Travel Guide Dubluk

Dubluk, 64 km from Yabelo, is the most accessible site of the borana alkaline crater pit, just down the road. But it's also the most visited, and the locals tend to demand excessive prices and don't hesitate to organize "performances" especially for tourists. So it's best to negotiate patiently, or continue further south to less-frequented areas, where reasonable prices can be negotiated with the help of a local "guide". In addition to Dubluk, there are numerous wells a few kilometers after El Soda and after the town of Mega, 120 km south of Yabelo.Borana wells. Known as ela in Oromo, the borana wells are a unique sight in Ethiopia, and well worth a visit. Since herds of zebu cattle have always represented the Borana's only source of wealth, the quest for water in this hostile environment has always been a condition of survival for this ethnic group. Recent geological studies have shown that virtually all the springs in the region have long since been discovered and exploited. Around each of them, several wells have been dug, and while some are easily accessible and close to the surface, others impress by their depth, seemingly lost in the bowels of the earth. The ingenious system consists as much in bringing water up from the depths as in bringing the cattle as close as possible to the source. To achieve this, long, narrow, gently sloping corridors, 30 to 50 m long, were built to bring the cattle to the drinking troughs, sometimes 10 m underground, right next to the well. Every day, men and women from the clan take it in turns to collect the water. Forming a human chain, they haul huge quantities of water from tank to tank along the wall. This exhausting work is punctuated by songs in which the guttural voices of the men mingle with the shrill cries of the women. Outside, hundreds of head of cattle await their turn to be led in good order to the trough. Some of the more adventurous visitors can descend to the first level of the well, where they can appreciate the resonance of the singing, which creates a fabulous atmosphere in the depths of this natural cathedral.