Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting There & Away
A daily bus runs in each direction between Arba Minch (Birr32, two hours) and Jinka
(Birr70, 3½ hours), picking up passengers here en route. Minibuses to both destinations
start in Konso. There are also two buses to/from Yabelo (Birr50, three hours).
Around Konso
Walking through the narrow maze of paths inside the defensive walls of Konso
kantas
('villages'; see
Click here
)
feels like entering another world. The twisting stone-walled
walkways connect family and clan compounds, each with a clutch of thatched-roof
homes, communal
mora
(where young men sleep at night to serve as watchmen and com-
munity servants for the village) and public squares where generation poles (one pole is
raised every 18 years) and sometimes battle stones (commemorating victories over and
defeats by enemy tribes) stand tall. These squares traditionally also contain the famous
Konso
wagas
(see Konso Museum,
Click here
)
. Any
wagas
found inside a family com-
pound were carved only to earn birr from snap-happy tourists.
The most visited village, simply because it's the easiest to reach, is
Gamole
, 6km west
of Konso town. Just as interesting architecturally, and better overall because of the much
lower number of visitors, is
Machekie
, 14km southwest of Konso. It still has three ori-
ginal sets of weathered
wagas
and also a rare newly erected set. Near Machekie, the vil-
lage of
Gesergio
itself gets few visitors, but the oddly eroded valley alongside it does.
Thanks to the towering pinnacles that someone decided resemble skyscrapers, it's now
commonly known as 'New York'. One local legend explaining the landscape states that
it's the result of a magic spell cast by village elders to reveal the location of a chief's
stolen sacred drums.
Fasha
, between Gesergio and the turn-off to Machekie, hosts the
biggest
market
( 11am-6pm Sat)
in Konso-land; Tuesday is a smaller affair. The road
to Machekie and Gesergio passes the
home of Chief Kalla Gezahegn
(admission Birr50)
,
one of the nine Konso clan chiefs. A former civil engineer in Addis Ababa, he speaks flu-
ent English and welcomes (paying) visitors.
Though seldom visited because it requires walking or riding a motorcycle 4km,
Busso
(5km southwest of Konso) is perhaps the loveliest village because it surrounds a rocky
point. It's also home to some original
wagas
.
Dekatu
, about 1km off the main road near
the Dokatu Market, is the nearest traditional village to Konso town and also very interest-
ing. It's best accessed by foot because the road is so bad. Usually a stop on the way to the
