The Kafa princesses

Haimanut:
She came by, a grass straw in her mouth. I found her cool from the beginning, I must confess. Stage-friendly she was, carrying about the attitude of a born music performer.
Self-assertive, fresh and free, just like the grass she was playing with between her teeth. A bit nomadic, also, like an artist on the road, moving freely around the world. But I guess the genuine attitude of a child it's not to be so much analyzed. She caught my eye from the very first moment, which makes it a love-at-first sight encounter.

Branesh:
and there she was, all smiles and suns.
She attached to you immediately, trustfully and unconditionally. She was warm and bright, making her name real, being what she was called: Branesh=brightness.
She liked to strim the guitar, to look her guitar teacher in the eye and her gentle touch of the strings filled you with music.

Salamauit:
She was the 3rd in line in their family and the shiest. Maybe that is why she quietly enjoyed being photographed. Not being used to the camera and to attention focused on her alone, she would pose.

She and Branesh would slid under your clothes (huge socks and shoes, heavy boots, large caps), cheerfully playing around in your room. I always thought that carrying somebody's clothes is a sign of love. So I rejoiced in receiving their declaration, in knowing their love fits me like the best of clothes.

Burtican:
She was the defender of the family; the smallest, and therefore, the strongest. At the beginning she checked on us with such frowned eyes that we thought she were a boy, the only boy in the family, and therefore, their protector. At our next visit her face brightened up and her smile showed she now accepted and recognized us as friends. We were happy to know she gave us her accord to be there, in her home, with her family. From that day on she was no longer against us, but with us: feeding us, claping her hands, drumming on our songs, rejoicing in our presence. We were not tolerated in the sisters' home, we were loved.

We do not know how they could feel (sense) our presence when we would approach their house. Maybe it simply works like this with the persons you like. Fact is they would run to welcome us and, pulling us by the hands, draw us into their garden. Burtican, the strongest, would happilly climb down the ditch in front of the house, just to land in our arms. We then gloriously belonged to the Negatu girls.

It is said that if you carry a guitar with you, you will be king where ever you go. But what is a king without a kingdom? Our princesses would share their home, their kingdom with us.

At Home

the lady was a discreet but strong presence... no way you could pass her by
Photo ©Ioana Muntenescu/NABU

The first photographic proof (2009) of lions living in the afromontane rainforest in the Kafa region, Ethiopia!

Mild & Wild

Intermezzo/ Respite
At sunset you sink in on the Guest House veranda after a day’s work and the landscape unfolds itself in front of your eyes. In the evening light clouds become prolongations of the mountains. The sinking sun crossed the boundaries between the creations of the earth and those of the sky. In mellow times like these the eye and the mind wander freely.

New Horizons
Driving south from Bonga, the afro-mountain cloud forest gradually makes way to the savannah vegetation. The dry marks on the road show us we are the only travellers in this region in the last 2 months, since the last rainfall. We feel privileged, maybe even a bit nervous, but we want to go as far as possible into the new land. We curiously look around hoping to spot some gazelles or even a lion. Our car cuts its way through high grass and we feel like explorers, breaking new paths… It is, after all, a child’s dream. The wilderness we dreamed about is not fighting the lion, but discovering the way, going as far as you can, seeing as much as the landscape offers you. And imagining the lion nearby.


Where lions hide by Jan Schormann

After a 110 km-drive and a drop of 1800 m in altitude we get 10 km close to the Omo river. We know that beyond this river there is another world, another language, different people. But soon we are faced with some road obstruction. We indulge in spending a bit more time at this natural border that makes us head back. We are happy, free and still curious. It is one of the best mixtures of feelings.
On the way back we stop and take photos of the flowers growing in the middle of the road, actually, everywhere on the road. Small, blue flowers that match the yellow grass of the savannah and the dark brown earth.
PHOTO to come: by Jan Schormann

We are winding our way through the savannah. The early afternoon clouds cast their shadows over the mountains: wide shadows resting calmly in the mountains’ lap and intensifying their green.


Caress from above by Ioana Muntenescu

This landscape is both wild and mellow: wild by contrast with the populated, fruitful, agricultural Kafa; wild because we don’t meet anybody and we don’t know what to expect; and mellow thanks to the travelling clouds above.

Clouds & Roots

The white cloth people in Kafa wear around their neck, on their shoulders is rooted in the milky texture of the local fog...








During our travellings we also encountered the mountainous cloudy fog from Wacha town and its happy, proud wearers.

Barta Waterfall

Many natural treasures are to be found close to Bonga: natural bridges, waterfalls, wild coffee growing in the forests, panoramic views. All you need is good walking boots and the desire to walk in the presence of one or more local guides, who are the heart of the landscape. Exploring Bonga and the Kafa region without them would be not only unimaginable, but also devoid of any fun. A helping hand and their good spirits are the locals’ greatest gift!

Barta Waterfall can be reached after a 45 minute-walk through a mild scenery of green forests, pastures, small rivers to be crossed and, at the right moment of the season, red, refreshing wild strawberries to cheer you up during the trip.



enjoying by Jan Schormann



playing by Jan Schormann




The foamy Milky Way by Jan Schormann

Once you are faced with the image of the falling water, you get a first incentive of how surprising the area is: an impressive view combined with the feeling of coziness and familiarity. When you get close to the waterfall, the wind quickly blows the sparkling water onto your traveler’s outfit. This refreshing shower also touches the beautiful flowers near the waterfall, making them shine to the delight of the beholder, be it a professional photographer or just a nature-lover.

Flower near waterfall by Jan Schormann

In the sunny days you can also meet youngsters around the waterfall, in search for a place to enjoy the sun and the closeness of water. Don’t be shy, because they will gladly share the landscape with you. If you are a girl, the young boys would be more than thrilled to have photos with you; if you’re a man equipped with a camera, they will become discreet but helpful assistants of your activity.

We also took some photos of the Barta Waterfall with a long exposure time. Sometimes I find these images a bit too artificial for my taste, but this time I couldn’t escape making comparisons: the whiteness of the foamy water reminded me of the white textiles the Kafa women wear around their shoulders. The falling water, seen through the lens of the photographer, resembles a bride’s wedding veil, or a foamy Milky Way that dared to exchange night for day.
Nature in Kafa bears strong roots to the sky above and the people of the place...

The Rainbow

Wild coffee by Jan Schormann



Wild coffee II by Jan Schromann

In the forest
Coffee enjoys its personal rainbow of colours. It starts at harvest time, with red dots on the background of the green forest.Then, one by one, the beans get inside the brown basket used by the locals for harvesting.

Generous by Ioana Muntenescu



So many reasons to be happy by Ioana Muntenescu

Travelling
Later on the yellow basket (zambilo in Amharic) will embrace the red, ripe coffee beans on their way home, through the village, to the market.

After drying in the sun on a wide, hand made bamboo bed, the coffee fruits get a more intense red. Soon they will start their journey to special stations where they will be dehulled.
When the peel has been removed they look green again, like in their infancy in the forest.

Lying in the sun by Jan Schormann

The coffee ceremony
The women in the family roast the coffee on a plate above the fire and give it the colour of patience and warmth. The coffee ceremony is a process of getting together, of sharing time, not consuming it. It can also be the right time to make some music: the girls assist the mother, clap their hands and bring on the rhythm of coffee making.
The coffee ceremony is about natural beauty. The ladies of the house pick up flowers and place them around the coffee table, for decoration. The guests enjoy now a private, indoor rainbow of colours.

Coffee Ceremony by Jan Schormann

The dark brown coffee gets much of its intensity by contrast with the white clothes the local ladies wear with genuine elegance. By candle light you have time to recollect for a few moments the journey of the coffee beans: protected by the shaded mountain rainforest, basking in the sun on bamboo beds, roasted on a metal plate inside the tukul…
What turns this daily process into a ceremony, besides the beautiful flowers and the dressing up? It is the generous gesture of offering the first ‘touch’ of the freshly roasted coffee beans to the guest or to the head of the family. This first encounter with the aroma of wild coffee is a gift offered by the ladies, a sign of being welcomed and recognized as a friend.

And then one day when it happens to rain, a rainbow in the sky smiles to all the colours that coffee can take, down there, on the earth of Kafa.



The Rainbow by Ioana Muntenescu 

Princess Haimanut

Porträts aus Kafa, Äthiopien: Happy encounters

Close to home



Sisters on the way home



Dark room, light hearted people




A small encounter



Burtican on drums: the sound of coffee grinding



Coffee ceremony

“Bonga is closer to the sky”

“Bonga is closer to the sky” Seyoum, our driver, said about the place. And it seemed to be so: the cloud forest was all around us; in the morning you would wake up having the clouds in your garden; when it rained you could see the clouds hovering gently but determined above you; in the evening you drove through the clouds, getting in and out of them.

But Bonga not only seemed to be higher, it was! What puts Bonga in a higher place is the people you can only meet here and with whom you learn to share: spicy meals, strong coffee and good spirits. The Kafa people give you a comforting feeling: the feeling of protection. When somebody holds your hand to help you cross a river, jump over a puddle or walk through gliding mud securely, you feel your feet heavy but your heart light: it’s the effect of companionship! These companions make sure you walk safely, with your feet deep into mud, your head in the clouds and your heart in the right place! Here, in the Bonga cloud forest, it’s only natural – and it happens many times throughout the day – to have your head in the clouds.