 |
|
African Christmas with the Bana tribe
We leave Jinka to head for the road to Kenya. An old acquaintance of our driver hitches a ride with us, and he appears to be the chief of a small Bana village. After a few hours on bad roads we arrive there, but we only see his yard with some huts. Not much of a village, we think. But as we are invited to camp here, in no time a lot of tribe people are staring at us. We get rid of our audience by offering them diner in return for a traditional dance at 4 PM at our truck. After quietly setting up our camp we decide to search for the rest of the visit. But we walk through the bush and the landscape in vain. We see no other huts and it appears difficult to find our way back to the road. When we finally get back, the dancing has started already. Over a hundred beautifully decorated Bana people are gathered in a circle. They perform several dances, where the women are challenging the men, and vice versa. And we are just taking more and more beautiful pictures. In the end, they invite us to join in the dance, but we are very clumsy compared to them. Dinner After the show, we have the challenge of feeding approximately 150 hungry people. We expected only 50 and so we have to be creative. In the spirit of this African Christmas we reserve the goat we bought and butchered earlier today for our guests. We enjoy how they enjoy their meal. The men eat the meat, while the woman get the soup made from it. They squeeze the accompanying rice in their hands and throw it in their mouths. All with an eagerness seldom seen when we eat. In the meantime Silent Night is played on our stereo.Most of the Bana people stay around after their meal. We talk to them with hands and feet, we take pictures (laughter as we show them on our digital camera) and just stare at each other. On Christmas day we leave our Bana friends and take the road to Turmi, the largest village in the Bana area. We have to stop here for some formalities (permits to drive through this region) so we take a look around. Not much special here, so we end up in a pub, or actually a large hut where they serve drinks. We are welcomed and Bana people come in to try to sell us souvenirs. After Turmi we make a stop to get water, to have lunch, and to take a bath in the river. The truck passes the river with speed, not to get stuck in the quicksand, and we continue along the river. We have to get out once because part of the road is washed away and the truck has to continue over a small ridge. The rear wheels push a bit more of the road in the chasm but we can continue our way. Hamer tribe A little later we drive from the mountains on to the plains. Behind the mountain range on the horizon is Kenya, but we drive along the mountains and make an early camp on the plains. Here we are visited by a few women of the Hamar tribe. This tribe is related to the Bana and look almost the same. But they occasionally wear a metal plate on their heads and steel rings around their necks. The ritual of staring at each other starts again. We take our pictures shifty and they laugh as we play with our dog Ajou.Everything is new for these people. Because of the harsh environment we are probably the first white people for some of them. Others are familiar with tourists, and ask money to take pictures. The next morning they even try to sell us a puppy dog. It is difficult not to teach them bad habits, since we like to take their pictures and buy their bracelets. The Hamar are the last ancient people we visit in Ethiopia. We will come across some more tribes, but these are more used to “modern life” and tourists. These are gaining terrain, and it is questionable how long the ancient tribes can keep their traditional lifestyle. Return from African Christmasto Travel Africa Return from African Christmas to Adventure Travel Tales and Tips
|
While the chief and his family are dressed in “normal” clothes, all others wear animal skins and appear from the bush. 
It is great to be among these ancient tribe people, sharing and laughing and enjoying each others company. During our own meal, modest but nicely decorated with candles for Christmas, most of them head home. But a few girls stay with us around the camp fire, and dance on our western music. It is the end of a very special and memorable Christmas eve.
But there is no harm in a little trading, and they are happy with our garbage: plastic bottles, empty milk powder cans and such things. And in the mean time we are just staring at them.
