Walta (Dogu'a Tembien): Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 14:57, 12 October 2019
Walta | |
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 The southern side of Walta stretches down towards Giba River | |
  Walta Location within Ethiopia | |
| Coordinates: 13°35′N 39°11′E / 13.583°N 39.183°E | |
| Country | Ethiopia |
| Region | Tigray |
| Zone | Debub Misraqawi (Southeastern) |
| Woreda | Dogu'a Tembien |
| Elevation | 2,340 m (7,680 ft) |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (EAT) |
Walta is a tabia or municipality in the Dogu'a Tembien district of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. The tabia centre is in Da’erere village, located approximately 7 km to the south of the woreda town Hagere Selam.
Geography
The tabia stretches down from the foot of the Tsatsen ridge escarpment towards Giba River. It is further bound by three gorges: Gra Adiam/Bitchoqo in the east, Giba in the south, and Zeyi in the west. The highest peak is near the top of Tsatsen plateau (2760 m a.s.l.) and the lowest place at the confluence of Giba and Zeyi Rivers (1400 m a.s.l.), which have a difference in elevation of nearly 1400 metres.
Geology
From the higher to the lower locations, the following geological formations are present:[1]
- Upper basalt
- Interbedded lacustrine deposits
- Lower basalt
- Amba Aradam Formation
- Antalo Limestone
- Adigrat Sandstone
- Quaternary alluvium and freshwater tufa[2]
Climate and hydrology
Climate and meteorology
The rainfall pattern shows a very high seasonality with 70 to 80% of the annual rain falling in July and August. Mean temperature in Da’erere is 19.3 °C, oscillating between average daily minimum of 10.8 °C and maximum of 27.4 °C. The contrasts between day and night air temperatures are much larger than seasonal contrasts.[3]
Rivers
The Giba River is the most important river in the surroundings of the tabia. It flows towards Tekezze River and further on to the Nile. These rivers have incised deep gorges which characterise the landscape.[4] The drainage network of the tabia is organised as follows:[5]
- Giba River, receiving on its right bank
- Gra Adiam River, which becomes Bitchoqo River, at the border of tabias Walta and Inda Sillasie
- Zeyi River, at the border of tabias Simret and Walta
Whereas they are (nearly) dry during most of the year, during the main rainy season, these rivers carry high runoff discharges, sometimes in the form of flash floods. Especially at the begin of the rainy season they are brown-coloured, evidencing high soil erosion rates.
Springs
As there are no permanent rivers, the presence of springs is of utmost importance for the local people. The main springs in the tabia are:[6]
- Kalena in Addi Ferti
- May Shafa in Addi Ferti
- May Ayni in Da’erere
- May Tselot near Giba River
Water harvesting
In this area with rains that last only for a couple of months per year, reservoirs of different sizes allow harvesting runoff from the rainy season for further use in the dry season.
- Traditional surface water harvesting ponds, particularly in places without permanent springs, called rahaya
- Horoyo, household ponds, recently constructed through campaigns[7]
Settlements
The tabia centre Da’erere holds a few administrative offices, a health post, a primary school, and some small shops.[6] There are a few more primary schools across the tabia. The main other populated places are:[5]
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Agriculture and livelihood
The population lives essentially from crop farming, supplemented with off-season work in nearby towns. The land is dominated by farmlands which are clearly demarcated and are cropped every year. Hence the agricultural system is a permanent upland farming system.[8] The farmers have adapted their cropping systems to the spatio-temporal variability in rainfall.[9] Especially the youngsters in Didiben and Nibre go to the deep gorge of Giba river to harvest incense from Boswellia papyrifera trees.[10]
History and culture
History
The history of the tabia is strongly confounded with the history of Tembien.
Religion and churches
Most inhabitants are Orthodox Christians. The following churches are located in the tabia:
- Nibre Abune Ayezgi
- Didiben Iyesus
- Mehanie Alem
- Addi Ferti Maryam
Inda Siwa, the local beer houses
In the main villages, there are traditional beer houses (Inda Siwa), often in unique settings, where people socialise. Well known in the tabia are[6]
- Amlesu Gebremariam at Da’erere
- Tinsu’i Belay at Da’erere
Roads and communication
The main road Mekelle – Hagere Selam – Abiy Addi runs 5 to 15 km north and west of the tabia. People need to walk first to Inda Maryam Qorar or Hagere Selam before travelling further. For transportation of goods, a rural access road links Walta to the main asphalt road in Dongolo.
Tourism
Its mountainous nature and relative proximity to Mekelle make the tabia fit for tourism.[11] As compared to many other mountain areas in Ethiopia the villages are quite accessible, and during walks visitors may be invited for coffee, lunch or even for an overnight stay in a rural homestead.[12]
Touristic attractions
- Views over the gorges, including view of Zeyi Abune Aregawi church under a cliff
- Anthropogenic Boswellia papyrifera landscapes and incense harvesting
Geotouristic sites
The high variability of geological formations and the rugged topography invite for geological and geographic tourism or "geotourism".[13]
Trekking routes
Trekking routes have been established in this tabia.[14] The tracks are not marked on the ground but can be followed using downloaded .GPX files.[15]
- Trek 9, from Hagere Selam to Inda Sillasie allows visiting the northern part of the tabia
- Trek 8, southbound from Zeyi church and cave, crosses the southern part of the tabia to Giba River and allows visiting the slopes of the Giba gorge, with numerous incense trees
See also
- Dogu'a Tembien district.
References
- ^ Sembroni, A.; Molin, P.; Dramis, F. (2019). Regional geology of the Dogu'a Tembien massif. In: Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains — The Dogu'a Tembien District. SpringerNature. ISBN 978-3-030-04954-6.
- ^ Moeyersons, J. and colleagues (2006). "Age and backfill/overfill stratigraphy of two tufa dams, Tigray Highlands, Ethiopia: Evidence for Late Pleistocene and Holocene wet conditions". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 230 (1–2): 162–178.
- ^ Jacob, M. and colleagues (2019). Dogu’a Tembien’s Tropical Mountain Climate. In: Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains — The Dogu'a Tembien District. SpringerNature. ISBN 978-3-030-04954-6.
- ^ Amanuel Zenebe, and colleagues (2019). The Giba, Tanqwa and Tsaliet rivers in the headwaters of the Tekezze basin. In: Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains — The Dogu'a Tembien District. SpringerNature. ISBN 978-3-030-04954-6.
- ^ a b Jacob, M. and colleagues (2019). Geo-trekking map of Dogu'a Tembien (1:50,000). In: Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains — The Dogu'a Tembien District. SpringerNature. ISBN 978-3-030-04954-6.
- ^ a b c What do we hear from the farmers in Dogu'a Tembien? [in Tigrinya] (PDF). Hagere Selam, Ethiopia. 2016. p. 100.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Developers and farmers intertwining interventions: the case of rainwater harvesting and food-for-work in Degua Temben, Tigray, Ethiopia
- ^ "Soils and land use in the Tigray highlands (Northern Ethiopia)". Land Degradation and Development. 19: 257–274. 2008.
- ^ Frankl, A. and colleagues (2013). "The effect of rainfall on spatio‐temporal variability in cropping systems and duration of crop cover in the Northern Ethiopian Highlands". Soil Use and Management. 29: 374–383.
- ^ Moens, T. and colleagues (2019). Boswellia Incense in the Giba River Gorge. In: Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains — The Dogu'a Tembien District. SpringerNature. ISBN 978-3-030-04954-6.
- ^ Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains — The Dogu'a Tembien District. SpringerNature. 2019. ISBN 978-3-030-04954-6.
- ^ Logistics for the Trekker in a Rural Mountain District of Northern Ethiopia. Springer-Nature. 2019. pp. 537–556.
- ^ Miruts Hagos and colleagues (2019). Geosites, Geoheritage, Human-Environment Interactions, and Sustainable Geotourism in Dogu'a Tembien. In: Geo-Trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains, the Dogu'a Tembien District. SpringerNature. ISBN 978-3-030-04954-6.
- ^ Description of Trekking Routes in Dogu'a Tembien. Springer-Nature. 2019. pp. 557–675.
- ^ "Public GPS traces tagged with nyssen-jacob-frankl". OpenStreetMap. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
Places adjacent to Walta (Dogu'a Tembien) | |
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