I made it to the gate there were only a handful of people that hadn't boarded yet.
Great hornbill shot! I think I can count the eyelashes!
I'll post the rest of the report shortly. I have to reword some of it and can't copy and paste.
Great hornbill shot! I think I can count the eyelashes!
I'll post the rest of the report shortly. I have to reword some of it and can't copy and paste.
Jan 4th, 2012, 01:42 PM
#12
While we waited on our ride after crossing the river, a couple of us went up the steep hill to visit the families (maybe 2 or 3) that live there. The women were doing their chores so I grabbed a couple of pics and also of the river. While I was taking pictures of the women grinding the corn I walked behind them to take a picture from a different angle. I don't know what picture they thought I was taking but they told me "no". I showed them the picture on the back of my camera and then they said it was okay. Here's that pic http://cindywheelerphotography.com/p...82e6#h228782e6 I guess they thought I was taking a picture of their backside and didn't want that.
I know I’m not telling all of the tribes we saw and/or telling them out of order. We stayed at Buska Lodge (Busca is a mountain range) and it was very nice. The rooms were lovely, the bathrooms large and everything worked, the grounds were landscaped, they had laundry service, a nice restaurant with a nightly buffet. The restaurant and bar were open air and very clean. We stayed at this lodge a couple of days and visited the Hamer tribe from here.
Another long drive and next up is the Kara tribe. We split up camping here. Two of the four of us wanted to camp at the tribe’s village which was in a beautiful location on a high river bank with a beautiful view but no trees, no shade, no toilets, no showers, no privacy. The other option for camping (that two of us chose - Sandy and me) was on the grounds of a hunting camp (we were the only ones there – no hunters) and it was completely shaded, had a big pavilion overlooking the river, flush toilets (byotp – bring your own toilet paper) and hot showers. (It was all very basic, dirty, primitive but it was there.) The cook chose to stay where we were because he had access to running water there. Solomon cooked the meals and our driver, Engdu, took the meals to the village for Piper and Vaughn. They would come to our camp for lunch, charging batteries with the generator, etc and then go back for the afternoon. I can't remember if I've mentioned that it was pretty hot most of this trip and the shade trees were most welcome.
I was feeling sick for the couple of days that we were here and I just stayed in camp and didn’t visit the tribe at all. There were chairs and couches with cushions here and I just rested and ended up feeling better. So no pictures . Well, there is one. We saw colobus monkeys – 7, I think, a couple of monitor lizards, pretty birds.
After another driving day we spent the night in Yabello in one of the nicest hotels we stayed in. There was even TV here in the rooms and restaurant. This was where we learned that Steve Jobs had passed away. We got up early the next morning (5:30) to drive to one of the singing wells in the area. I’m tired of writing and thinking so I’m stealing this from another website. “The Borena are a semi-nomadic tribe, related to the northern Oromo. They are especially famous for their expertise in surviving in a dry area by building and running what is described as “singing wells.” From these big water holes- up to 50 m deep- they carry the water to the surface by using a human ladder passing the filled buckets up from one to another. To keep the working rhythm and the motivation they sing during their work.”
It had rained a great deal before we got there so they didn’t really need to get water from the well for the cattle but they did it for us for a fee. After they finished we paid a separate fee to photograph the women up close. It was 7:30 am and a couple of men were drunk. Still drunk or drunk already? Not sure.
I know I’m not telling all of the tribes we saw and/or telling them out of order. We stayed at Buska Lodge (Busca is a mountain range) and it was very nice. The rooms were lovely, the bathrooms large and everything worked, the grounds were landscaped, they had laundry service, a nice restaurant with a nightly buffet. The restaurant and bar were open air and very clean. We stayed at this lodge a couple of days and visited the Hamer tribe from here.
Another long drive and next up is the Kara tribe. We split up camping here. Two of the four of us wanted to camp at the tribe’s village which was in a beautiful location on a high river bank with a beautiful view but no trees, no shade, no toilets, no showers, no privacy. The other option for camping (that two of us chose - Sandy and me) was on the grounds of a hunting camp (we were the only ones there – no hunters) and it was completely shaded, had a big pavilion overlooking the river, flush toilets (byotp – bring your own toilet paper) and hot showers. (It was all very basic, dirty, primitive but it was there.) The cook chose to stay where we were because he had access to running water there. Solomon cooked the meals and our driver, Engdu, took the meals to the village for Piper and Vaughn. They would come to our camp for lunch, charging batteries with the generator, etc and then go back for the afternoon. I can't remember if I've mentioned that it was pretty hot most of this trip and the shade trees were most welcome.
I was feeling sick for the couple of days that we were here and I just stayed in camp and didn’t visit the tribe at all. There were chairs and couches with cushions here and I just rested and ended up feeling better. So no pictures . Well, there is one. We saw colobus monkeys – 7, I think, a couple of monitor lizards, pretty birds.
After another driving day we spent the night in Yabello in one of the nicest hotels we stayed in. There was even TV here in the rooms and restaurant. This was where we learned that Steve Jobs had passed away. We got up early the next morning (5:30) to drive to one of the singing wells in the area. I’m tired of writing and thinking so I’m stealing this from another website. “The Borena are a semi-nomadic tribe, related to the northern Oromo. They are especially famous for their expertise in surviving in a dry area by building and running what is described as “singing wells.” From these big water holes- up to 50 m deep- they carry the water to the surface by using a human ladder passing the filled buckets up from one to another. To keep the working rhythm and the motivation they sing during their work.”
It had rained a great deal before we got there so they didn’t really need to get water from the well for the cattle but they did it for us for a fee. After they finished we paid a separate fee to photograph the women up close. It was 7:30 am and a couple of men were drunk. Still drunk or drunk already? Not sure.
Jan 4th, 2012, 02:04 PM
#13
The final hotel was in Yirgalem, the Aregash Lodge. It was the best. The BEST. If you ever find yourself in the area, stay there.
That’s it. We got back in Addis around 4pm on Oct 8th and had a day room at the same hotel we had breakfast in at the beginning of the trip. Showered, used wifi in the hotel lobby, and went to the airport. Something unusual there. They searched people driving into the airport parking lot. There weren’t any women searchers so I didn’t have to get out of the car but every male had to get out and get patted down. And the carryon nazi at the airport almost didn’t let me carry on my camera gear. I had to go back to the guy at the counter twice before he could convince the carryon guy to let me through. I didn’t have any problems with Ethiopian Airlines that I had read about in reviews. The staff and the flight attendants were all very pleasant and helpful. I would use that airline again.
Some random thoughts:
They all wanted razor blades. Most of the tribes had shaved heads. Even the little kids and babies. And the kids wanted caramela (candy). I tried one and it was pretty good and not too sweet like most hard candies at home.
None of the tribes people had any body odor. We may have. We missed showers a couple of nights in a row when we were camping.
Most of the villages were very clean. One area was very dirty and our driver said “These people are lazy.They only drink beer and chew chat”. We teased each other about chewing chat but none of us ever did. Here is a link that describes chat and it’s effect. http://biopsychiatry...e/qat-khat.html
Some of the tribes routinely remove teeth even without lip plates. One of the guides told me that if a baby's top teeth come in before the bottom teeth they pull out the top ones.
Everyone looked healthy. The people, the cows, goats and dogs. The horses and donkeys, not so much. They use horses and donkeys as tools and don’t seem to care much for their well being.
Need a fence? Just grow one. I saw many plant fences.
It was very hot and it wasn’t even the hot season. It did get cool the second to the last day.
The country is very beautiful with a variety of landscapes. Some areas could have been a tropical island, other areas were pretty barren, some areas were flat but we were in a lot of mountains (7000’ +), lots of red dirt. In one spot we saw where the red dirt ended and the brown dirt began. It was a line of color stopping/starting. Many areas reminded me of Rwanda. We saw some amazing storm clouds more than once but we were only rained on once (when we were checking into a hotel).
Ethiopia is a land of feet, not wheels. Once we were a half day or a day outside of Addis we may have seen half a dozen passenger cars per day. We did see more trucks because China is building roads there. There are many articles on the web about China building the roads. One article I read the last sentence of the article is “The cash is a loan, he says, touching on a delicate issue most in Ethiopia's government would prefer he left alone: "It will be repaid when the Chinese find oil in the south of Ethiopia." People walked everywhere. Everywhere. We probably didn’t drive two or three miles without seeing someone on the side of the road. We would be in the middle of nowhere and someone would materialize out of the bush. And stopping for “comfort stops” on the side of the road you might be surprised by someone walking up. One of the villages took probably 15 minutes to drive to from town (slow driving of course) and we would see village people walking to and from town every time we drove that road. Walk, walk, walk.
And speaking of roads, or lack of roads, they were pretty bad. In many places the roads were being worked on and there were roads that had been started (years ago) and never finished. To keep people from driving on the new, unfinished roads they had placed rocks all along them and you have to drive on dirt roads next to the tar roads.
The people we saw walking and carrying the huge loads of hay and firewood were always women. Older women. And they were usually bent over at the waist under the load. I don’t know why the women get that chore.
No one owns land in Ethiopia. The government owns it all and leases it out.
We drove through a huge park with very little wildlife. We saw some ground hornbills (Abyssinian), dik-diks, ostriches, and a few other things I can’t remember. Our driver had pictures of a pack of WILD DOGS he had taken in the park a couple of weeks before. The park looked like we were in Kenya. It was beautiful and looked like an animal paradise. Why weren’t there any animals? All hunted or poached? Don’t know. The hunting camp we stayed in mostly had kudu horns laying around. At one government place we stopped they had eland, nyala, waterbuck and kudu horns. The government also moved out some villages that were in the park area.
Our first afternoon in the first town we visited a street market in a tuk-tuk. Sensory overload for me.
When they have a fire going inside a hut it looks like it’s on fire.
Once you leave the city all houses are the mud huts. I was told the painted ones signify wealth of the family.
We were invited into a hut in one of the villages. My stomach was upset most mornings (malarone maybe?) and the smoke immediately had my stomach rolling so I didn’t go in but the others said it was huge inside. There were 20 or 30 people inside, the fire was going and it wasn’t smoky once you were inside, it had a loft and there were several kids up there. I missed out but my stomach was happy.
One of the early days of the trip was flag day and there were celebrations. (I think the Ethiopians celebrate a lot because there were also other celebrations while we were there.)
Teeth – some of the tribes had clean, beautiful teeth and I saw them with little twigs in their mouth that were chewed to look like a toothbrush. Other tribes had dirty teeth.
The main crops we saw growning near the villages was maize and sorghum. One village we were in had gardens right outside the huts but the other villages were bare inside the fences. We did see commercial maize and sorghum and cotton crops once we were closer to Addis at the end of the trip. And we were told there was a new sugar plantation in the southern area.
The little boys and boy babies are all naked. I never did see a girl naked, even baby girls. The girls all wore a loin cloth looking thing until they were older when they started wearing the traditional clothes. Maybe preteen age? Not sure.
I forgot to mention the people of the Mursi tribe and their lip plates. I read that the younger women are refusing to have them and I also read that some will continue to have them for the money they receive for photos.
We were told that the lower teeth are taken out for the lip plate and that the women only wear them for ceremonies, when serving food and beer to the men and special occasions (being paid for photos being one). And if their lip tears from being so stretched out they lose status.
There was a young girl in this tribe that was faking a lip plate. She used a piece of leather to fit in the groove of the lip plate and then held it up to her mouth with her teeth. I thought it was kind of funny that she wanted to be like the older women (like kids playing dress up and wearing their mom's high heel shoes) but then wondered if she was doing it to earn money by having her picture taken.
That’s it. We got back in Addis around 4pm on Oct 8th and had a day room at the same hotel we had breakfast in at the beginning of the trip. Showered, used wifi in the hotel lobby, and went to the airport. Something unusual there. They searched people driving into the airport parking lot. There weren’t any women searchers so I didn’t have to get out of the car but every male had to get out and get patted down. And the carryon nazi at the airport almost didn’t let me carry on my camera gear. I had to go back to the guy at the counter twice before he could convince the carryon guy to let me through. I didn’t have any problems with Ethiopian Airlines that I had read about in reviews. The staff and the flight attendants were all very pleasant and helpful. I would use that airline again.
Some random thoughts:
They all wanted razor blades. Most of the tribes had shaved heads. Even the little kids and babies. And the kids wanted caramela (candy). I tried one and it was pretty good and not too sweet like most hard candies at home.
None of the tribes people had any body odor. We may have. We missed showers a couple of nights in a row when we were camping.
Most of the villages were very clean. One area was very dirty and our driver said “These people are lazy.They only drink beer and chew chat”. We teased each other about chewing chat but none of us ever did. Here is a link that describes chat and it’s effect. http://biopsychiatry...e/qat-khat.html
Some of the tribes routinely remove teeth even without lip plates. One of the guides told me that if a baby's top teeth come in before the bottom teeth they pull out the top ones.
Everyone looked healthy. The people, the cows, goats and dogs. The horses and donkeys, not so much. They use horses and donkeys as tools and don’t seem to care much for their well being.
Need a fence? Just grow one. I saw many plant fences.
It was very hot and it wasn’t even the hot season. It did get cool the second to the last day.
The country is very beautiful with a variety of landscapes. Some areas could have been a tropical island, other areas were pretty barren, some areas were flat but we were in a lot of mountains (7000’ +), lots of red dirt. In one spot we saw where the red dirt ended and the brown dirt began. It was a line of color stopping/starting. Many areas reminded me of Rwanda. We saw some amazing storm clouds more than once but we were only rained on once (when we were checking into a hotel).
Ethiopia is a land of feet, not wheels. Once we were a half day or a day outside of Addis we may have seen half a dozen passenger cars per day. We did see more trucks because China is building roads there. There are many articles on the web about China building the roads. One article I read the last sentence of the article is “The cash is a loan, he says, touching on a delicate issue most in Ethiopia's government would prefer he left alone: "It will be repaid when the Chinese find oil in the south of Ethiopia." People walked everywhere. Everywhere. We probably didn’t drive two or three miles without seeing someone on the side of the road. We would be in the middle of nowhere and someone would materialize out of the bush. And stopping for “comfort stops” on the side of the road you might be surprised by someone walking up. One of the villages took probably 15 minutes to drive to from town (slow driving of course) and we would see village people walking to and from town every time we drove that road. Walk, walk, walk.
And speaking of roads, or lack of roads, they were pretty bad. In many places the roads were being worked on and there were roads that had been started (years ago) and never finished. To keep people from driving on the new, unfinished roads they had placed rocks all along them and you have to drive on dirt roads next to the tar roads.
The people we saw walking and carrying the huge loads of hay and firewood were always women. Older women. And they were usually bent over at the waist under the load. I don’t know why the women get that chore.
No one owns land in Ethiopia. The government owns it all and leases it out.
We drove through a huge park with very little wildlife. We saw some ground hornbills (Abyssinian), dik-diks, ostriches, and a few other things I can’t remember. Our driver had pictures of a pack of WILD DOGS he had taken in the park a couple of weeks before. The park looked like we were in Kenya. It was beautiful and looked like an animal paradise. Why weren’t there any animals? All hunted or poached? Don’t know. The hunting camp we stayed in mostly had kudu horns laying around. At one government place we stopped they had eland, nyala, waterbuck and kudu horns. The government also moved out some villages that were in the park area.
Our first afternoon in the first town we visited a street market in a tuk-tuk. Sensory overload for me.
When they have a fire going inside a hut it looks like it’s on fire.
Once you leave the city all houses are the mud huts. I was told the painted ones signify wealth of the family.
We were invited into a hut in one of the villages. My stomach was upset most mornings (malarone maybe?) and the smoke immediately had my stomach rolling so I didn’t go in but the others said it was huge inside. There were 20 or 30 people inside, the fire was going and it wasn’t smoky once you were inside, it had a loft and there were several kids up there. I missed out but my stomach was happy.
One of the early days of the trip was flag day and there were celebrations. (I think the Ethiopians celebrate a lot because there were also other celebrations while we were there.)
Teeth – some of the tribes had clean, beautiful teeth and I saw them with little twigs in their mouth that were chewed to look like a toothbrush. Other tribes had dirty teeth.
The main crops we saw growning near the villages was maize and sorghum. One village we were in had gardens right outside the huts but the other villages were bare inside the fences. We did see commercial maize and sorghum and cotton crops once we were closer to Addis at the end of the trip. And we were told there was a new sugar plantation in the southern area.
The little boys and boy babies are all naked. I never did see a girl naked, even baby girls. The girls all wore a loin cloth looking thing until they were older when they started wearing the traditional clothes. Maybe preteen age? Not sure.
I forgot to mention the people of the Mursi tribe and their lip plates. I read that the younger women are refusing to have them and I also read that some will continue to have them for the money they receive for photos.
We were told that the lower teeth are taken out for the lip plate and that the women only wear them for ceremonies, when serving food and beer to the men and special occasions (being paid for photos being one). And if their lip tears from being so stretched out they lose status.
There was a young girl in this tribe that was faking a lip plate. She used a piece of leather to fit in the groove of the lip plate and then held it up to her mouth with her teeth. I thought it was kind of funny that she wanted to be like the older women (like kids playing dress up and wearing their mom's high heel shoes) but then wondered if she was doing it to earn money by having her picture taken.
Jan 4th, 2012, 02:33 PM
#14
I don't think I mentioned the hair of the females in the Hamer tribe. They mix butterfat and ochre (clay) and put it in their hair to make the strands. It looks ceremonial, as does their clothing, but that's how they dress every day. If you looked at the pictures you saw that I took a picture of an older woman with the same hairstyle and clothing.
And the men of the Hamer tribe wore the skirts. Some of them were quite short (!) and I asked our trip leader what they wore under them to keep stuff from showing. She told me to watch them sit down and I should be able to see that they wear girls nylon panties. Ha! I forgot to watch but I'll take her word for it.
One thing I didn't take a picture of is what all of the men carried and used as a head rest or stool but they are 6 or 8" tall and a man sitting on one with a short skirt would definitely show his stuff or his panties.
Did I talk about the painted faces? Skip this if I did. We showed up and they were all dressed normally (wrapped in a blanket or kikoy like cloth). We asked them for pictures and they headed off into the bush to find greenery and flowers to make their hats and down to the river to use the crushed rocks (or whatever it was) to paint their faces. It was an amazing transformation and the kids were just beautiful. There were many more than what we took pictures of but there was only so much time with good light.
That's pretty much the story of the trip. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed my trip.
Cindy
And the men of the Hamer tribe wore the skirts. Some of them were quite short (!) and I asked our trip leader what they wore under them to keep stuff from showing. She told me to watch them sit down and I should be able to see that they wear girls nylon panties. Ha! I forgot to watch but I'll take her word for it.
One thing I didn't take a picture of is what all of the men carried and used as a head rest or stool but they are 6 or 8" tall and a man sitting on one with a short skirt would definitely show his stuff or his panties.
Did I talk about the painted faces? Skip this if I did. We showed up and they were all dressed normally (wrapped in a blanket or kikoy like cloth). We asked them for pictures and they headed off into the bush to find greenery and flowers to make their hats and down to the river to use the crushed rocks (or whatever it was) to paint their faces. It was an amazing transformation and the kids were just beautiful. There were many more than what we took pictures of but there was only so much time with good light.
That's pretty much the story of the trip. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed my trip.
Cindy
Jan 5th, 2012, 02:16 AM
#17
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 12,268
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Super nice report Cindy great detail pics brings back floods
of pleasant memories. Malarone.com is noted for nausea tummy rumbles I have been a Doxycyline fan for forty years cheaper
as a preventive by far few side effects for adults with long term use except for sun sensitivity.I do Malarone for short beachy stays only.
of pleasant memories. Malarone.com is noted for nausea tummy rumbles I have been a Doxycyline fan for forty years cheaper
as a preventive by far few side effects for adults with long term use except for sun sensitivity.I do Malarone for short beachy stays only.
Jan 6th, 2012, 09:12 AM
#20
Thank you, Bokhara2, landineen, qwovadis, ovenbird and barbrn!
Qwovadis, I've used doxycyclene before and the sun makes me feel like I am in a broiler oven. Very miserable. And this trip was hot and sunny.
Qwovadis, I've used doxycyclene before and the sun makes me feel like I am in a broiler oven. Very miserable. And this trip was hot and sunny.
