This tour can be booked from Asmara or Keren. We’ll go to the area of Halib Mentel, which is south of Keren. There we’ll find the Tigre and Bilen tribes who live in tukuls: round huts. They’re welcoming people who love to show you around and tell you all about their traditions and customs.

The Tigre are a nomadic agro-pastoralist community in Eritrea who speak Tigre. The original speakers were Christian and the Tigre are close kin to the Tigrayans in Tigray. The first Tigre converted to Islam in the 7th century and nowadays about 95 percent of them are muslim, mostly sunni. There is also a small number of Christians and people practising animist folk religion.

The Bilen are a Cushitic ethnic group who primarily live in central Eritrea in and around Keren and towards Asmara and are mostly agriculturalists. They came to the region in the 10th or 11th century and started mixing with the Tigre tribe. The practice both Islam and Christianity. Most Bilen are herders and farmers and speak the Bilen language.

Please, bring enough water for this trip as well as a packed lunch.

Includes:
– Private transport
– Professional local guide: English or Italian
– Visit to the Bilen and Tigre tribes

Doesn’t include:
– Meals and drinks