Ethiopian Cultural and Wildlife Tour to the Omo Valley and Bale Mountains 14 Days & 13 Nights

Daily itinerary

Day 1 – 2. Arrival in Addis; city tour.

Be welcomed at the airport and transfer to your hotel. Addis Ababa is the third largest city in Africa with an estimated population of five million and the third highest capital in the world. Addis is a colorful and vibrant city regarded by many as ‘The African diplomatic capital’. The city tour of Addis includes among others, museums – the national and the ethnographic; market – Merkato (the largest open air market). Churches – St George Cathedral also housing a museum of various religious icons and artifacts.

Day 2. Drive to Dorze village.

Cross scenic landscapes and various towns as well as small villages to the southern part of Ethiopia. Enroute visit  Tiya, a 13 century steles which is also a world heritage site. After a lunch break at Sodo, continue to Dorze, people living in a beehive woven houses which give an interesting insight into their lives and traditions. Their woven houses are built around a central pole, are very high and have a porch and sometimes two flaps for a tiny chink of light which together look like elephants trunk. Over the years these buildings shrink as termites nibble away at the bottom edges. The animals share the hut having an area to the outside edge and help to keep the occupants warm.

Day 3. Full day at Dorze village.

At Dorze village, in a compound there may be several huts of varying sizes, one for the parents and small children, another for the first married, one as a cookhouse. Visit a particular village huts and a central building for socializing – the idea of an entrepreneurial Dorze Rastafarian. It’s a pleasant environment which feels genuine and might be fun to stay if one was young and into strong drink, quat and native experiences.

Join a young woman as she demonstrates the stripping of the banana leaf to make the ‘bread’, the greenish mush is wrapped in leaves before being buried. Some she had dug up after its fermentation period, by now creamy colored and smelling slightly sour, was chopped and molded on a board prior to its cooking on an open fire in a metal skillet.

The fibers left from this process are virtually unbreakable. After about eight minutes cooking the bread is eaten either with honey or red hot chilli paste. Beer is made from bearded wheat and an 85o liquor from some other plant.

Day 4. Konso villages

Drive to Konso, a town located about 595 km south west of Addis and its cultural landscape is registered the 9th world heritage site. Konso is inhabited by people who speak one of the eastern Cushitic languages of Ethiopia. As agriculture is the basis of Konso’s economic activity, the people are admired for their amazing stone terracing and soil conservation.

You will visit the traditional villages that are surrounded by multiple rounds of dry stone walls for the purpose of defense mechanism during wars of rival neighbors many years ago. There are sites of political negotiations, administration of justice, rites of passage, sacrifices, and victory or harvest ceremonies. They are also places for playing, dancing and chatting. Their size and contents vary considerably depending on their function.

Visit spectacles of Konso such as;

The mora, public place – Each walled village possess several public places, mora of different types and sections, some belongs to the whole village, while others belong to only one ward, mora plays a vital role in the lives of the people.

Men’s house – There is a men’s house in every mora. As the Konso age grading traditional system obliges, active men in the responsible age group are not permitted to sleep in their private house. Especially built houses called ‘pafta’ are constructed for them. This system is designed to facilitate a rapid mobilization of all active men in the responsible age group against any possible danger such as fire and aggression.

Manhood stones, Manhood stones commemorate the victories of former generations and villages.

Generation pole- Generation pole in small fields in front of moras are erected long dry woods usually junipers which cut from the poqolla’s or clan chief’s forest called “Olahita’. These are generation memorials erected every 18 years when a new generation takes place.

Swearing stone – erected in the swearing mora of each village. Accused individuals are expected to swear on these stones to prove their innocence.

Waka , wooden statue – Traditionally a waka will be erected above the grave of important Konso men. It will especially be erected above the grave of heroes and clan chief. People who have killed an enemy or one of the great animals like lion are regarded as heroes by the Konso people.

Gessrgio aka NewYork – Very interesting and the most natural attraction site in Konso. This is located in Gesergio, about 17km from karat town. It will be mostly related to that of modern buildings.

Day 5. Drive to Jinka

Drive toJinka crossing the different tribes and place such as Bena and Tsemay. After you arrived in Jinka, you will visit the South Omo Museum and Research center which the visit will give you a deeper insight in to the local customs, culture, beliefs and rituals. In the afternoon, you can visit Ari village an interesting people. They are happy to show you their homes, village and entire livelihood. You will practice how to make injera, or coffee.  

Day 6. Visit Mursi village

In the morning, drive to Mago national park to visit the Mursi tribes, people known for their lower lip and earlobe plates. A small tribe numbering 5000 to 8000, Mursi are people based on the Omo River having a remarkable characteristic of the lip plate tradition. A young woman’s lower lip and ears are pierced and enlarged by inserting even bigger clay discs that eventually may be more than 12cm in diameter.

Day 7.  To Turmi, Hamers town and their Monday Market.

Drive to Turmi the main town of the Hamer people. Hamers are among the popular tribes in the lower Omo where initiation is an important part of men’s life. The women rub a mixture of ochere and butterfat into their hair and onto their neck as well their necklace. They have a colorful market that you will visit if you are there on Monday.

Day 8. Drive back to Arbaminch enroute visit markets.

Tuesday is a market day at Dimeka and Alduba. Dimeka is mainly dominated by the Hamers whereas Alduba is mainly a cattle market but you see different tribes such as Ari, Tsemey, Hamer. If Thursday, you will visit another one at Keyafer where you will see the tribes all in the same place then continue to Arbaminch. 

Day 9. Chamo and Netchsar Park.

Enjoy a boat trip on Lake Chamo you will visit the hippos and crocodiles as well as water birds. Then cross the lake to Netch sar national park where you will see zebras, swaynes hartebeest, kudus, bushbuck and other interesting wildlife.

Day 10. Great Rift Valley, Langano Lake.

Drive back to Sodo where you will take the right turn to the Great Rift Valley region where you will marvel the brown waters of Lake Langano among others. Lake Langano is a great place to relax after Omo expedition and for those who enjoy swimming and sunbathe. The chained mountains of Arsi give a beautiful background to the irregular basin of Lake Langano. The water is light brown because of its mineral content and the multi colored sands make the sloping beach a perfect spot to bask in the blazing sun.

Day 11. Bale/Donsho. Visit Dinsho surroundings.

If you are wondering where to visit in Ethiopia especially if you are keen on trekking or nature lover, Bale Mountains will be a place to mull over. Ethiopia’s Bale Mountains are great trekking site and the largest area of Afro Alpine habitat in the whole of the African continent. They rise from the extensive surrounding farmlands at 2500m above sea level to the West, North and East.

At Dinsho headquarters, you will have couple of kilometers nature trail that gives you a brief introduction to the plants and animals of the area. There is a good opportunity of seeing Mountain Nyala, is a large antelope in the spiral-horned antelope family. Males are a dark brown color with a pair of gently spiraled horns with white tips.

They bear handsome white markings on the face, neck and legs, together with usually at least one stripe and some white spots on each side. The park gives the visitor opportunities for unsurpassed mountain walking, horse trekking, scenic driving. It also gives the chance to view many of Ethiopia’s endemic mammals in particular the Mountain Nyala and Simien Fox and birds such as Abyssinian Wood Pecker, Thick – Billed Raven, Blue Winged Goose, etc.

Day 12. Sannete Plateau and Harena forest then drive to Zeway.

Admire the park’s beauty on the road from Goba to the eastern part. There you will find the Sannete plateau at an altitude of 4000meters and some of the loveliest mountain scenery in Africa. Here it will relatively be easy to spot several of the endangered.

Ethiopian wolf or sometimes called red fox is the rarest member of the canine family in the world. The animal is the size and color of European red fox, but with long legs, longer muzzle and a striking black and white tail. The male and female are similar in appearance. The fox feeds on rodents and as a result are mainly found at the higher altitudes where rodents abound.

Day 13. Back to Addis via Debrezeit crater lakes.

Continue to Debrezeit, an attractive town just 50km from Addis surrounded by 5 crater lakes and beautified by bougainvillea trees. Enjoy watching various species of birds like cormorants. At Addis, tonight you will enjoy a fare well dinner at a cultural restaurant where you will enjoy a delicious Ethiopian cuisine accompanied by traditional dances of the different ethnic groups of Ethiopia.

Day 14. Departure flight back home.