The Best of Ethiopia Omo Valley Tour

The Details 

10 Days 

 Remote tribes of the Omo Valley, where ‘Exotic’ finds true meaning here. 

March 22 or 23 Depart for Addis

 Arrive March 23 or March 24th 2022   Hotels for extra nights are additional. 

Day 1: Arrive Addis Ababa

Arrive at Bole International Airport, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  Welcome to Ethiopia. Upon arrival, you will be welcomed by your local tour leader and transfer to Golden Tulip  or Jupiter Hotel. 

Overnight in Addis Ababa, founded in 1886 by Menelik II, is situated at 2,500 meters (8000 ft) above sea level. It is the highest capital city in the world, after La Paz and Quito in South America. The city enjoys an excellent climate all year round, with an average temperature of 25C (77F). Addis Ababa is a pleasant city with wide avenues of jacarandas, interesting museums, and one of the largest open-air markets in Africa, known as the “Mercato”.

The rest of the day, relax in your comfortable  hotel and get ready for the unique adventure awaiting.

Overnight at Jupiter  Hotel-Addis Ababa. 

 March 23

Day 2: Addis Ababa-Jinka

We will have a nice breakfast in the morning and get ready for our adventure to the Omo. After breakfast we will meet  our driver for  the transfer to Addis Ababa Airport for our flight to Jinka.  40 minute flight takes us to the Omo Valley/Great Rift Valley.

Upon arrival at Jinka Airport, you will meet with your drivers and we will drive to our lodge where we will stay overnight. In the afternoon, we will visit Jinka Ethnographic museum which houses different artifacts and daily used tools of the 16 tribes living in the valley. 

After our visit to the museum we will visit the Ari tribal villages and we will witness their daily life and activities and a great photography opportunity to photograph when they do be-keeping, blacksmith work as well as different hand crafts.

Overnight – Eco Omo Lodge-Arbaminch

March 24, 25, 

Day 3-4 

Very early in the morning, we will drive through Mago National Park to visit  Mursi Village. We will arrive at the Mursi Village at good time to photograph the Mursi Tribes at good lunch. 

The Mursi, undoubtedly the most celebrated residents of South Omo are distinctive group of pastoralists. The Mursi are best known for their unique item of decoration, lip plates. Women of Mursi wear circular clay plate on their lower lip and the bigger a women can wear, the greater her value when she get married.  

After breakfast, we will continue driving further south west to the Omo Valley.  Driving from Arbaminch to Turmi, noting prepares you for the exciting experience awaiting you as we will be driving through many tribal villages  and small towns including the Tsemay and Konso. 

Our last destination for today is the Turmi, home to the beautiful Nomadic Hamer Tribe living on the side of Keske River.  The Hamer, display an elaborate and diverse selection of body decorations. They are also identifiable for their high cheekbones, elaborate custom of beads, cowries and leather, and thick copper necklaces. The Hamar women are striking; wearing beautiful colorful beaded skins, ornate necklaces, and metal bangles around their wrist and ankles. We hope to arrive at the lodge for late lunch and be in time to visit Hamer village with good light for photography. 

For the next three nights, we will be based here at Turmi Village the center of the Hamer Tribes and other tribes living in the surrounding area. This will give us a great chance to attend different rituals including, Evangad and  Bull Jumping Ceremonies in some of the off-road tribal villages. From our base here, will help us great deal to create a wonderful photographic opportunity for the next three nights. This allows us to be flexible and capitalize on all the photographic opportunities in the area. During our stay in Turmi, we will visit the Abore and Dassenech tribes.

Isolated for millennia from the rest of the world, the beautiful Omo Valley is home to an exciting mix of many small and distinctive tribal groups. Amongst others, we find the Karo, the Mursi and the Hamer-all of whom have retained their own unique customs and traditions. Lifestyles are as varied as the tribes themselves. Lacking any material, culture and artifacts common to other cultures, these tribes find unique ways in which to express their artistic impulses. Arbore women are well known for their long headdresses. The girls shave their heads to indicate virginity, and only start growing hair after marriage. The Daasanech are a semi-nomadic tribe living on the shore of Omo.  Their clans stretch across Sudan, Kenya and Southern Ethiopia. They are known for their very unique and ornate hair buns. Both the Surma and the Karo, for example, are experts at body painting, using clays and locally available vegetable pigments to trace fantastic patterns on each other’s faces, chests, arms, and legs. These designs are created purely for fun and aesthetic effect, each artist vying to outdo his fellows.

Overnight:  Buska Lodge

March 26, 27,

Day 5-6 Karo-Dus 

This morning, we will have a chance for one final shooting with the Hamerr before we continue our drive to the Kara Tribe residing on the shore of the Omo River. The Kara  are the masters in body & face painting which they practice on daily bases. Before their rituals and dances they carefully paint their faces and body as well as  the faces of their friends using different color soil, mineral, plan pigments, flowers, white chalks and black charcoal.  Men are mostly well decorated with red clay  hair buns, prepared for days to be ready for the event. 

For the next couple of days, you will have the chance to mingle with Karar and spend quality time with them, learning about their daily activities including attending different rituals, follow them as they herd their cattle, do farming. 

Our mobile tent will be set up  along the shore of  Omo River as we will make Dus our village for the next three days.Dus, This will help us to get very close to the Karo Tribes. 

Overnight: Mobile Camping-Dus.

March 28, 29, 30,

Day 7-9: Dus-Kibish-The Exotic Suri Tribes 

Today, we start our day very early as we  prepare to depart for the real adventure awaiting on the other side of the Omo River in the Land of The Suri. After breakfast, we start driving to the other side of the Omo River to Kibish, home  of the exotic Suri Tribes. ‘Exotic’  finds true meaning here. 

We will set our mobile camp at Kibish, very close to the villages we will be visiting the following days. After we get some snack, when the sun starts to get cooler, we will walk to Kibish River where we will find the Suri tribes along the river and this will create a wonderful photographing opportunity of the exotic tribes in their daily activity in a good light. 

Here we will have another three full days to explore the Suri Tribes.  The Suri are one of the most attractive and decorative tribes in the whole of Africa. They paint their body in detail so colorfully and they make different headpieces from nature & wildflowers. The women wear lip plate made of clay and the bigger the plate the more beautiful  the woman is considered to be among the tribe.  The art on the body and the scarification are created with different thorns from threes and razor blades. You can’t help but feel that you are transported thousands of years back in time and witnessing an ancient traditions unchanged to this date isolated from the fast changing world. 

The Suri Tribes are Nomadic Pastoralists and the men live in the cattle camps. They live on drinking raw  blood from the live cow  and milk. During our stay at Kibish we will visit cattle camp and witness rituals and cultural activities at different villages. There will definitely be many great photographing opportunities and a chance to interact with the tribes. 

In this captivating region, you are privileged to witness age-old customs and rituals, learning of the symbolisms that remain an integral part of everyday life, it’s absolutely a unique wilderness.

Overnight: Mobile Camping-Kibish. 

March 31

Day 10: Kibish-Mizan-Addis Ababa-Charter Flight 

In the morning, we will drive to Mizan to catch our private charter flight to Addis Ababa. The charter flight will save us two days of long drive. Upon arrival, we will meet our driver for the drive to our hotel. The rest of the day is at leisure and to freshen up. 

In the evening, there will be a special Ethiopian farewell dinner party with traditional buffet and local drinks. There will also be a live cultural dance show of the different ethnic groups living in the country. There will not be any better way of ending a trip.  After the farewell dinner, transfer to Addis Ababa Airport for the flight back home. End of the tour.

Evening Departure Home, or additional night in Addis. Additional Hotel costs are at travelers expense. 

COST INCLUDES:

1. All internal travel, tours and excursions with 4×4 vehicles 

2. All Accommodation at the hotels specified on itinerary 

3. All meals as listed on the above itinerary – B=Breakfast, L= Lunch, D= dinner

4. All entrance fee to villages

5. Airport facilitation, meeting and greeting, transfers upon arrival and departure.

6. VAT and local taxes

7. Charter flight from Mizon to Addis 

8. bottled water as required  

9. Beer, wine, Soda, coffee, and tea included with meals

10.  Two local guides at all village visits

11. Domestic flight from Addis to Jinka 

• Cost does not include
• Photography fees approx  $250.00
• Tips and gratitude for guides, camp staff  and drivers 
• Items of personal nature 
• International flights
• Additional Hotel stays
• visa
• Travel Insurance 
• Meals and beverages on arrival and departure days