Upon arrival at Bole International Airport you will be transferred to your hotel. After some rest depending on your arrival time, you have various sightseeing options city tour in Addis Ababa, National Museum which among others exhibits the 3.5 million years old bones of Lucy, Holy Trinity Cathedral the burial place of members of the imperial family and noted patriots featured with carvings, mosaics and other artistic works, Mount Entoto with the best views over the capital and Merkato.

Overnight: sapphire Addis hotel or other similar standard

After breakfast, we drive to Arba Minch, with a stop on the way at Tiya (80 km from Addis Ababa) to explore the Stelae field of Tiya, listed as UNESCO world heritage site. Mysterious engraved stelae stretch across Southern Ethiopia. The field comprises some 45 stones of up to 2-3m in height. We then continue to Arba Minch with some fantastic scenery. We will arrive at Arba Minch in late afternoon and have rest in your lake view hotel.

Overnight: Haile resort Arba Minch

After breakfast, we visit the two rift valley lakes, Lake Chamo to the South and Abaya to the north. The Nech Sar National Park includes parts of Lake Abaya and Lake Chamo and the ‘Bridge of God’ between them featured with Africa’s biggest crocodiles, hippos and many bird species. Game drives and walks in the park offers stunning scenery and a variety of wildlife among them the endangered endemic Swayne’s hartebeest.
A boat trip on Lake Chamo would be a great chance to spot variety of birds, most of the time hippos, and a spectacular visit to the ‘crocodile market’ where dozens of crocodiles (among them the biggest of Africa) warming their bodies in sun. Afternoon we visit the Dorze people they are living around the villages of Chencha and Dorze. The Dorze are famous for their weaving skills and for the use of the ‘ensete’ or ‘false banana’ as their staple food.
Overnight at Haile resort

After breakfast, we drive to Konso approximately travelling time 3.5 hrs. The cultural landscape of Konso is the youngest World Heritage Site of Ethiopia. The Konso are famous for their waga stelae or carved wooden grave markers. A row of these stelae erected on the grave of an important Konso man. They are symbolizing the heroic act of the man, the others his wives and his defeated enemies or killed dangerous animals.
The market days are on Monday and Thursday. There are extensive terraces around the village, where the crops are grown. Their agricultural skills are among the best found in Ethiopia. From Konso we continue our journey to the colorful market of Key Afer (Thursdays only) frequented by several ethnic groups of the Omo valley featured by Derashe, Tsemay, Benna and Ari people, before reaching Jinka in the late afternoon.

Overnight in Eco omo lodge or similar standard

In the morning drive through the Mago National Park to Mursi village. In practice, most travelers visit the park on their way to the Mursi villages (the park’s main highlight), which lie along the Mago River. Wildlife is fairly abundant in this dramatically beautiful park, and Mammals you can expect to spot are dik-diks, baboons and guinea fowl. If you’re lucky, you may also see Burchell’s Zebras, Lesser Kudus, Defassa Waterbuck, Gerenuks and Black-and-White Colobus.
In-depth exploration of the park might show more of the variety of big mammals among them Africa’s well-known Elephant, Buffalo and Lion. More restricted to this area (and northern Kenya) are the rectangular Giraffe and Grevy’s Zebra, then visit Mursi. The Mursi tribe is one of the last remaining ethnic groups in Africa to still wear traditional dress and accessories. The Mursi women also wear clay or wooden plates in their lower lips or earlobes. These are to mark traditional rites of passages. Afternoon we continue our journey to Turmi (approx. 3 hrs), where we will meet the fascinating Hamer tribe. Turmi is our base to explore the Southern ethnic groups of the Omo Valley. The whole region of the Southern Omo is UNESCO World Heritage site since 1980.

Overnight: Paradise lodge Turmi

Morning, drive to Karo people. More people in southern Ethiopia practice body painting and Karo people are famous for elaborated one. Body art has been used as a method of self-expression and a way of presenting the social hierarchical class in their tribe. Various colors, patterns and designs used to designate position, for rituals like (Bull jumping, stick fighting of Surma people and harvesting ceremonies), to ward off illness, to attract the opposite gender.
There are different designs that generally differ from event to event, as each design has a different meaning/reasoning and evokes different emotions and feelings. Afternoon we will drive back to Turmi, is well-known for its traditional events and with some luck we will even take part in a Hamer marriage ceremony, with its bull jumping ceremony and more. In the late afternoon, we will also visit a nearby Hamer village and meet the tribe in its daily life surroundings. With some luck, we may even witness a moonshine dance (Evangadi), traditional dance of young Hamer men and women.

Overnight: Paradise Lodge Turmi

The town of Omerate is only 30 km away from Kenya and South Sudan and functions as a border post. At only 375 meter above sea level it is the lowest place in the Omo Valley and often very hot and dusty. We take an excursion to visit the Dassanech Ethnic group (70 km, one way), famous for their nomad lifestyle and very interesting decoration and scarifications on their bodies. There are also great views of the Omo River when crossing in a dugout canoe. Here you can cross the Omo River with local boat and enter to Dassench village. Afternoon we drive back to Turmi and continue heading to Konso (180 km, approx. 3.5 hrs). We will reach the well-kept Kanta Lodge in the late afternoon.

Overnight: Kanta Lodge, Konso

In the morning we drive from Konso to Arba Minch (1 hr). Afternoon you fly back to Addis Ababa. On arrival at Bole Airport you will be taken to market to do some shopping for souvenirs. Finally, you will be taken to a farewell dinner depending on your scheduled flight; you will be transferred out to Bole International Airport for return flight back home.

N.B: This itinerary is flexible, and will likely change in order to coordinated visits with market days in the south, which is a great opportunity to mingle with the people.