Fourteen days authentic culture and daily life of tribes in Ethiopia

Day One: Arrival

On your arrival, you will be transport from Addis to Arba Minch. Overnight at Haile resort or similar

Day Two:  Visit the Dorze Tribe

After breakfast you will enjoy the fascinating Dorze tribe. You will climb more than 3000 meters above sea level to visit the Dorze people at the town of Chencha. The Dorze people are famous for their bee hive look alike house styles and staple dining on a plant called False banana or Enset. Explore the harvest, fermentation and preparation of this cassava like plant and perhaps you might want to have a bite of this bread. Overnight at Haile resort or similar

Day Three: Arba Mnch drive to Konso

The whole day visit the Konso tribe with their king and it’s  UNESCO registered site for their extensive terracing and practice of making a wooden grave mark for their hero and kings. Overnight Konso Korebta Lodge or similar

Day Four: Konso – Jinka.  

Jinka is the biggest town in the Omo region and sometimes dubbed as ‘Paris of the south’. It is said because of the presence of some streetlights. Don’t expect too much though, the best Jinka has to offer is the big Saturday market and the excellent museum of the South Omo Research Center. Overnight at Jinka resort or similar

Day Five: Jinka excruision to Mursi. 

From Jinka, you will spend the whole day exploring the village of Mursi.  The Mursi people, who live in an almost inaccessible area between the Mago and Omo rivers, are famous for the clay lip-plates traditionally worn by women.  There is much controversy surrounding the origins of these lip-plates with theories ranging from disfigurement to discourage slave-raiders to a sign of beauty.  Both men and women of the Mursi tribe practise 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 goat skin.  The Mursi have a reputation for being aggressive and the men carry a Donga (large stick) for fighting.  Ceremonial fights are also performed.  Overnight at Jinka resort or similar

Day Six: Jinka to Ary tribe.  

The Ari people, who live in the fertile lands surrounding Jinka, predominantly practice settled agriculture and produce a variety of cereals, pulses, root crops, fruit and vegetables, as well as the cash crops coffee and cardamom.  In rural areas, you may still see Ari women wearing traditional dresses made from the leaves of the false banana plant, and draped with colourful beads and braceletsOvernight at Jinak resort or similar

Day Seven: Turmi

From Jinka, drive to Turmi and visit Hamer.  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.  The Hamer are famous for their cattle-jumping ceremony which takes place when a 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. Overnight at Tirmi lodge or similar

Day Eight:  Karo

Heading to one for the amazing tribe called Karo. Karo (also Cherre, Kere, Kerre) is an Omotic language spoken in the South Omo River of Ethiopia. Karo is described as being closely related to its neighbors, Hamer and Banna, with a lexical similarity of ”81%”, and is considered a dialect of Hamer. The Karo tribes living along the borders of the Lower Omo River incorporate rich cultural symbolism into their rituals by using ornate body art, intricate headdresses, and body scarification to express beauty and significance within their community. Overnight at Turmi lodge or similar

Day Nine: Dassenech village

Day trip to Omorate-Omo River ,Dassenech village. In the morning, take a day trip to Omorate to visit the Dassenech tribe. Here you will cross the Omo River by local boat and enter a Dassenech village. Afterwards, return to Turmi (Monday is market day) for a visit to a local Hamer village. If there is Jumping of the Bulls traditional Hamer coming-of-age ceremony, that will be visited. overnight at Turmi Lodge or similar

Day Ten: Turmi – Nyangatom tribe. 

Early morning departures from Turmi to the village of Kangatan. Here you will cross the Omo River and take a short walk through the local fields to visit a village of the Nyangatom tribe.  Also known as Bume, the Nyangatom belong to the Nilo-Saharan linguistic group. They live throughout the eastern part of the Lower Omo Valley and the Kibish Basin, even into Sudan. Closely related to the Topossa people of Sudan, they shun conflict with these neighbours. Both peoples seem to have a common origin-northeast Uganda. overnight at Turmi Lodge or similar

Day Eleven: Turmi -drive to Yabilo

From Turmei, it is a long but scenic drive to Yabello.  On the way, you will have another chance to see the Tsemai people. Tsemai are the dominant people of Weito village and are estimated to total some 6000 people. Their territory extends along the western bank of Weito River, known in Tsemai as the Dulaika River. They are mixed subsistence farmers who practices flood cultivation with the major crops being sorghum and maize. They also rear livestock, especially cattle and keep beehives for honey and they speak an east Cushitic language that is closely related to the one spoken in Konso. Overnight  at Yabelo motel

Day Twelve: Borena people

Once you have your breakfast continue to visit Borena people. The Borena are semi-nomadic pastoralists, considered to be the most traditional of all the Oromo groups.  Their culture is well adapted to the hot, dry, harsh plains of southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya and they keep a unique breed of cattle with humps and small horns. Overnight Yabelo

Day Thirteen: Drive to Awasa

Today  you will start the journey back north, passing through fertile countryside in which false-banana, maize and coffee are grown and on the way to visit Gedio people and coffee plantations.  Overnight at Haile resort or similar

Day Fourteen: Awasa to Addis Ababa

In the morning, you will see Hawassa’s famous fish market, before departing north for Addis Ababa.  On the way, you will stop for a tour of Lake Abiyata-Shala, where flocks of up to 50,000 flamingos gather, and to seeLake Ziway and or lake  Lankgano and or hiking and watching birds in Wendogenet and then finally driving to Addis and then end of the trip

The Tribal market days in south Ethiopia are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday so that the tour will be flexible to enjoy the authentic culture and daily life of tribes in Ethiopia.

 

The price including:

  • Comfortable hotel for 13 nights
  • 13 Breakfast
  • 14 Lunches
  • 13 Dinners
  • Ground and boat transport including gas oil
  • Guide service at all destinations and drivers
  • Transport Insurance
  • entrance fee as per the itinerary

Service Not included: 

  •  Alcohol beverages
  • Video filming and photography fees
  • Tips and items of personal nature like laundry
  •  Souvenirs shoping.
  • All expense that are not mentioned in the included section
  • Phone calls
  • Personal insurance
  • Laundry
  • International Air fare
  • All other Services of a personal nature.