5-Day Omo Valley Explore Tribes, Cultures and Landscapes

• You'll be collected from the airport.
• Accommodation before the tour starts can be arranged for an extra cost.

Fly to Arba Minch

Today, you'll return to the airport to board your flight to Arba Minch, meaning 40 springs in Amharic. The town sits beautifully at the foothills of the Great Rift Valley escarpment and overlooks the blue waters of Lake Abaya and Lake Chamo. In the afternoon, you'll visit the Dorze village, known for its weaving culture shown in cotton clothing, fences, and beehive-shaped bamboo houses. Men weave while women spin cotton threads by hand with great care and skill. Each Dorze household keeps a small garden filled with spices, cabbage, and tobacco plants. Their staple food is Kocho, prepared carefully from the false banana plant. In the evening, you'll relax and enjoy the lodge facilities and spa services while admiring panoramic sunset views over the two beautiful lakes. Your overnight stay will be at Haile Resort in Arba Minch town.

Main Destination:

Arba Minch (City)

Accommodation:

Haile Resort Arba Minch

• Mid-range hotel located in Arba Minch (City)

+3 Photos

Meals & Drinks:

• Breakfast (Lunch & dinner not included)
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Lake Chamo / Konso Village / Turmi

In the morning, you'll take a remarkable boat ride on the southernmost Rift Valley lake of Ethiopia, Lake Chamo. One can spot many hippos and giant crocodiles, and the scenery is truly unforgettable. Fishing for Nile perch and many other species by locals on their traditional boats is by far the best in the country. We can also watch various lowland water birds like the African Fish Eagle, Great White Pelicans, and egrets. Leaving Lake Chamo behind, we visit the Konso village, where you'll enjoy lunch. The cultural landscape of Konso is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and is comprised of stone-walled terraces and fortified settlements in the highlands stretching back 21 generations (more than 400 years). Konso is known for its religious traditions, waga sculptures, and nearby fossil beds. Overnight stay: Buska Lodge, Turmi.

Main Destination:

Turmi (Lower Omo Valley)

Accommodation:

Buska Lodge

• Mid-range lodge located in Turmi (Lower Omo Valley)

Meals & Drinks:

• Breakfast (Lunch & dinner not included)
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Karo & Hamer Villages

Today’s drive takes you to Koricho, a settlement for the Karo Nilotic ethnic group, famous for their body paintings. They paint themselves daily with colored ocre, white chalk, yellow mineral rock, and pulverized iron, all-natural resources local to the area. This is an elaborate process, which ranges from fine details to rough, but striking paintings traced with the palms or fingers. The Karo people also scarify their chests to beautify themselves by cutting with a knife or razor and rubbing ash into the wound to create a raised effect. In the afternoon, you'll visit the Hamer tribe, whose women are known for their striking appearance, adorned with ochre-colored hair hanging in a heavy fringe, leather skirts decorated with cowries, and many copper bracelets fixed tightly around their arms. The men are noted for the initiation ceremony of jumping over bulls. Below Karo & Hammer Tribes.

Main Destination:

Turmi (Lower Omo Valley)

Accommodation:

Buska Lodge

• Mid-range lodge located in Turmi (Lower Omo Valley)

Meals & Drinks:

• Breakfast (Lunch & dinner not included)
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Dassanech Tribe / Ari Village/ Jinka

This morning, you'll travel closer to the Kenyan border to visit the people of the Dassanech tribe. You'll cross the Omo River, one of the major rivers of the country that drains into Lake Turkana of Kenya, to visit one of the villages of the Dassanech tribe (meaning “people of the delta), who are the southernmost people of the country and are known for their scarifications. Over time, the tribe absorbed a wide range of different people. It is now divided into eight main clans. Each clan has its own identity and customs, its own responsibilities towards the rest of the tribe, and is linked to a particular territory. You'll continue with our drive to Jinka, the biggest town in the Omo region. In the afternoon, you'll visit the Ari people, the biggest group in the Omo region. Ari are living in wider villages with private compounds on which they have their huts and grow a variety of crops. They have large livestock herds and produce large quantities of honey.

Main Destination:

Jinka (Lower Omo Valley)

Accommodation:

Eco Omo Lodge

• Mid-range lodge located in Jinka (Lower Omo Valley)

+3 Photos

Meals & Drinks:

• Breakfast (Lunch & dinner not included)
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Mursi & Fly back to Addis Ababa

After breakfast, you'll leave Jinka and drive to Mursi village to visit one of the most fascinating tribes in Africa. Although recent extreme drought has made their herding and cultivation difficult, they still adhere to their traditional and unique culture. They are renowned for the strange custom followed by their women, who, on reaching maturity, have their lower lips slit and circular disks inserted, indicating their worth before getting married. Men of the Mursi also use white paint for their bodies and faces. Just like any other ethnic tribe in the lower valley, the men must pass a test before they can get married. A Mursi man is given a stick called a “Donga “and must face one opponent. The men then battle it out, beating each other with the sticks. You'll have a midday flight back to Addis, where you'll enjoy free time to explore on your own and do some last-minute shopping.

Main Destination:

Addis Ababa (City)

Accommodation:

No accommodation (End of tour)

Meals & Drinks:

• Breakfast (Lunch & dinner not included)
• Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

• Additional accommodation can be arranged for an extra cost.
• You'll be dropped off at the airport.