A journey to South Ethiopia, to the deepest Omo Valley, is an adventure that transports who visit these places to a parallel universe, a tribal world with traditional customs, cultures, villages and markets.
The Omo Valley is a fantastic region and it is home to many tribes, each with its own traditional practices and ancestral rituals.
During this trip in Ethiopia we’ll discover the Omo Delta, it is an extremely remote area of islands and marshes where a large population of Nile Crocodiles can be found.
The accommodations aren’t as luxurious as in South Africa private reserves but you will be rewarded by an incredible adventure.
At Arba Minch, a city in Southern Ethiopia, it is possible to enjoy a boat trip to see the crocodile market, hippos and birds on the lake Chamo part of the Nechisar National Park.
Arba Minch is also the perfect location to drive to the Dorze region and visit a Dorze village .
The Dorze are renowned for their beehive-like house architecture and weaving techniques. Built entirely from organic materials, these remarkable structures can reach up to 12 metres in height.
From Arba Minch it is easy to drive through the remote heartlands of the Konso, the Konso Cultural Landscape was declared Unesco World Heritage Site due to stone walled terraces and fortified settlements.
The Konso are famous for their cultivation techniques, they live in settlements that are surrounded by stone walls and each family lives in a compound that is accessible only through a gateway.
Dorze Village
The Mago National Park is home to the Mursi the most distinctive tribe in the Omo Valley due to the lip plates worn by their women that are stretched over time to accommodate a clay or wooden plate.
The Mursi number less than 10,000, they still live following the ancient traditions and practicing old rituals.
The Mago National Park is a vast national park in the South of Ethiopia where it is possible to spot dik-diks, elephants, leopards, hyenas, waterbucks and many other mammals.
Omo Valley is home to many tribes, each with its own traditional practices, here you can find some of the most incredible tribes of the continent.
The markets are the perfect place to get in touch with the locals and discover tribal customs and cultures.
The Hamer, or Hamar, are famous for the rite of passage called “bull jumping” and for the incredible hair style of the women and for their body decorations.
The Kara occupy the left bank of the Omo River and are known for their superb body painting as well as elaborate scarification and body-piercing techniques.
Only accessible by boat, the Omo Delta is an extremely remote area of islands and marshes that represents some of the continent’s wildest nature areas.
The Omo Delta is incredible and there are large Dassenech villages along the riverbank.
The Daasanech is a nilothic group, some of the men are scarified, depicting the number of enemies they have killed in battle and scarification is of tremendous prestige within the tribe.
The use of boats is an ideal way to observe local villagers going about their regular daily lives on both banks of the Omo River.
We have completed the Asilia Academy, we are East Africa Asilia expert.
