22/2/08

Tenayistillign to all you friends, family and other furry animals

Well we are currently in a small village called Jinka in the South Omo Valley in southern Ethiopia and HOLY SMOKES we’ve totally gone TRIBAL since, so far Ethiopia has blown us away with how interesting it is!

Man… Ethiopia is literally a HUGE country with the third highest population in Africa and by far, the most diverse mix of religions and ethnic groups in the whole of Africa…

…But the Southern part… which is called the South Omo Valley, since it lies in the lowlands bordering Kenya… is considered to possibly be the most AMAZING bit of Africa you can ever travel to since it is like travelling back in time to a primitive Africa untouched by the modern world!!!

Down here, there are dozens of different tribes who still live off the land in primitive huts, practice body mutilation, raid villages and go to war with each other… and they have rituals that are totally violent and barbaric to our Western sensibilities… So travelling down here is like travelling through a living museum!

However, the South Omo Valley here is so arid, desolate and rough, that there was no way we could do this trip by ourselves. So to get down here we were lucky enough to hook up with Sharikay an American girl who has been overlanding by 4×4 in Africa for the last 2 years, and together we managed to hire a 4×4 with a driver in Addis Ababa… so we are now 3 days into an 8 day expedition that should take us 2000km around Southern Ethiopia. Continue reading →