10-Day Cultural Immersion Experience with Omo Valley Tribes

Tiya

On day 2, you will leave Addis Ababa early in the morning and head towards Butajira, stopping on the way to the mysterious stone stellar field of Tiya. Now a UNESCO World Heritage site, nobody really knows who carved the stellae, or the meaning of their mysterious symbols.

Duration: 1-hour

Admission Ticket Free

Chamo Lake

In the morning, you will take a boat trip on Lake Chamo to see the famous ”crocodile market” – a stretch of sand where enormous Nile Crocodiles like to warm up in the sunshine. Sightings of hippos are also common on the lake.

Duration: 3 hours

Admission Ticket Included

Dorze Village

In the afternoon, you’ll take a drive up the hillside to the highland community of Dorze. The Dorze people are famous for their skill as weavers and on a tour around the village, you will see some of their products. Even their houses are woven from bamboo. You can try your hand at the spinning thread, and find out some of their many uses of the enset (false banana) plant. From there, you’ll return to your hotel in Arba Minch, where you’ll stay a second night.

Konso

Leaving Arba Minch, the tour continues southwards, past Lake Chamo to Karat-Konso. The Konso Cultural Landscape, which includes 42 villages and surrounding farmland, is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. There are around 250,000 people living in this area, mostly in hill-top villages surrounded by high stone walls. Konso farmers use a sophisticated system of stone terracing to retain moisture and prevent erosion of the hillsides. The area is also famous for the waka (carved wooden funerary statues) that dot the landscape. The Konso people are thought to have lived in this area for at least 400 years and they speak a language belonging to the Cushitic family.

Mursi Village

From Jinka, you’ll spend the morning exploring a village of the Mursi people, who live in an almost inaccessible area between the Mago and Omo rivers and are famous for the clay lip-plates traditionally worn by women. There’s controversy over the origins of the lip-plates, with theories ranging from disfigurement to discourage slave-raiders to a sign of beauty. Both men and women practice scarification and cut their hair very short, often with patterns shaved into it. Men traditionally wear only a blanket tied at one shoulder, and women, a similarly-fashioned goatskin. The Mursi have a reputation for being aggressive and the men carry a Donga (large stick) for fighting. Ceremonial fights are also performed. Cattle are the Mursi’s most prized possession. They’re used in virtually every social relationship, including in marriage, as a dowry paid to the bride’s father. They provide milk and blood, which form an integral part of the Mursi diet.

Turmi

Leaving Jinka, the tour continues south to Turmei, passing through an area occupied by the Hamer/Bana people. In the morning, you will stop off either at a local market (if it is Tuesday or Saturday) or at a Bana village. In the afternoon, you’ll either visit a traditional Hamer village or, if you are lucky, witness the Hamar’s famous bull-jumping ceremony, which takes place when a Hamar man comes of age. He must successfully leap over a line of 8-20 cattle 4 times if he is to be allowed to marry, have children, and own cattle of his own. In the village, Hamer women wear elaborately decorated goat skins with beaded necklaces, bracelets, and waistbands, usually black and red, with the number and type of necklaces worn denoting their marital status. Women decorate their hair with clay and butter and twist it into small braids. Men wear a clay cap which is painted and decorated with feathers and other ornaments. Overnight at a hotel in Turmei.

Omorate

From Turmei, you will visit a village of the Dassanech people. The Dassanech tribe, living around Omerate, is not strictly defined by ethnicity but has absorbed a wide range of different people over time. The Dassanech are divided into eight main clans, each of which is believed to have special powers over different things such as water, crocodiles, snakes, diseases, drought, eye infections, scorpion bites, and muscular problems. Members of the same clan are forbidden from marrying (or even dancing with) each other. Both men and women of the Dassanech adorn themselves with beads and bracelets.

Awasa

From Arba Minch, you will continue the journey back north, passing through fertile countryside. The roadsides are often lined with villagers selling fresh, seasonal fruits. Your final destination for the day will be Hawassa, a pleasant lakeside town where you will spend the night. Views over the lake at sunset can be spectacular.

Duration: 6 hours