Omo Valley Photography Tour

Arrive at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport. Upon arrival, you will be met by our representative and transferred to your reserved hotel. After time to refresh, take a guided city tour of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital and the third highest capital in the world. You will start the tour with a visit to the National Museum, home to one of the world's most important paleontological exhibits in the world; 'Lucy'. Next, you will visit Entoto Mountain, which overlooks the whole of Addis Ababa. Marvel at the panoramic views of the capital amidst the fresh breeze of the eucalyptus forests. Then visit the Holy Trinity Cathedral Church. As the final resting place of much-loved Emperor Haile Selassie, Holy Trinity Cathedral is one of the country's most sacred places of worship. The city tour will end with an exploration of the colorful Merkato, Africa’s largest open-air market.
• Night : Addis Ababa
• Accommodation : Hotel
• Elevation: 2300m

Fly in to Jinka then transfer to your reserved room. Here in Jinka you will visit Ari tribe village. The Ari tribe, located in the hills north of the Tama Plains and famed for its indigenous communities. Here not far from Jinka town you will meet the Ari tribe and their village. Live on the hills around Jinka, the Ari people are the largest tribe in the Omo Valley and are well-known for their pottery and distinctive scarring. You will take walk through the village, learning about different aspects of their lives, including blacksmithing and distillation of the local liquor, known as Areki.

This morning drive through the Mago National Park to a local village of the Mursi tribe. Famous around the world for their instantly recognizable 'lip plates', the Mursi are one of Ethiopia's most famous tribal people. They are pastoralists who keep herds of cattle and goats and are most famed for the lip-piercing custom of their women who, at the coming of age, insert clay disks into incisions made in their lower lips. In addition, they are the warrior tribe of the Omo Valley.Then transfer to Turmi town, home of the famous Hamar tribe and center to explore the Omo Valley Tribes.

Late in the afternoon, you will visit the Hamer Tribe. The Hamar people are best known for their bull-jumping ceremony and for being the friendliest tribe in the Omo Valley. The Hamer women, with their magnificent ochre-colored hair braids, skirts of cowrie-decorated goatskin, and tight copper bracelets, rank amongst the most beautiful South Omo ethnic groups.
• Night: Turmi
• Accommodation: Buska lodge
• Elevation: 930m

In the morning excursion from Turmi to meet the Karo Tribe. Your morning is dedicated to visiting the village of the Karo people, who are best known for their skin scarification and ornamental painted body and face decorations. They use white chalk, black charcoal, and red and ochre earth and are considered the masters of body painting. Then leave the Karo Village and drive towards the village of the Nyangatom Tribe. The Nyangatom tribe lives near the town of Kangate on the west side of the Omo River and further towards Kibish. The Nyangatom are specialized crocodile hunters, using harpoons from a dugout canoe. Like the Hamer Tribe, they are the friendliest and most welcoming tribal groups in Southern Ethiopia. In Nyangatom’s culture body ornaments and scarification are symbols of status and strength. In the Omo Valley, the Nyangatom have a reputation as feared warriors. We will cross the Omo River to reach the village of Nyangatom.
• Night : Turmi
• Accommodation: Buska lodge
• Elevation: 930m

Early in the morning, depart to Omorate town to visit a village of the Dassenech tribe, settled adjacent to the Omo River. The Dassenech live in the fertile Omo River delta, close to Kenya and Lake Turkana where they hunt crocodiles. We will cross the Omo River by a local boat to reach and visit their village. Because they are semi-nomadic, they live in small, lightweight huts, designed for easy movement if the village changes location. Return to Turmi and drive to Konso. The Konso people are famous for their intricately terraced hillsides, fine woven materials, and the carved totems with which they decorate their graves. A site of immense cultural importance, these old villages stand as a testament to the enduring adaptability of the people who have called these lands or hills home for generations. Konso is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Night: Konso
• Accommodation: Kanta Lodge
• Elevation: 1650m

In the morning, you will have a guided tour in the center of the village of the Konso. A guided tour of one of the 11 traditional hilltop villages registered by the Konso Cultural Landscape Unesco World Heritage Site highlights Ethiopia's incredible cultural diversity. Comprising an organic labyrinth of stone-walled family compounds, each village is distinguished by several uniquely Konso features. These include towering olahita poles which are erected every 18 years to mark the induction of a new generation, and engraved waka grave markers that depict the deceased clutching his penis.

Then drive to Arbaminch and in the afternoon visit to Dorze village. Reached from Arba Minch by a dramatic 25km road, the pretty highland region around the small town of Chencha is known for its misty climate and fertile crop-producing soils. It is home to the Dorze people, skillful weavers who produce what is widely regarded to be the finest cotton shama cloth in all of Ethiopia. A highlight of our trip will be a visit to a traditional Dorze homestead. Made from bamboo, grass and false banana leaves, these attractive beehive-shaped huts stand up to 6m tall and possess a peculiar nose-like frontal extension used as a reception area.

What a view! Set below the lofty Amaro Mountains, Arba Minch is an attractively leafy town that offers a grandstand view over Nechisar National Park and its most prominent landmarks. In the foreground, you'll see an evergreen fig forest fed by the bubbling springs alluded to in the name Arba Minch (Amharic for ‘Forty Springs’). Behind this stand the expansive Rift Valley lakes of Chamo and Abaya, as well as the narrow ‘Bridge of God’ that divides them, and the distant Nech Sar ('White Grass') Plains. It's a wonderful introduction to Ethiopia's deep south.

In the morning, you will have a boat safari out onto Lake Chamo to see the Nile Crocodiles, Hippos, and Birds that call the region home. This 1h to 2h hours boat ride takes you to the “crocodile market”, an area of the lake nicknamed as such due to the impressive crocodile population usually found there, and the local hippos.
The afternoon is free time!
Afternoon, free time.
• Night : Arbaminch
• Accommodation: Haile Resort
• Elevation: 1,285 m

Leave the Arbaminch and travel to Awassa via Yirgalem. Yirgalem is the home of the Sidama People and a lovely and tranquil area in which to relax and escape the rat race. Sidama people are blessed with unique geology, traditions, and a UNESCO-recognized calendar. They are famous for growing sweeter, more acidic coffee beans with appeasing aromas and complex flavors. Arrive at Yirgalem and you will walk through the beautiful cultural villages of the Sidama People. The villages are filled with Enset (False Banana) and Coffee plantations. A Hanafa cultural tourist village showcases the culture and way of life of the Sidama people. You will have the traditional coffee ceremony, preparation of traditional Sidama food, and the ways of life of the local people.
Then drive to Hawassa, the largest settlement in the Rift Valley south of Addis Ababa. Hawassa is a bustling regional capital whose modern center runs down to the shore of Lake Hawassa. And it is the forest-fringed lake that gives the city much of its appeal.

• Night : Awassa
• Accommodation: Kerawi Hotel
• Elevation: 1, 708 m

This morning, before leaving Hawassa, you will visit the fish market on the shore of the lake. In leafy lakeside gardens inhabited by grivet and guereza monkeys, Hawassa also supports a long list of aquatic and forest birds you wouldn’t normally associate with urban habitats; these include African pygmy goose, African fish eagle, black-winged lovebird, and yellow-fronted parrot. On the way visit the Abijatta-Shalla National Park, the incredible birdlife more than makes up for it. Flamingos concentrate in their tens of thousands on shallow Lake Abijatta, where you can also expect to see a good variety of shorebirds. Other attractions include the searing hot springs that run into Lake Shalla and the park's spectacular Rift Valley scenery. Then you enjoy stopping at the bustling small town of Ziway to see the spectacular birdlife associated with its eponymous lake. Marabou storks scavenge on local fishermen's catches, and you're also likely to see pelicans, jacanas, and various waterfowl. Ziway is notable as the hub of Ethiopia's growing wine industry. And as the site of a 1,200-year-old island monastery which, according to local legend, once provided sanctuary to the biblical Ark of the Covenant.

Then a scenic drive to Addis Ababa then time for shopping.Then you will be transferred to your hotel to prepare your luggage and get ready for your return flight back home. In the evening, there will be a farewell dinner held at a traditional restaurant. During this event, local dancers and musicians will showcase the cultural traditions of various ethnic groups in the country. Afterward, you will be transferred to the airport for their departure. Your Ethiopian adventure ends here.