Around Jinka » Venture Ethiopia - Tours and Travel

Around Jinka

Jinka is the South Omo Valley's largest town.  Here, you can explore the traditions of local tribes, discover why Hammer men jump on the backs of cows and why Mursi women wear clay lip-plates.

Jinka is an excellent place from which to explore villages of the Mursi and Ari people.  The Ari people, who live in the fertile lands surrounding Jinka, predominantly practice settled agriculture and produce a variety of cereals, pulses, root crops, fruit and vegetables, as well as the cash crops coffee and cardamom.  In rural areas, you may still see Ari women wearing traditional dresses made from the leaves of the false banana plant, and draped with colourful beads and bracelets.

The Mursi people, who live in an almost inaccessible area between the Mago and Omo rivers, are famous for the clay lip-plates traditionally worn by women.  There is much controversy surrounding the origins of these lip-plates with theories ranging from disfigurement to discourage slave-raiders to a sign of beauty.  Both men and women of the Mursi tribe practise scarification and cut their hair very short, often with patterns shaved into it.  Men traditionally wear only a blanket tied at one shoulder, and women, a similarly-fashioned goat skin.  The Mursi have a reputation for being aggressive and the men carry a Donga (large stick) for fighting.  Ceremonial fights are also performed.  Cattle are the Mursi's most prized possession.  They are used in virtually every significant social relationship, most notably marriage, where they are used as a dowry, paid to the bride's father. They provide milk and blood, which form an integral part of the Mursi diet and the Mursi even name themselves after the colour of their favourite cattle.

Jinka is also a good starting point from which to explore the remote Mago National Park.

Map of Around Jinka