Cultural Tour, Omo Valley Safari Tour (178546),Holiday Packages to Addis Ababa

Package Overview

The Lower Omo Valey is arguably one of the most remote destinations in Africa. Spanning a great distance from the Kenyan border north along the Rift Valley, the Omo Valley is home to many of the most well-preserved tribal groups in Africa.

Culturally, the Omo Valley is quite rich with some 45 languages spoken by people of many different ethnic origins. These nations, from the many thousand-strong Borena to the just 1000-strong Karo, exhibit a fascinating range of cultural practices.

One notable cultural practice of these different groups of people is the way they build their houses. The Dorze, the Sidama and the Gurage in particular are known for their domed or beehive-like constructions that demonstrate the different uses of bamboo.

The Dorze Tribe :-Once warriors, they now earn their living by farming and weaving. The Dorze name is synonymous with the best in woven cotton cloth and the tall-up bee-hive shaped bamboo house. There is quite a big Dorze community living and weaving on the northern part of Addis, on the way to Entoto. These peoples rarely use the administrative and police force of the city. They settle all disputes in their usual cultural way, through their elders.

Konso :-About 960 miles south west of Addis Ababa lies the widely cultivated Konso land that is embraced by Precambrian serpentines and granites. The Konso peoples speak eastern Cushitic language and are agriculturalists and weavers. They idealize the figures and heroic lives of their deceased symbolized with wooden totem.

Hamar & Benna :-in the far southwest Omotic region, beyond Mount Buska live the Hamar and Benna people. The Hamar and Benna are two of the Omotic speakers of remote south west Ethiopia, with unique manifestations of traditional wisdom, the 鈥榡umping of bulls鈥�. The purpose of this rite is twofold: while one is the passage from boyhood to adulthood, the other is the courting occasion when both men and women adorn themselves to win a mate. Traditional attire includes men putting ochre buns with ostrich feathers in their hair, while the women wear their hair in short tufts rolled in ochre mixed with fat.

Mursi & Surma :-In the remote wilderness of the southwest Ethiopia live the Mursi and Surma. These peoples were completely forgotten by Ethiopia and the outside world at large, and they on their part had no notion of the outside world including Ethiopia until the 1970s. While the women show their beauty and endurance by the ear lobes and the piercing of the lips, the men demonstrate their courage and stamina in the stick fighting ceremony.

The Karo tribe residing along the borders of the Lower Omo River incorporates rich, cultural symbolism into their rituals by using ornate body art, intricate headdresses, and significance within their community. The most important ceremony in the life of a Karo is the Pilla, or jumping over a group of oxen. This ritual marks the passage from adolescence to adulthood. The ceremony is similar to that of the Hamar, however the Karo only have four chances to jump over the oxen without falling.

Dassanetch :-Speak a completely different language and are actually the Cushitic speaking group of the Omo Valley. The most important ritual of the Dassanetch is the so-called dime. In theory, only a man who has had a daughter can be circumcised, although in practice, circumcision is carried out on the entire age-group. The daughter is most important in the dime ceremony. After the ceremony, which takes six weeks, the participants are upgraded to 鈥榞reat men鈥�, or those that may engage in politics. The dime ritual is directly connected to the upcoming marriage of the daughter when large quantities of cattle are slaughtered for the occasion.

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Day wise Itinerary

Day 1 :

On your arrival you will be welcomed by our staff then transfer to your hotel.The name of the capital city of Ethiopia in Amharic (the national language of Ethiopia) means 鈥淣ew flower鈥�. Addis, which was founded in 1886 by Menelik II is located at 2,500 meters above sea level in one of the highest parts of Entoto mountain chain (3,000 meters above sea level). It enjoys an excellent climate all year round, with an average temperature of 23潞C. Addis Ababa is a pleasant city with side avenues of jacaranda Trees, interesting museums and one of the largest open air markets in Africa, known as the 鈥淢erkato鈥�
- Meals & Drinks : Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 2 :

Start your drive at 12:30 A.M. by through the crater lakes of Debrezeith and the three Rift Valley lakes of Shala, Abyata and Langano. Visit Sidamo people houses and culture. Lunch on the way, Continue driving to Arbaminch, in Amharic meaning 40 springs. Admire very interesting views and the Wolayta people, their villages, culture, the cultivation of the false banana tree (from which roots they extract their traditional bread, the Kotcho).
- Meals & Drinks : Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 3 :

Morning visit the Netch Sar Park with spectacular views over the lakes and different mammals, as the endemic Swaynes Hartebeest, Zebras, lesser Kudu, and others. Back lunch Arbaminch. Afternoon make a boat trip on Chamo. Admire crocodiles and hippos (here crocodiles are some of the longest in Africa, with length of 6 and also above meters).
- Meals & Drinks : Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 4 :

Drive to Jinka, Admiring on the way the interesting Konso, Derashe, Ari, Benna and Tsemay People, very famous for hairstyles, their unique culture and traditions, as the ornaments all over their body. Konso people famous for their terracing agricultural works ad villages鈥檛raditions.
- Meals & Drinks : Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 5 :

Mago National Park of is located on the east bank of the river Omo and ranges in altitude from 450 to 2,528 meters above sea level. After about 2 hours of rough road, we arrive to the camp where we spend the night in a tent. The campsite is in a beautiful clearing among towering trees, which provide shade, and near the river Neri. We visit the Mursi village, whose women have the custom of expanding their lower lips using disks that gradually get larger and larger. These are people who farm the land and breed livestock; they live in almost complete isolation from the rest of the world. We return to the camp; there are not many animals visible during the day in the park, but by night we are surrounded by thousands of sounds, among which is the trumpeting of elephants.
- Meals & Drinks : Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 6 :

Visit the Hammer people, the Hammer is one of the most beautiful and dignified people of the Omo basin the women color their hair with red earth and butter, and wear elegant leather skirts festooned with tiny pearls, their villages, possibly some dances, and more, If possible we look for the unique marriage ceremonies, with women slashing, bull jumping and more, If the day you arrive is Monday or Saturday admire the very colorful markets of the Hammer, Karo and Dassanech tribes respectively at Turmi or Dimeka villages. These tribes are famous for their hairstyles, ornaments, scarification, culture and more.
- Meals & Drinks : Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 7 :

We continue through the savannah along tracks that are barely visible, passing through a vast meadowland with shrubs and umbellifers (鈥榰mbrella鈥檃cacia trees). We pass through the village of Omorate on the Omo River. We encounter the Galeb people in the street; in the river people bathe and wash their clothes. We arrive to Turmi and camp in a square under mango trees. The Hammer people gather water from a nearby well and carry it off to their villages.
- Meals & Drinks : Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 8 :

drive to Konso via Woito, The road continues into the savannah, running alongside the mountains of Men, and then rises up the Karkerte Mountains 鈥� providing splendid panoramic views 鈥� until it reaches the soft, terraced hills of Konso. On the way we visit the interesting Derase, Ari, Benna and Tsemay people, very famous for hairstyles, their unique culture and traditions, as the ornaments all over their body and Konso people famous for their terracing agricultural works and villages鈥� traditions. Proceed driving to Arbaminch along the side of Lake Chamo, we visit Lake Chamo.
- Meals & Drinks : Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 9 :

In the morning we visit the Nech-Sar Park. Nech-Sar located between lakes Chamo and Abaya, where one can see gazelles and zebras. Then we proceed to returning northwards the rift valley lakes. The Rift Valley is a deep fission that extends for over 6,000 km from the Middle East to Mozambique 鈥� testimony to the (most recent) violent and massive shifting of the earth鈥檚 tectonic plates. The rift contains a marvelous series of lakes, which are teeming with fish and provide a habitat for hundreds of species of birds, Dinner and overnight in Hotel.
- Meals & Drinks : Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 10 :

After relaxing in the morning then drive back to Addis Ababa Admiring the crater lakes of Debrezeith, the Rift valley lakes of Shala and Abyata. There will be a chance to visit one of the many museums or the interesting Mercato鈥�

(market). Throughout the city there are shops that sell typical artisan wares, materials and antiques, Dinner we propose a traditional restaurant with folkloristic dances of the different Ethiopian regions.
- Meals & Drinks : Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner