Ethiopia SNNPR — Gamo Gofa 2 tours

Chencha / Dorze Village

Traditional weaving village at 2,900 m — 12-metre-tall bamboo beehive homes and the false-banana (enset) culture.

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Country

Ethiopia

Region

SNNPR — Gamo Gofa

Best time

Year-round

About Chencha / Dorze Village

Chencha is the main town of the Dorze people, perched at 2,900 m in the Gamo Highlands above Arba Minch. The Dorze are famous for two things: their astonishing 12-metre-tall woven-bamboo homes shaped like elephants, and their cultivation of enset (false banana), a staple crop that takes 4–7 years to mature and feeds the household. A working village visit covers home interiors, enset processing into 'kocho' bread, and the back-strap weaving of traditional shemma cloth.

Highlights

  • 12-metre 'elephant' bamboo houses
  • Enset (false banana) processing
  • Kocho flatbread tasting
  • Traditional shemma weaving
  • Gamo highland panorama

Best time to visit

Year-round

Itineraries

Tours that visit Chencha / Dorze Village

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