Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Gambela
POP 31,282 / ELEV 526M
Set on the banks of the sluggish, chocolate-brown Baro River, at a lowly altitude of 526m,
Gambela, the capital of the 25,274-sq-km Gambela federal region, is muggy, swampy and
sweaty. It's a place that's utterly removed from everything else you'll have come to asso-
ciate with Ethiopia. Long-horned cattle, trailing clouds of dust and led by tall, elegant
Nuer and Anuak tribesmen, sweep through the wildlife-haunted savannahs that surround
Gambela, while in the town itself people loll riverside under the spreading branches of gi-
ant trees. All up it's one of the more exotic corners of Ethiopia.
Although the terrible ethnic and political violence that has occurred sporadically over
the past decade may seem to say otherwise, most people here seem to get along just fine
nowadays. Although initially appearing reticent and deeply suspicious, the people here are
actually incredibly hospitable. Using
daricho
(the Anuak greeting), or
male
(the Nuer
greeting), helps break the ice.
History
Thanks to the Baro River being the only truly navigable watercourse in Ethiopia, its stra-
tegic and commercial significance has long dictated the fortunes of Gambela's turbulent
past.
Prior to the 19th century the Baro River was principally used by raiding slave parties to
transport captured men. Later, at the end of the 19th century, Menelik II dreamed of link-
ing Ethiopia with Egypt and Sudan via the White Nile. To help create the great inland
shipping service, the emperor agreed to grant the British, who were already in control of
Sudan, an enclave on the Baro River. In 1907 the site was chosen and Gambela was form-
ally inaugurated as a port and customs station.
Soon steamers were chugging up and down the wide river, laden with valuables ranging
from coffee to cotton. Commerce flourished and Gambela boomed.
The Italians briefly captured Gambela in 1936, and vestiges of their fort are still visible.
The British won back the river port in 1941 and amazingly made it part of Sudan 10 years
later. When Sudan gained its independence in 1956, the protectorate was given back to
Ethiopia. It was around this time that the old shipping service formally ceased and Gam-
bela began to sink slowly back into the mud from which it had sprung.
Interethnic tensions have plagued the region for decades. These culminated in a mas-
sacre of Anuak communities in Gambela township in 2003, resulting in the displacement
of tens of thousands of people. In 2006 the Anuak attacked the Gambela police station and
