The Mursi Tribe

Early to bed and early to rise. When the sun goes down, we pull on long pants and sweaters and slather ourselves in mosquito repellent. When the sun comes up, we emerge from our mosquito nets. Once the sun is up, the malaria mosquitoes are gone. We're really looking forward to seeing the Mursi tribe, one of the most famous tribes in the world because the women have plates in their lower lips. This requires the removal of two teeth from the lower jaw to make room for the plate. They make an incision in the lower lip where the plate will sit, and it gets replaced with a larger one over time. It’s best to visit the Mursis in the morning since they brew their own alcohol, which they drink throughout the day. By the afternoon, they tend to be quite drunk and a bit unpleasant. The Mursis can be very aggressive and intrusive. The men carry rifles, so you can easily imagine that meeting them when they’re drunk isn’t the most appealing prospect. The tribe lives in Mago National Park, a low-lying area that gets really hot. The roads in the national park are pretty terrible. You’re constantly going up and down and crossing dry riverbeds. There aren’t many larger animals left in Mago due to hunting and disease. We’re still eating spaghetti. It’s almost like being a student again. We’ve moved to a new hotel in town, Jinka Resort, which is supposed to be the best in the area. However, we still have no electricity or water. So, we continue to take showers using a bucket.