Arrival in Addis Ababa and sightseeing

Arrival in Addis Ababa and transfer to hotel. Depending on your arrival time you may have the opportunity to go sightseeing in Addis Ababa. The sightseeing includes the national museum (where you can see the Lucy fossil skeleton found) the Red Terror museum, Trinity cathedral church, Entoto hills and Merkato.

Overnight at Jupiter International Hotel or The Residence Hotel  B&B

Drive to Arba Minch via Dorze Village

After breakfast drive to Araba Minch with a few stops en route to visit and interact with the  Dorze people.

The Dorze people belong to one of the Omotic groups in the South West of Ethiopia. They are a hard working tribe renowned for their skill in weaving, bamboo carpentry and other traditional crafts. The Dorze people are best known for their cotton weaving and tall bee-hive shaped dwellings which are some of the most distinctive in Africa. Every Dorze compound is self-sufficient, surrounded by a small holding of crops and inside each compound is their remarkable domed dwellings made from false banana leaves.

Overnight at Paradis Lodge  B&B

Boat Ride

Early morning make boat excursion after breakfast on lake Chamo to view the resident crocodiles, Hippos and birds.

Lake Chamo is rich in a variety of fishes including tiger-fish, giant Nile Perch, catfish and tilaphia, which offers fine sport. In the bays, a number of hippopotamus emerge at dusk to graze on the grassy shores. Lake Chamo is also sanctuary for several thousand Nile Crocodiles, which are up to 7m in length. Bird life is also enjoyable at the lake. Hordes of yellow wiver birds flit constantly through the trees, and vividly-colored king fishers skim the lake where great white pelicans storks, ibises, hornbills and cormorants plumb the waters for food.

After the Lake Chamo experience you will drive to Turmi.

Overnight at Buska or Turmi Lodge  B&B

Excursion to Omorate

Excursion to Omorate by crossing the Omo river on a local wooden boat to meet and interact with the Dassanach  tribe.

Return to Turmi in the afternoon to visit the nearby Hammer tribe village, with the possibility to see special ceremonies such as weddings and other traditional rituals.

Overnight at Buska or Turmi Lodge  B&B

Drive to Jinka

After breakfast you will visit the Karo tribe on your way to Jinka.

The Karo or Kara is a small tribe with an estimated population between 1,000 and 3,000. They live along the east banks of the Omo River in southern Ethiopia and practice flood retreat cultivation.

Like many of the tribes in the Omo, they paint their bodies and faces with white chalk to prepare for a ceremony.  The chalk is mixed with yellow rock, red iron ore and charoal to make its color.  Face masks are worn at times and they have clay hair buns with feathers in them.  Red clay mixed with butter is put into their hair and clothing is made from animal skin.  The women scar their chest believing it makes them beautiful.

The men’s scars represent an enemy or dangerous animal killed.  They also wear clay hair buns which symbol a kill.  A man in the tribe can have as many wives as he wants, but must be able to afford them.

Overnight at Resort Hotel  B&B

Excursion to Mursi village

Morning excursion to meet and interact with the Mursi. The Mursi are famous for their stick-fighting ceremony and Mursi women are known all over the world for wearing clay plates in their lower lips. Their economy concentrated on bartering and sharing possessions.

Overnight at Resort Hotel  B&B

Drive back to Arba Minch

After breakfast you will go visit the Konso tribe on your way back to Arba Minch.

Konso people are located in the arid highlands of southwestern Ethiopia. Their sharply delimited traditional territory is bounded by lands of Oromo peoples, to whom the Konso are culturally and linguistically related. Konso people are Cushitic people.

Konso people are farmers, living in fortified villages bounded by their farming land. They developed a defensive style of building, with villages on hilltops, protected by fortifications around them.

Overnight at Paradise Lodge  B&B

Drive back to Addis via stelae at Tiya

Early morning drive back to Addis with a stop over at stelae at Tiya.

Thirty-six huge stone monoliths, 32 of which bear strange carvings of swords and other signs and symbols, stand clustered in the tall grasses of a large field less than a kilometer outside the small town of Tiya. The stelae were designated a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in 1980.

Evening farewell dinner followed by a transfer to your hotel or to the airport for your international flight back home.