Whatshot
Bushnote: Reaching the North turning point
Bushnote: Reaching the North turning point
Date: 2016-11-18
With jackets on against the mist and the cold, it's a great feeling to reach the northernmost point of our Land Rover Expedition route, high up on the Great African Rift Valley escarpment above Lake Abaya in Southern Ethiopia. And so we find ourselves in a smoky, dimly lit 12m-high conical hut made from bent saplings covered with wild banana leaves.
'This is my grandmother's hut and it's where I was born,' explains 23-year-old Ugu Melesa, a proud Dorze tribesman who has invited us to his village at Bodo. The Dorze tribe are considered to be the finest weavers in Ethiopia famous for their brightly colored hand-woven scarves, shawls, hats and clothing made from home-grown cotton, dyed with natural colors from wildflowers, roots, bark, berries and bulbs.
'But first we must drink 'arake', it's a Dorze tradition,' says Ugu as he pours a bottle of clear distilled spirit into some, not too small, shot glasses which we have to raise to the chanting of youy, youye, you and then the response of YOHOHO! and down the hatch. It's got a bloody kick like a camel and whilst still gasping for air, with tears streaming we are horrified to observe that they come in two's more YOHOHO's. I Instantly feel quite bloated which is only eased by the offering of Qocho, a false banana type of pancake, the dough for which has been fermented underground for three months then cooked and served with wild honey.
'It's our national dish,' explains Ugu as he reaches again for the YOHOHO bottle. 'No, no Please no', I sputter between mouthfuls of Qocho. 'Aah', says Ugu, 'this false banana she's better value then fruit banana. For food, rope, building material, cattle food in the drought she is our life... And the weaving off course. The men do the weaving, the women gather the cotton and dye the thread.. We the Dorze... We are the best weavers of cloth in Ethiopia.'
They certainly are. It's been a wonderful 'Living Traditions' experience and as we wind our way down the Great Rift I dip into the expedition medical kit for something to ease the burning YOHOHO pain in my gut. Will keep you posted.