About an hour out of Arba Minch had to stop for a good 3 hours in a small town named Konso while Andu adjusted the overheating front brake (first 10am beer in a while!) Stopped again closer to Jinka for a drink and Jamie’s thermometer said it was 38C! Pulled into Jinka around dinner – was nice as we neared town because people stopped wanting stuff and just waved and smiled (nicest people we’d seen in a while). Jinka is a beautiful little town; incredibly lush and green… oddly it made me think of being back in Fort Langley as a child (in the most unrefined, African way imaginable). After settling in, went for dinner and headed out for drinks at the bar (as seems to be the case every night in Ethiopia).
The food here is fantastic. Everyone shares a single plate which consists of injera on the bottom (basically a big piece of spongey bread), with piles of (almost always) meat on top which everyone shares. It’s very common for people to actually feed each other; not only does it offend them if you don’t take it, but they always feed you twice for good luck! Was amusing watching Andu at a restaurant in Awasa walk over to a lady at a different table and feed her without ever having met her 🙂
Next morning drove into the Mago National Park where the Mursi tribe lives; park wasn’t anything too exciting (except being completely swarmed by deer flies for a good 1/2 hour… you don’t want to close the windows when it’s 35C out) – used to be elephants, giraffes, etc around but were killed off so now its just a muddy road through a mediocre forest. Got to one of the Mursi villages and was absolutely swarmed by some of the most aggressive people we’ve seen so far (wanting us to take their pics for 2 Birr each). They’re very decorated people: many have those big lip plates (which looks completely bizarre when the plate isn’t in) that they use for eating somehow (?), lots of body paint, jewelry, often carrying spears (or guns), and they’re the blackest people I’ver ever seen. They have the most filthiest smell imaginable; there were time where I had to try my hardest to not gag (I think my throat is closing up as I write this). The average Ethiopian uses 2.4L of water a day; these must be the people that bring that number down so low. After a good 20 minutes of being pushed and pulled around, got back in the truck to get out of there! At the end of the day no one was too happy about the experience (especially not the girls), but it was a pretty strange people to witness.
Back in town had a foosball tourney with Aski and Andu (followed by some table tennis). Here they call it “baby football” in English (Jotani in Ahmaric), and every little town we’ve seen has as many as dozens of tables throughout (always outdoor). Some of the table tennis players are incredible; I hope the league scouts are giving Africans a chance.
While playing table tennis ran into a few of the Mursis we had met earlier who had apparently spent the day’s earnings getting sauced at the bar. Too bad… but who am I to judge, I suppose.
My camera is broken and in the shop (probably not being fixed), so these are a few pics that Alissa took on her camera…
Landscape
Alissa with Mursi
Eski with Eddie
Mursi 2
Mursi 3
Mago park
Girl in Jinka