Secret Women’s Business In Ethiopia

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Visiting The Mursi Tribe And Getting My Boobs Fondled!


How We Visited The Mursi Tribe

We were visiting the Mursi tribe in the Omo Valley area of Ethiopia. We organised the day trip directly from Jinka, however there are many trips that you can pre-organise which would make things a little easier.

The trip out to the tribe from Jinka was an hour and 45 minutes in a little bongo van and the tribe usually gets only one van visit per day.

I was on an overland truck at the time so we were moving through Ethiopia at our own pace. However if you are visiting on your own, I would highly recommend a multi day tour from Jinka. This will enable you to see multiple tribes in the area, learn about each one, their similarities and their differences and really be able to immerse yourself into the area.

Multi Day Tribal Tours Around Jinka

These tours are available on Trip Adviser however Get Your Guide & Viator both have some similar tours on offer. I would say that you really need at least 2-3 days to see multiple tribes and experience the area around Jinka.

Popular Tours Of The Tribes In The Omo Valley

Four Days Omo Valley Tribal Tour From Jinka

Four Days Omo Valley Tribal Tour

To and from Jinka Hotel (or the airport). Min 2 pax for pricing.

  • 4 days
  • 5 stars rating
  • From $600 USD
  • Ari, Bena, Hamar, Nyangatom, Kara & Mursi Tribes

3 Days Omo valley Tour by Degu Omo Valley Tours

3 Days Omo Valley Tribes Tour From Jinka

To and from Jinka Hotel (or the airport). 3 First day start times. Min 2 pax for pricing.

  • 3 days
  • 5 stars rating & Recommended
  • From $900 p/p
  • Operated by Degu Omo Valley Tours

5 Days Omo Valley Tour To & From Jinka

5 Day tour of Omo tribes from Jinka

Visit at least 4 tribes: Mursi, Hammer, Karo, and Dassanech along with a market day!

  • 5 days
  • 5 stars rating
  • From $1400 p/p
  • Min 2 pax for tour to depart and for this pricing.

About The Mursi Tribe

The Mursi tribe inhabits a remote area between the Mago and Omo rivers and speaks a Nilo-Saharan language.

With an estimated population of 10,000, they are divided into 18 clans. Cattle are their most valued possession, and Mursi people are considered the richest among local tribes due to their large herds. Social relationships and dowries, typically 30-40 cows or sometimes a rifle, involve cattle exchanges. The birth of a girl is seen as a blessing, contributing to her father’s wealth.

Mursi women are known for the large clay plates in their lower lips. At 14, a girl has four lower teeth removed, and at 15, her lower lip is incised solely for the purpose of inserting a clay plate which will increase in size as her lip stretches.

Mursi girl and her mother with a lip plate
Mursi girl and her mother with a lip plate

The purpose of this practice is debated. National Geographic once suggested it was to deter slave hunters, but now it’s seen as a form of beautification marking sexual maturity. The plate’s size may influence a woman’s dowry, usually measured in cattle. The Ethiopian government now encourages using earlobe plates instead, however some of the younger women of the tribe we visited has decided against any type of inserts or scarification, a practice for which they are also known.

The men attend the cattle, so most of the men are not in the village during the day, or for days on end for that matter. So when you get there it is primarily women and children.

The local guy that took us out had told us that to take pictures it was 5 Birr per photo, which is around 20c (USD). So we all had some change (some of us more than others) and were keen to hear about the tribe and their stories. I remember Pete saying he had a “pocketful of ones” and felt like he was going somewhere else (if you get my meaning).


When we get there we are taken to one families hut and the guide tells us that the villagers know that we want to learn about their culture and look around first and then we will be taking photos.

So he proceeds to tell us all about this family and the tribes customs and practices. While we are listening this little woman sidles up next to me and looking me up and down, smiles and pats my boob. Like “is that real?” kind of pat. Not a grope, definitely a pat.

Pete was next to me and while Pete’s not exactly led a sheltered life he looks decidedly uncomfortable. I’ve got around 20 years on Pete and he’s quite Southern for want of a better word so I can understand that it makes him a bit unsettled to have a local woman handling my breasts.

I am trying not to giggle and when I look at her she has the cheekiest face and is grinning back at me and nodding like she is very chuffed with herself.

We keep learning about the village and while we are wandering around she pops back and while chatting to one of her “Housewives Of The Mursi” cohorts smiles and again pats my boobs. She’s escalated to patting both now and is clearly intrigued. They are roaring with laughter and I’m not really bothered so Julia and I are also both having a giggle.


And now its photo time

Our Mursi education ends and photo time starts and its frigging bedlam.

They all come out in their finery with lip plates and piercings, head dress and feathers, paint and beads adorning every neck, head and chest. I took about 10 photo’s mostly because I never cope very well with you buy you buy, and in this case its you take photo, you take photo and I’m a bit put off to tell you the truth.

Everyone else is taking their shots and paying their 5 birr to each model and we are all having fun. Julia, Tom and I move over to the shade of a tree and Ms Cheeky and a few other women and their children follow us.

They soon figure out that we aren’t going to take any more photo’s so they start trying in earnest to communicate with us. Particularly Julia and me. I think mostly as Julia is a full Ginga and my color has faded out with the African sun and cheap shampoo to be pretty orange as well.

Ms Cheeky is still fixated on my boobs and Julia suggests its because I’m older than her and she can’t quite figure out how I might have had 4 children, be my age and have boobs that aren’t tickling my toes. That’s exactly what she says by the way!

I hadn’t thought about it but it makes sense so I pull my bra strap out of the top of my TShirt and show Ms Cheeky my bra strap. I think she will realise that my boobs are being supported and leave it at that. Nope – that didn’t work, so I raise my TShirt to show her the bra. Quick as a rattler she moves in and grabs my bra, yanks it up, screams in delight and gives my nipple the biggest squeeze!

I yelp, Julia snorts water out her nose, Ms Cheeky wails and the balance of her possie scream with what can only be interpreted as “white boob hysteria”. Tom the poor guy bolts and doesn’t know quite where to look.

Julia and I are in hysterics, so much so that our guide comes over to see what’s going on. I’m pretty sure Ms Cheeky tells him some load of bullshit as he seems non plussed and walks back to the other group.

We have now made firm friends with Ms Cheeky and the Cheekettes. It is so cool that despite language, cultural and geographical differences here we are in the Omo Valley in Ethiopia with other women laughing about boobs.

Elderly women from the Mursi tribe in the Omo Valley of Ethiopia
An elder woman of the Mursi tribe in Ethiopia

On to the soft furnishings (wink, wink)

Now that she’s clearly being exactly who she is, Ms Cheeky has gained confidence and starts to chat to her posy. They are looking at Julia and talking and at exactly the same time Julia and I look at each other and realise that she is wondering if the carpet matches the drapes!

It is so clear that is what she is thinking so Julia gives her the head nod and turning around (we’re being discreet here – well we are trying) pulls her pants out and shows her.

The look on her face was priceless!

She is open mouthed, then screams, then smacks Julia on the arm and turns and launches into what we can only surmise is a vivid description of Julia’s nether regions. OMG we are in stitches, they are in stitches, the guide comes over and separates us (what are we 12?) and all the boys wander back wondering what in the hell is going on.

Sadly in the mele I never managed to get a photo of Ms Cheeky which I’m always sad about. Still I have her in my memories and she ALWAYS makes me smile!

Goodness help the next van load of people the following day!

Beautiful young girls of the Mursi tribe who have chosen not to partake of the lip plate practice
Beautiful young girls of the Mursi tribe who have chosen not to partake of the lip plate practice

Visit The Mursi Tribe in Ethiopia

Jinka is easy to get to from Addis Ababa. It is just over an hours flight and Ethiopian Airlines flies every day except Tuesday and Saturday.

Tours are easy to find and simple to book through Get Your Guide. I love GYG because it means I can book with local operators while having the security of a large booking engine to fall back on. Most tours have great cancellation options but do check before booking.

Oh and if you choose to do the Danakil Depression as well you won’t be sorry. It is amazing.

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Jenny Marsden - Charge The Globe
About the author

Meet Jenny, a passionate Australian travel blogger who has explored 103 countries to date. With over 30 years of travel experience, Jenny has a wealth of knowledge to share with her readers about the cultures, landscapes, and people she has encountered on her journeys. She’s always battling unfashionably frizzy hair and you will never catch Jenny in anything but comfortable shoes. Learn more about Jenny and her travels.