Packed up and on the road again in the direction of Konso for one night with new road sights. Trees with the wood or straw bee hives perched up in the branches. …View image… We’d seen these throughout Ethiopia and Henok filled us in. Each tree belongs to one person who leaves the hive up there for 3-4 months before smoking out the bees to gather honey. Gigantic termite mounds…View image…and workers in the fields….View image…

Across another dry river bed separating Hamer and Arbore country with a stop at the first Arbore village. They didn’t want us! This was a shock…they didn’t want our Birrs for photos? Unthinkable! Oh well….on to the next village with about 100 residents. …View image… We bought one man’s wooden pillow (this one was a little “older” but still younger than myself) and lavishly distributed Birrs for photos.

decorated Arbore boys in Ethiopia

Arbore decorated man, Ethiopia 

Arbore village in Ethiopia
Tribal people in Africa customarily make little wooden “pillows” to tuck under their necks while sleeping. All different and fun to collect…but beware! Once upon a time, we bought an old wooden bowl in Cochin, India where it happily sat on a family room shelf for 15+ years. Tired of looking at it there, I moved it to a kitchen shelf. Weeks later, little tiny worms had hatched out and were crawling on the kitchen ceiling. TIP: Put all wooden objects in the oven to bake at 200 degrees for 15 minutes, let it cool and then spray with insecticide. That should take care of the incubating little “creepy-crawlies.”

Arbore “pillow” that now belongs to us, Ethiopia 

Onward past the Weyto and Tsemay tribes on a very decent road until we arrived at the Edget Hotel in Konso. The Edget Hotel was two steps above the Debark hotel…not saying very much here.