Arrival Bole International Airport
Extraordinary Ethiopia Tours will meet all clients arriving at the airport regardless of arrival time. For morning flight arrivals you may begin your tour after checking into your hotel. For afternoon or evening arrivals, you may begin your tour the following day.
Day 1: Addis Ababa
Begin your sightseeing of Addis with a drive up to mount Entoto for a panoramic view of Addis. Descend down and drive to National museum where you will have a chance to spot the oldest hominids of ‘Lucy’ fossil. Visit and proceed to the Holy Trinity built during the WWII. Then proceed to Ethnographic museum, which use to be the palace of Emperor Hailesellase. To wrap up you drive to merkato, the biggest market in East Africa.
Overnight Lobelia Hotel
Meals B.L.D
Day 2: Drive to Arba Minch via Butajira
An early start around 07:00 and we then head down the western side of the Rift Valley passing through Butajira, Hossana, and sodo. It’s a long day’s drive, about 9 hours with lunch and coffee stops, but it is on a good asphalt road. The scenery is stunning all around. There are interesting places to visit en route – the Neolithic site and museum at Melka Kunture, and the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Tiya.
After Sodo, we skirt the western shores of Lakes Abaya and Chamo, the southernmost of Ethiopia’s Rift Valley Lakes, before arriving in Arba Minch, or “40 springs”, and check into Paradise Lodge. The Lodge is situated on a hill overlooking the narrow stretch of forested land, known locally as “the bridge of heaven”, which separates the two lakes. Philip Briggs once described the views here as “one of the best views in Africa”.
Note – there are two routes to Arba Minch from Addis Ababa, the one described above, and the slightly longer and busier route through Shashamene and past the Rift Valley Lakes of Langano, Abijatta, and Shalla, and Ziway. There are more attractive places to overnight on this route.
Overnight Paradise lodge
Meals B.L.D
Day 3: Drive to Jinka
We drive south to Konso, whose people are known for their intricately terraced hillsides, fine woven materials, and the carved totems with which they decorate their graves. Konso is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Note that market day in Konso are Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
We pass the Weyto River where we will see a great variety of pelicans and other aquatic birds. On Thursdays, there is a very attractive market at Key Afer, frequented by the Bena and Ari people. In Jinka itself the markets are on Saturdays and Tuesdays. This afternoon or on the following day we could visit the museum in Jinka, which along with various artefacts has a lot of ethnographical information about the people of the Omo.
Overnight Jinka Eco Omo Lodge.
Meals B.L.D
Day 4: Drive to Mursi and Back to Jinka
We leave Jinka and drive to the Mago National Park. The park has a variety of mammals and birds, but the animals tend to stay away from the roads and sightings cannot be guaranteed. There is the option to camp in the park, and this gives you the opportunity to see all sorts of wildlife: elephant, buffalo, Grant’s Gazelle, Topi and Burchill’s Zebra.
In the Mago National Park are the Mursi people, so we drive to Shembel, the nearest Mursi village. If we want to go further, we can drive up the escarpment to the Mursi villages there. The Mursi are known for body scarification and – among the women – the wearing of lip plates.
Overnight Jinka Eco Omo Lodge.
Meals B.L.D
Day 5: Drive to Turmi
We retrace our steps towards Key Afar (market on Thursdays, the people of Key Afar are mainly Ari and Bena), and then drive south towards Dimeke (market on Tuesdays and Saturdays), and Turmi, where we will stay at the Buska Lodge. We will use Turmi as our base for visiting other communities in the Omo.
Overnight Buska lodge
Meals B.L.D
Day 6: Drive to Omorate
We drive to Murule, and visit the Dus, Korcho, and Dassenech villages of the Karo people. Among the people living along the Omo, the Karo excels in face and body painting retun to turmi.
Overnight Buskalodge
Meals B.L.D
Day 7: Drive to Karo Villages
We head towards the Omo River, passing Kangate and the villages of the Bume people, going on to visit the Galeb villages. We will cross the river in a local boat and visit villages on the other side.
Overnight Buska lodge
Meals B.L.D
Day 8: Visit the Hamer
Today we visit the Hamer villages around Turmi. The Hamer takes great pride in their appearance, shaving and coloring their hair, oiling their bodies, and decorating themselves with beads and bracelets worn around their arms and legs.
If this day is a Saturday or a Tuesday, we would visit the market at Dimeke, which is one of the most colorful and interesting in the area (market days in Turmi are on Mondays). During our time in Turmi, we will check whether there is a bull jumping ceremony in the vicinity. This is a rite of passage ceremony for young men, marking their transition to adulthood. We will also check for Evangadi or Hamer dancing ceremonies.
Overnight Buska lodge
Meals B.L.D
Day 9: Drive back to Arba Minch
Today we set off on the return journey to Arba Minch, passing the northern end of Chew Bahir, and through Erbore (market day Saturday) and Tsemay. We will arrive at Arba Minch in the late afternoon.
Overnight Paradise lodge
Meals B.L.D
Day 10: Drive to Hawassa
Leaving after breakfast, some 40km north of Arba Minch we will make a short detour to Chencha, the home of the Dorze people, known for their bamboo, bee-hive shaped houses and their fine quality cotton “shamma”. The market day in Chencha is Thursday afternoon.
We’ll have lunch in Sodo, and then press on to Lake Awassa. Tonight we’ll stay in the Haile Resort, situated on the shores of the lake. The owner is the famous athlete, Haile Gebre Selassie.
Overnight Haile resort
Meals B.L.D
Day 11: Back to Addis Ababa
As our adventure draws to a close, we head back to Addis Ababa. For those interested in birds, we can take an early morning visit to the fish market in Hawassa, and get really close to pelicans, storks and other birds very much used to human company. The fish market also serves the best fish soup anywhere in the world!
After breakfast, we set off back to Addis Ababa, arriving in time for some souvenir shopping. We will have a farewell dinner at the Yod Abyssinia (or another traditional restaurant), where we will have national food and see national dancing from Ethiopia’s different regions.
Transfer to the airport for the evening flight home.
Meals B.L.D
