6.5 Days
Internal Flights: 2
Accommodation: Campsite, Lodge, Resort
Day 1 Today you will start your adventure in by flying from Addis Ababa to the city of Jinka. This is where you will start your visit to the Omo valley, where multiple traditional tribes live. A quick lunch in Jinka and a visit to the South Omo Museum & Research Center will allow you to gain an overview of the area.
After this you will drive into the Mago National Park where you will spend the night at a campsite and experience the heat of the earth under foot and the savannah sunset.
Day 2 Will be spent visiting the Mursi tribes, famed for their earlobe and lower lip plates. These live in varying settlement villages and as with all tribes, you will be invited take a tour and see local living practices and gain a glimpse of their way of life.
Time permitting additional tribes will include the Ngagatom, Ari, Karo, Body and Kwegu.
Lunch will be on the road and in the afternoon you will be driven out of the park and to the town of Turmi, where you will check into a Lodge for the night. The town of Turmi is close to the villages of the culturally vibrant Hamer tribe and in the evening, opportunity permitting, you will enjoy the spectacle of the "Avangadi", the traditional courtship ritual of the Hamer.
Day 3 Today you will spend the day around Turmi, visiting the Hamer tribe and season permitting attend a bull jumping event, a coming of age event for young men (bull jumping events occur in the months of October/November and again in the spring) After a lunch at the lodge, you will be driven to the town of Omorate, right at the southern end of Ethiopia and cross the Omo River with a hollowed out canoe to visit the Dessanech tribe famed for its warlike traditions.
Tonight, you will once again overnight at Turmi.
Day 4 Today you will leave the Omo Valley and travel up to hillside communities of the Konso via a famed geological feature called “New York”. The Konso tribe is famed for its distinctive and well documented culture, traditions and agricultural practices, and in the late morning you will visit the Konso Cultural Centre, before checking into Konso Lodge for Lunch. The well-tended landscape of the Konso hills is a UNESCO world heritage site, and in the afternoon you will have the chance to walk through several villages and explore the countryside.
Day 5 After an early start you will travel towards Arba Minch. On the way, there will be an late morning boating excursion to Lake Chamo, where you will come in close proximity to crocodiles, hippos and a variety of bird life.
After a quick lunch, there will be an afternoon excursion into Nechi Sar National Park, where Gazelle and Zebras can be seen. Dinner will be overlooking the stunning forested Park at sunset, and in the evening you will arrive at Haile Resort where you will overnight.
Day 6 Today you will gain the chance to relax in the Haile Resort in Arba Minch. There will be an optional trip to the Dorze Village in the nearby hills. The Dorze tribe are famed for their shapely bamboo huts, and unexpected culinary practices. Lunch at the Dorze Lodge will allow you to take in spectacular views of the valley and lakes below.
For a second night, you will overnight at Haile Resort.
Day 7 Today our tour ends, after a leisurely start at Haile Resort, you will check in at Arba Minch Airport and head back towards Addis Ababa or your next destination.