Ethiopia: Southern Nations – Aari People
The next tribe in the Omo Valley was the Aari People. It is the largest ethnic group among all the Omo Valley tribes and as such it’s actually much less isolated and much more modernized. Aari are farmers and stationary and grow a wide range of crops like coffee, cardamom, and various vegetables. The village looked like a normal African village with typical houses and people going around doing their business. I got taken to a presentation of pottery making from dirt and clay, a blacksmith pounding on fire-heated iron, and a local brewery where a potent moonshine is distilled right there and then. Aari people were super friendly, welcoming, kids smiling, and everyone excited to say hello and show their village. (Maybe for somebody from Paris or London who has never seen a village it’s unique, but I have seen blacksmiths and moonshine machines pretty much in any village in the former USSR).
