Tribal Markets of the Omo Valley, Ethiopia

The lower Omo River valley in southwest Ethiopia is one of the last unspoiled wilderness regions in Africa. Isolated by the 4500m-high Ethiopian mountain range to the north, the impenetrable swamplands of the Nile to the west and the desert of northern Kenya to the south, the valley is mainly fed by the Omo River which bisects Ethiopia’s largest and most inaccessible parks: the Omo National Park which lies on its west bank and Mago National Park on its east Bank. The valley is also rich in paleo-anthropological fossils; the latest hominid remains to be discovered date back over four million years.

The lower valley of the Omo unlike any other place on Earth has the largest diversity of ethnically different groups in the whole of Ethiopia and possibly in Africa.In an area of less than 15,000 square kilometers more than ten different languages are spoken (excluding dialects ) .Experts believe that for thousands of years it was a crossroads of a wide assortment of cultures where early humans of many different ethnicities passed as they migrated from and to lands in every direction. To this day, the cultures and people of the Lower Valley of the Omo are focus of study for their incredible diversity.

The entire Omo region is inhabited by ethino-cultural groups pertaining to two important linguistic lines: Nilo-Saharan and Afro-Asiatic. The Nilo-Saharan linguistic line includes Bume, Mursi ,and Surma while The Afro-Asiatic line is comprised of Karo,Banna,Bashada,Hamar,and Dizi who are Omotic and Dassanech, Erbore, Tsamako who are Eastern Cushitic .

In general, Omo valley people are structured by the Age-system.This is a system exclusively associated with men, who must pass through several stages from birth to adulthood. The rites and ceremonies determine the progress each male makes with in his group. Child, Youth and Adult are the three main stages of life. Each of these stages brings with it a series of social obligations towards the family and the group, as well as certain advantages or rights.

The fact that the majority of the peoples are herdsmen is a typical characteristic of the Lower Omo region. Livestock not only has economic value, but also social value. It is strongly connected to a network of social relationships that comprises their culture. It is the source of food, clothing, an expression of wealth and Prestige, and also play great roles in an individual’s stages of life like initiation, weddings, etc….

Although, the nomadic ways of life of the region do not allow the development of advanced material culture, it is largely compensated by the exceptional ornamental and symbolic wealth of their decorated bodies. A wide and varied aesthetic culture is reflected on their bodies as an expression of beauty and as a demonstration of messages and signals expressed through scarification paintings, ornamentation, and hairstyles.

We spent a few days based in a Hamer Village in Turmi and although the locals were very friendly, poor Adrian was totally hysterical when we visited the local market. They were used to seeing blacks, they were used to seeing whites, but obviously had never seen brown folk. Hence, everyone was trying to run their fingers through his hair and touch his skin.

Hamer tribe girls
Turmi, Ethiopia

Supporting local economy
Turmi, Ethiopia

Arbore Tribe boys
Omo Valley, Ethiopia

Konso Tribe girl
Omo Valley
Ethiopia

Adrian and Dido,
from the Hamer Tribe
Turmi, Ethiopia

Adrian tests his Hamer stool
Turmi, Ethiopia

Adrian takes refuge from the locals who all wanted to check out his straight hair and pull the Jitzbits off his Crocs
Turmi, Ethiopia

The Mursi Tribe
Jinka, Ethiopia

On The Equator in Kenya

Nanyuki is a market town in central Kenya, lying northwest of Mount Kenya along the A2 road and at the terminus of the branch railway from Nairobi. It is situated just north of the Equator (0° 01' North). It was founded in 1907 by British settlers, some of whose descendants still live in and around the town. Nanyuki is now the main airbase of the Kenya Air Force and we arrived in the town around midday on the 7 February 2009

There's a simple experiment which we did on the Equator, where you can see how water flows in opposite directions on either side of the Equator:
North of the Equator-water flows down the plughole clockwise
South of the Equator-water flows down the plughole anti clockwise
On the Equator- water flows straight down

MIM cross the Equator at Nanyuki, Kenya
7 February 2009

The Equator Sign at Nanyuki, Kenya
7 February 2009

Adrian at the Equator
Nanyuki
Kenya

The Moroccan Tagine

A tagine is a type of dish found in the North African cuisines of Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya, which is named after the special pot in which it is cooked.The traditional tagine pot is formed entirely of a heavy clay, which is sometimes painted or glazed. It consists of two parts: a base unit that is flat and circular with low sides, and a large cone or dome-shaped cover that rests inside the base during cooking. The cover is so designed to promote the return of all condensation to the bottom. With the cover removed, the base can be taken to the table for serving.

Tagines in Moroccan cuisine are slow-cooked stews braised at low temperatures, resulting in tender meat with aromatic vegetables and sauce. They are traditionally cooked in the tagine pot, whose cover has a knob-like handle at its top to facilitate removal. While simmering, the cover can be lifted off without the aid of a mitten, enabling the cook to inspect the main ingredients, add vegetables, mix the contents, or add additional braising liquid.

Most tagines involve slow simmering of less-expensive meats. For example, the ideal cuts of lamb are the neck, shoulder or shank cooked until it is falling off the bone. Very few Moroccan tagines require initial browning; if there is to be browning it is invariably done after the lamb has been simmered and the flesh has become butter-tender and very moist. In order to accomplish this, the cooking liquid must contain some fat, which may be skimmed off later.

Moroccan tagines often combine lamb or chicken with a medley of ingredients or seasonings: olives, quinces, apples, pears, apricots, raisins, prunes, dates, nuts, with fresh or preserved lemons, with or without honey, with or without a complexity of spices. Traditional spices that are used to flavour tajines include ground cinnamon, saffron, ginger, turmeric, cumin, paprika, pepper, as well as the famous spice blend Ras el hanout. Some famous tajine dishes are mqualli or mshermel (both are pairings of chicken, olives and citrus fruits, though preparation methods differ), kefta (meatballs in an egg and tomato sauce), and mrouzia (lamb, raisins and almonds).

Adrian and Hussain, cooking up a tagine
Azrou Village
19 May 2008

Adrian dancing in Azrou village
19 May 2008

Monastries in the Air : The Meteora, Greece

We didn't even know of the exsistance of the Meteora, until we stumbled upon it in the early hours of the 23 Nov 2008, while on the road from Igoumeni to Volos, via the Katara Mountains, having failed to secure Libyan visas and making a quick change in our route to get to Egypt via Greece, Turkey, Syria and Jordan.

The Metéora is a UNESCO Heritage Site and is one of the largest and most important complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Greece, second only to Mount Athos.The six monasteries are built on natural sandstone rock pillars, at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly near the Pineios river and Pindus Mountains, in central Greece, near the town of Kalambaka.

In the 9th century, an ascetic group of hermit monks moved up to the ancient pinnacles.
They were the first people to inhabit Metéora. They lived in hollows and fissures in the rock towers, some of which reach 550m above the plain. This great height, combined with the sheerness of the cliff walls, kept away all but the most determined visitors. Initially the hermits led a life of solitude, meeting only on Sundays and special days to worship and pray in a chapel built at the foot of a rock known as Dhoupiani. As early as the 11th century AD hermit monks were believed to be living among the caves and cutouts in the rocks

Monasteries on The Meteora,
Kalambaka, Greece
23 Nov 2008

Our first sight of the Meteora - what on earth is that?
Kalambaka, Greece
23 Nov 2008

The Dead Sea

The Dead Sea, also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east, and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are 422 metres below sea level, is the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface on dry land.

The Dead Sea is 378 m deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. It is also one of the world's saltiest bodies of water, with 33.7% salinity.which makes for a harsh environment where animals cannot flourish, hence its name.

The Dead Sea is 67 kilometres long and 18 kilometres wide at its widest point. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River.

The Dead Sea has attracted visitors from around the Mediterranean basin for thousands of years. Biblically, it was a place of refuge for King David. It was one of the world's first health resorts (for Herod the Great), and it has been the supplier of a wide variety of products, from balms for Egyptian mummification to potash for fertilizers. People also use the salt and the minerals from the Dead Sea to create cosmetics and herbal sachets.

The sea has a density of 1.24kg/L, making swimming difficult.

Instructions for swimming in the Dead Sea
Jordan
19 Dec 08

Salt deposites in the Dead Sea
Jordan
19 Dec 2008

Adrian gets ready to face the Dead Sea
Jordan
19 Dec 2008

The Groaning Wheels of Hama, Syria

Situated on the banks of the Orontes River, the ancient city of Hama is an important industrial and agricultural center that dates back to the early Iron Age. Although the city’s economy has always depended on agriculture, evidence of when Hama water wheels, or norias, were first developed goes back only to the Byzantine Era. However, none of the Hama water wheels that still stand today are from periods earlier than the Ayyubid Dynasty (late 12th to early 13th centuries). During the Mamluk era, many norias were overhauled and enlarged. It was also during this era that the number of water wheels were significantly increased. At one point, there were more than thirty norias in medieval Hama.

Unfortunately, only 17 of the original water wheels have survived into the 21st century. They are still in good working condition, although the water from these wheels is no longer used. On average, the Hama water wheels’ diameter reaches up to 66 feet. Each wheel has a given name, and the biggest one is known as Al-Mohammediyyah, which used to give the Great Mosque its water supply. Because the walls of the Orontes River were too deep for water to be sourced directly from the river, the wooden wheels were designed and constructed as part of an irrigation system for the fields in Hama. In their heyday, the main purpose of the Hama water wheels were for them to raise water from the Orontes and then drop the water in aqueducts and canals that would transfer the water to the fields. The norias were powered by the river’s powerful currents, which made the wheels turn. Wooden boxes attached to each noria scooped up water from the Orontes and then deposited the water into a channel at the wheel’s rotation summit. Through the force of gravity, the water traveled along a series of aqueducts, which distributed the water to various areas in Hama. There was also a carefully thought-out schedule for access to the flow of water so that it could reach everyone.

Big Wheels of Hama
Syria
14 Dec 08

Alligators and the Everglades, Florida, USA

Everglades National Park protects the largest wilderness area east of the Mississippi River. The wilderness area is named for Marjory Stoneman Douglas who was instrumental in creating the park, and who coined the phrase "River of Grass." It has been designated a World Heritage Site

Although primarily freshwater animals, alligators will occasionally venture into brackish water.Alligators live in wetlands and this is the vital habitat that holds the key to their continued long-term survival. Alligators depend on the wetlands, and in some ways the wetlands depend on them. As apex predators, they help control the population of rodents and other animals that might overtax the marshland vegetation.

American alligators are less susceptible to cold than American Crocodiles. Unlike the American Crocodile, which would quickly succumb to the cold and drown in water of 45 °F (7.2 °C), an alligator can survive in such temperatures for some time without apparent discomfort.[10] It is thought that this adaptiveness is the reason why American alligators spread farther north than the American Crocodile. In fact, the American alligator is found farther from the equator and is more equipped to deal with cooler conditions than any other crocodilian

We were kindly hosted and given a wonderful tour of the Everglades by Susie Goh, A Malaysian living in Miami, whom we bumped into a few days before in Orlando, where she had been on holiday.

** Due to the massive oil spill in the Gulf Of Mexico, The Everglades was pronounced an Endangered Area on 30 July 2010

Alison at Everglades National Park
Miami. FL
11 July 2009

Alligator
Everglades
Miami, FL
11 July 2009

Adrian at the Everglades
Miami, FL
11 July 2009

Alligator
Everglades
Miami, FL
11 July 2009

Susie and Adrian
11 July 2009


A slide show on our trip to the Everglades and The Florida Keys
can be found on the blog entry titled
Way Down South : Key West, USA