Ethiopia Day 6

Today we left Jinka early and headed the dirction back to Arba Minch.  We stopped at the Konso Village which was really interesting.  It was one of my favorite villages actually.  The Konso people were all clothed in Western Clothing but still live in huts.  What makes their village unique is that it is enclosed in a rock wall.  Three of them actually.  The oldest being 800 years old.  It was really fun walking through the maze of rock walls getting through the village ending in the middle where the people meet for gatherings.  The people were not too aggressive in demanding money for a picture (the kids maybe a little more so) but we just enjoyed being there and learning about the culture.  The Konso people have terraced gardens all over the mountains.  It is very fascinating and their village is a World History Sight because of their resourcefulness in their crop gardening.

                                 A bathroom stop at a hotel with beautiful bougainvillea!

Men of the Konso Tribe playing a traditional game.

This is our guide lifting a "maturity ball".  When a young man is old enough to lift this big rock and toss it behind his head he is considered mature enough to marry.

                             We found a weaver and we purchased a few things from him:)

     I loved the coziness of this village.... and the rock walls and the wooden door frames.

We also stopped at a neat place that resembled Bryce Canyon.  It was a beautiful red canyon that had gigantic outcroppings of dirt from the base of the canyon.  Pictures can explain better!  

    There was a group of boys trying to earn some money and they did a fun little dance for us.  
                                       Wish I could show the video on this blog.

Terraced mountain.

We had lunch in the car as we drove to Lake Chamo for a boat ride to see some wildlife.  We were able to see a few hippopotamus and some HUGE crocodiles!   They were really spectacular to see!  At one point on our way back to the dock we saw a dying tilapia in the water so we made about ten passes to try to pick it up for our captain to take home for dinner.  With the help of a bucket someone found, Habtu was able to scoop it up!  Afterwards we traveled the few miles the rest of the way to Arba Minch and to our nice facilities there. 

Cute Elder Phelps

Yellow Billed Stork

                                          Crocodiles!!

Habtu and the fish.