South Omo Valley Tribes Tour

Day 01: Arrival in Addis Ababa and Sightseeing

Upon your arrival at Bole International Airport, you will clear immigration and proceed to baggage claim, after collecting your checked bags, clear customs and pass through the arrival hall where you will be met by OUR STAFF representative, who will assist you with your transfer to your hotel. After a break in the afternoon, you will enjoy a half-day guided tour of the Ethnological Museum, with its artifacts and displays of the cultures and handicrafts of Ethiopia’s many ethnic groups.

At the famous National Museum, with its cultural and archaeological relics, you will visit the famous “Lucy,” a 3.2 million-year-old female hominid who was discovered in Ethiopia’s Awash Valley in 1974.

The open-air market of Addis, the Marcato, is the largest on the continent, and you will take a drive through it. Time permitting; you may also visit Ba’ata Church, also known as Menelik’s Mausoleum, one of the oldest of the churches in Addis, built in 1911, and the Emperor's house with beautiful paintings and the royal tombs of past emperors, including Emperor Haileselassie.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and Dinner

Transportation: Toyota Land Cruiser 4WD

Accommodation: Monarch Hotel

CONSULTANT NOTE

You will drive approximately 80 km including pick up in 7 hours

Game drive varies the length of time you drive

Day 02: Drive to Aribaminch and Visit the Dorze people

Starting from Addis Ababa early morning, you will be heading down South to Arbaminch via Butajira and Hosaina. At Tiya, you will have a brief stopover to visit the UNESCO-registered Stele fields of Tiya. Further ahead with a lunch break at Wolayita Sodo, you will proceed to Arbaminch, arriving late afternoon. En route, we ascend into the Gughe Mountains to visit the Dorze people.

In about one hour left we travel to Aribaminch at an altitude of 1400 m to the highland village of Dorze at 2600 m enjoying beautiful views over Lake Abaya and Lake Chamo on the way.

Dorze people are known for their tall beehive-like houses, and their fine cotton weaving and see the preparation of their staple food made of false banana of course we try their food. Market days in Dorze village are Mondays and Thursdays and in Chencha on Tuesdays and Saturdays. After we visit drive back to Arbaminch.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and Dinner

Transportation: Toyota Land Cruiser 4WD

Accommodation: Mora Hight Lodge

CONSULTANT NOTE

You will drive approximately 480 km in 7 hours

Game drive varies the length of time you drive

Day 03: Drive Nech-Sar National Park and Boat Trip to Lake Chamo

The very beautiful Nech-Sar Park is ranked among the most scenic, most notable for its wildlife scenery, and yet least visited.

There is a sweeping view over the plains to the majestic volcanic hills on the eastern boundary. Lake Abaya the largest of the Rift Valley lakes and Lake Chamo are not to be missed spectacles. This 750 square km national park is among the most beautiful game reserves in Africa, encompassing parts of Lakes Chamo and Abaya as well as the mountains 'Bridge of God' that lie between the two lakes. After the boat trip, you will drive to Konso Overnight.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and Dinner

Transportation: Toyota Land Cruiser 4WD

Accommodation: Mora Hight Lodge

CONSULTANT NOTE

You will drive approximately 110 km in 7 hours

Game drive varies the length of time you drive

The roads within the park are sometimes impassable if there have been heavy rains. If this should happen, you’ll take a guided walking tour within the park instead.

Day 04: Drive - Konso - Turmi

Early in the morning visiting a Konso tribal village - a World Heritage-listed site of cultural significance. Invariably built on hilltops as protection from the lowland tribes, traditional Konso villages are surrounded by high stonewalls and encompass separate compounds, with outlying terraced agricultural fields. You will be fascinated by the unique architectural aspects, largely unchanged cultural heritage and social cohesion of the village, and how it has adapted to its harsh environment.

Another highlight is the famous 'wagas' - a funerary tradition where magnificent carved wooden sculptures were created in honor of Konso warrior heroes who have killed an enemy or animal, and often grouped to represent the man, his wives, and his adversaries.

The Konso people are known for their totems erected in honor of the dead and their intricate agricultural terracing techniques. You will visit the Konso people who have an ancient, complex, and fascinating culture of their own. Here are found human fossils dating from between 1.3 and 1.9 million years. Witness the spectacle of ‘Kondo's New York' an extraordinary landscape of sand pinnacles formed by wind & rain.

Konso people with their maze-like villages and terraces for agriculture. They are also well known for their Waga stall, grave markers for the brave and important men of this people. The cultural landscape of Konso is the youngest World Heritage Site of Ethiopia. After the visit you will drive to Turmi for overnight.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and Dinner

Transportation: Toyota Land Cruiser 4WD

Accommodation: Turmi Lodge

CONSULTANT NOTE

You will drive approximately 240 km in 7 hours

Game drive varies the length of time you drive

If there is any ceremonial activity like a traditional dance or bull jumping ceremony you will be informed by your guide.

Day 05: Visit Karo Tribes

Early in the morning after breakfast, we drive into a new tribal area. Here, our tribe of interest is the Karo, another tribe known for its elaborate body and facial paintings. These people live along the east bank of the Omo River and practice flood retreat cultivation, their main crops being maize, sorghum, and beans. Unlike the other tribes, they keep only a small number of cattle due to the prevalence of tsetse flies.

Like many of the Omo Valley tribes, they paint their bodies and faces with white chalk to prepare for any ceremonies. The chalk is mixed with yellow rock, red iron ore, and charcoal to make its requisite color. Face masks are worn at times and they have clay hair buns adorned with feathers. Late in the afternoon, you will drive back to Turmi.

The Hamar is one of the most well-known tribes in Southern Ethiopia. They inhabit the territory east of the Omo River and have villages in both Turmi and Dimeka. They are especially well known for their unique rituals, including a cattle-leaping ceremony that young men have to undergo to reach adulthood and to marry. They are highly ‘superstitious’ people, and to this day they consider twins to be babies born outside of wedlock, while children whose upper milk teeth develop before their lower teeth are deemed to be ‘evil’ or ‘unclean’.

As mentioned, the young Hamar men are famous for their “Evangadi dance” and “Bull jumping” ceremony (it is as part of this ceremony that the afore-mentioned whipping occurs). This ritual entails young men who wish to marry jumping over a line of bulls, proving their worth to their intended bride’s family. It also signifies their advent into adulthood. This is a rarely seen event however, with luck, we may hear of one on our Omo Valley tribe photography tour, and even be invited to attend this landmark event. Then drive to Jinka on the way enjoy the interaction of different tribes with their way of life.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and Dinner

Transportation: Toyota Land Cruiser 4WD

Accommodation: Jinka Resort

CONSULTANT NOTE

You will drive approximately 280 km in 6 hours

Game drive varies the length of time you drive

Day 06: Visit Mursi Tribes and Drive to Aribaminch

After breakfast early in the morning leave Jinka and drive to Mursi village to visit and appreciate the very attractive culture of the Mursi tribe.

They are renowned for the strange custom followed by their women who, on reaching maturity, have their lower lips slit and circular clay discs inserted, then drive to Key Afer Tribal Market one of the best markets in the omo valley since at least four different tribes are coming to attend this weekly market arrival to the small town and escort a local guide walking around the market and explore different section of the market including animal, vegetable, cereals and much more. Then continue the drive back to Koso overnight.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Transportation: Toyota Land Cruiser 4WD

Accommodation: Mora Height Lodge

CONSULTANT NOTE

You will drive approximately 260 km in 8 hours

Game drive varies the length of time you drive

Day 07: Drive to Hawassa

After Breakfast, you will drive to Hawassa. In the Rift Valley lakes (Southern Lakes) there are seven Lakes; the hot springs and visit to Abijata and Shalla National Park different varieties of birds and mammals.

On the way, you will visit Abijaita-Shalla Lakes National Park to see them in the park for many species of aquatic birds, particularly great white pelicans and greater and lesser flamingoes, Ostrich Farming, and also endemic mammals such as Warthogs, Grand Gazelles, and others that are available there.

NB: Abijatta-Shalla National Park is one of the National Parks of Ethiopia. Located 200 kilometers south of Addis Ababa, it contains the Rift Valley lakes of Abijatta and Shalla. The two lakes are separated by three kilometers of hilly land. Besides the two lakes, the primary attraction of this national park is several hot springs on the northeast corner of Lake Abijatta, and large numbers of flamingoes on the lake.

Lunch and Dinner

Transportation: Toyota Land Cruiser 4WD

Haile Resort Hotel

CONSULTANT NOTE

You will drive approximately 340 km

Game drives vary the time duration

Day 08: Drive -Shahsemene - Addis Ababa

On the final day, we leave Hawassa, returning to Addis Ababa by road. Visit “Amora Gedel”-the daily fishing market on the shore of Lake Hawassa and get close to pelicans, storks and other birds very much used to human company.

On the way, we will stop to visit Ras Tefreian village in Shahemen town. Shashemene is a town given to Ras Tefreian /Rasta/ community by His Majesty Hailesilasie I. After you see the Rasta community head to ‘Wendo Genet Spa’ to swim in a thermal bath and relax after a long visit to the Omo Valley tribes before heading to Addis Ababa. This evening we enjoy a traditional Ethiopian buffet dinner and local drinks, celebrating our journey through this culturally rich and fascinating country.

After dinner, you are transferred to the hotel in Addis for your last night in Ethiopia. This evening you will have transferred to the international airport in Addis Ababa for your onward flight, bringing this unique Ethiopia Lodge Tour to an end.

Lunch and Dinner

Transportation: Toyota Land Cruiser 4WD

CONSULTANT NOTE

You will drive approximately 280 km

Game drives vary the time duration