Dorze Village in the Guge Mountains

Following lunch, we had a visit to a Dorze Village in the Guge Mountains.
The Dorze people belong to one of the Omotic groups in the South West of Ethiopia. They are a hard-working tribe renowned for their skill in weaving, bamboo carpentry, and other traditional crafts.
Although some have migrated to Addis and Arba Minch, most live high in the Guge Mountains in the nine Dorze villages, of which we visited just one. They inhabit a small highland area thought to have been occupied for 500 years. They are best known for their cotton weaving and tall beehive-shaped dwellings, which are some of the most distinctive in Africa. Every Dorze compound is self-sufficient, surrounded by a small holding of crops, and inside each compound is their remarkable domed dwellings made from false banana leaves. These can measure up to 6 metres high, ensuring they last lifetimes despite termites constantly eating away at the base. As they do so, their houses shrink in height yet stay inhabitable for many years. Strong and sturdy, yet easily transported, they are an ingenious use for the false banana tree.
This was an interesting insight, and we also enjoyed some bread from the banana tree and a local drink in one of the meeting houses, dressed accordingly.Read more