Day 1
Addis Ababa city tour
On your arrival, you will be welcomed by our staff, then transferred to your hotel. The name of the capital city of Ethiopia in Amharic (the national language of Ethiopia) means “New flower”.
Addis, which was founded in 1886 by Menelik II, is located 2,500 metres above sea level in one of the highest parts of Entoto mountain chain (3,000 metres above sea level). It enjoys an excellent climate all year round, with an average temperature of 25ºC.
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 “Merkato”. It also has a good number of restaurants, hotels and discotheques. A tour of the city will be provided upon request – depending on your energy levels after your long-haul flights!
Day 2
Drive to Arba Minch (515 kms)
On the way to Arba Minch we will visit several different tribes, including the Gurage and Wolaita people. If we leave Addis early enough, we will be able to visit Dorze Village to see the Dorze people with their intricate huts and weavings and their way of living.
Day 3
Drive to Jinka (260 kms)
The Konso cultural landscape is located in a dry, hilly environment at the edge of the Rift Valley in southern Ethiopia. It has always been a relatively isolated area of the country, where life has remained largely unchanged for at least 400 years.
The people live in closely-packed communities of wood-and-mud built thatched dwellings from which they travel out to their fields of millet on a daily basis. The local chief’s hilltop ‘Palace’ comprises a collection of dome-shaped thatched rooms, with covered meeting and work areas, all surrounded by a heavy wooden stockade with narrow gates.
Key Afer is on the road from Arba Minch to Jinka. It is a typical Southern town and is famous for its saturday market, which is attended by all the tribes of the Omo region. It sells a bit of everything, but mostly crafts, bracelets, necklaces, earrings and other jewellery, as well as utensils and spices. It’s great to visit when the weather is not too hot!
Day 4
Excursion to Mago National Park and Mursi
Drive to Mursi Village through Mago National Park. The Park was established in 1979 in order to conserve the large numbers of plains animals in the area, particularly buffalo, giraffe, and elephant.
Also seen here are topi and lelwel hartebeest, as well as lion, leopard, Burchell’s zebra, gerenuk, and greater and lesser kudu. The birds are also typical of the dry grassland habitat, featuring bustards, hornbills, weavers, and starlings. Kingfishers and herons feed in and around the Neri River, which provides an alternative habitat.
The Mursi people are well known for the large clay discs their women wear, inserted in their lower split lip. From Mursi, we drive to Hamar Village for an evening visit. We stay the night at a local Lodge.
Day 5
Drive Back to Arba Minch (260 kms) and flight to Addis Ababa
After a relaxed breakfast, we drive to Arba Minch, from where your flight to Addis Ababa departs mid-afternoon.