Arriving at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, you will meet TOUR GUIDE ETHIOPIA representatives and transfer you to your hotel. Depending on your arrival time, you will have a city tour in Addis Ababa. The city tour includes Entoto Mountain where you can see the city on the top. Entoto was the first capital city of Ethiopia during the time of Emperor Minilik, the national museum, home of Lucy and other hominid skeleton dating back 3.2 million years, Merkato, the biggest open-air marketplace in Africa, and other most important places of the city based on your time and interest. You will spend you’re overnight at a hotel. Transportation: Land cruiser Meals provided: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Accommodation: Monarch Hotel or Similar Consultant note You will drive 70 km and 4 hours’ drive time including pick up Game drive varies the time of arrival Read more

Monarch hotel

Starting off 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 lunch break at Wolayita Sodo. you will proceed to Arbaminch, arriving late afternoon. In 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 who are known for their tall beehive-like houses, 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: Paradise lodge CONSULTANT NOTE You will drive approximately 480 km in 7 hours Game drive varies the length of time you drive Read more

paradise Lodge

Early in the morning drive to the shore of the lake to have a boat trip on Lake Chamo, Boat trip on Lake Chamo is along the best anywhere in Ethiopia. One can spot many Hippos and the world's most spectacular concentrations of Giant Nile Crocodiles which measure about 6 meter with the water birds are great the scenery is truly unforgettable then further drive to Turmi On the way stop at KONSO to visit the Konso tribe with their king- UNSCO registered site for their extensive terracing and practice of making a wooden grave mark for their hero and kings. 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, who 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 ‘Konso'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. Continue drive late afternoon arrival to Turmi. Meals: Breakfast, lunch and Dinner Transportation: Toyota Land Cruiser 4WD Accommodation: Buska Lodge or Similar CONSULTANT NOTE You will drive approximately 258 km in 7 hours Game drive varies the length of time you drive Remark: - if there is any ceremonial activity like traditional dance, Bull jumping ceremony you will be informed by your guide so based on that you will pay the extra payment for the ceremony. Read more

Buska Lodge

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. In the afternoon you will drive back Turmi and have a visit of hamer village nearby. 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 the young men have to undergo in order to reach adulthood and to marry. They are a 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 aforementioned whipping occurs). This ritual entails young men who wish to marry jumping over a line of bulls, thereby 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. Meals: Breakfast, lunch and Dinner Transportation: Toyota Land Cruiser 4WD Accommodation: Buska Lodge or Similar CONSULTANT NOTE You will drive approximately 180 km in 6 hours Game drive varies the length of time you drive Read more

Buska Lodge

These day early in the morning after breakfast drive 73 km west to visit the Dassench/Geleb people; who inhabited in the bank of Omo River and we cross the Omo River by locally made boat to see the village these tribes are semi nomadic with very little agriculture on the bank of the Omo River. The you will drive to JINKA on the way visit the KEY AFER- Tribal Market- one of the best market in the OMO VALLEY since at list four different tribes are coming to attend these weekly market arrivals 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 late afternoon arrival Jinka. Meals: Breakfast, lunch and Dinner Transportation: Toyota Land Cruiser 4WD Accommodation: Omo Eco Lodge or Similar CONSULTANT NOTE You will drive approximately 260 km in 8 hours Game drive varies the length of time you drive Read more

Omo Eco Lodge

After an early breakfast you will leave Jinka and drive to Mursi village to visit and appreciate the very attractive culture of 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, The Mursi people are primarily pastoralists. They reside in the western regions of the Mago National Park, and move between the lower Tama Steppe, where they spend the wet season, and the Mursi Hills sector of the Park, where they spend the dry season. They have a population of around 5,000 and they speak a language that belongs to the Central Surma-East Sudanic branch of the Nilo-Saharan language family. Like the Bume, they practice flood retreat agriculture on the Omo River, and hunt occasionally. They also smoke out the hives of bees, found all over the National Park, in order to consume the rich honey. The Mursi women wear lip plates that they make from locally derived clay. The plates are considered an important aesthetic asset. Then continue drive back to Aribaminch for overnight. Meals: Breakfast, lunch and Dinner Transportation: Toyota Land Cruiser 4WD Accommodation:Paradise Lodge CONSULTANT NOTE You will drive approximately 210 km in 8 hours Game drive varies the length of time you drive Read more

Paradise Lodge

After Breakfast you will drive to Hawassa. The Rift valley lakes (Southern Lakes) there are seven Lakes; the hot spring and visit to Abijata and Shalla National Park different varieties birds and mammals. On the way you will visit Abijaita-Shalla Lakes National Park to see the 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 Warthogs, Grand Gazelles and others which 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 a number of hot springs on the northeast corner of Lake Abijatta, and large numbers of flamingoes on the lake. Meals: Lunch and Dinner Transportation: Toyota Land cruiser 4WD Accommodation: Haile Resort Hotel or Similar CONSULTANT NOTE You will drive approximately 340 km Game drives varies the time duration Read more

Haile Resort Hotel

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 really 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. Before you see the Rasta community head to ‘Wendo Genet Spa’ to swim on thermal bath and relax after a long visit in 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. Meals: Lunch and Dinner Transportation: Toyota Land cruiser 4WD Accommodation: - CONSULTANT NOTE You will drive approximately 280 km Game drives varies the time duration Read more