'Some fat men are so big that they cannot walk anymore,' explains Lafforgue. Thanks to the weight gain, many of them find covering the short distance tougher than the weeks spent fattening up.
Relief: During the walk and the ceremony that follows, the Bodi women are on hand to help out the fat men with drinks of water and fortifying alcohol On the day itself, the men cover their bodies with clay and ashes before emerging from their huts for the walk to the spot where the ceremony will take place. The man must drink it quickly before it coagulates but some cannot drink everything and vomit it.' 'The first bowl of blood is drunk at sunrise.
'The fat men drink milk and blood all day long,' he says. 'The blood is taken by making a hole in a vein with a spear or an axe, and after that, they close it with clay.'īecause of the scorching temperatures, the men have to drink the two-litre bowl of blood and milk quickly before it coagulates but as Lafforgue reveals, not everyone can handle drinking so much at speed. 'The cows are sacred to the Bodi tribe so they are not killed,' explains Lafforgue. Every family is allowed to present an unmarried man for the challenge, who, after being chosen, retires to his hut and must not move or have sex for the duration.įood comes in the form of a cow's blood and milk mixture, served regularly to the men by women from the village. The contest begins six months before the ceremony.
