THE OMO VALLEY

Day 1
Depart London.

Day 2
Start Addis Ababa. Afternoon sightseeing tour that includes the Church of the Holy Trinity and the Ethnographical Museum where the old cultural and religious relics are exhibited.

Day 3
We drive south into the Great African Rift Valley and visit Lake Langano and Abiata-Shala National Park. This region is home to the Oromo people, farmers and cattle herders by nature. Hopefully we will meet them grazing their stock on the lush lakeshore pastures. We should see Grants gazelle, greater and lesser flamingo, as well as a number of ducks and other water birds, including the sacred ibis, which love to perch in the fig and Acacia trees.

Day 4
Continuing to Arba Minch we make a detour on the way to visit Chencha, the village of the Dorze people. The road climbs 1600m on a series of switchbacks, providing dramatic views of the rift valley. The Dorze are renowned cotton weavers, speak an Omotic tongue and are thought to have occupied this small highland enclave for at least 500 years. They live in distinctive, beehive-shaped houses constructed entirely of organic material.

Day 5
In the morning we visit Nechisar National Park where we may be lucky enough to see Burchell's Zebra, warthog, bushbuck, Guenther's Dik-Dik, Greater Kudu, Grant & Thomson's Gazelle and the endemic Swayne's Hartebeest bushbuck. The afternoon is spent on a boat trip on Lake Chamo viewing hippos, crocodiles and abundant birdlife.

Day 6
We enjoy a slow drive to Key Afer for the colourful Thursday market where we should see Ari, Bena, Hamer and Tsemay people. The Bena and Hamer women usually favour red clay braids in their hair, shiny with butter and perfumed with incense. The long beaded skirts of the Tsemay have a stick incorporated in the back to denote a married woman and the men have elaborately plaited hairstyles decorated with feathers and colourful beads. The versatile calabash can be used as a hat or as a container for butter! 'Tej', local honey mead, is particularly good here. After visiting the market we drive on to Jinka, often called the gateway to the Omo Valley.

Day 7
We start out on the toughest part of our trip. We enter the Mago National Park on roads that are bad at the best of times and impassable after bad rains. Mago is dominated by dense acacia woodland with areas of open savannah and riparian forest and is reportedly the home to over 100 mammal species including lion, cheetah and leopard. However, our main quest is to see the pastoralist Mursi and we are fairly unlikely to see much wildlife. The nomadic nature of the Mursi means that they may well not be staying where they are expected to and we may have to drive further to encounter them! Generally happy to be photographed for a little money they are a tall and physically impressive tribe and they may well be happy to sell you a clay lip plate which all helps when they go to the market and fancy a bottle or two of 'tej'. It is a difficult balance trying to meet rather than simply people-watch local tribes on this trip. The Mursi are a particularly singular tribe and it is perhaps impossible to establish any rapport with them as a result of this. Whilst tourism brings noticeable benefits to the tribes (especially financial), any relationship is strictly on their terms.

Day 8
We continue to Korcho, a village of the Kara, perhaps best known for their elaborate body painting. The paint is made from mixing pale soil with water. The village is in a spectacular spot on the bend of the Omo River where you may find ladies with a long pointed stud through their lower lip and a headdress of maize. We then continue on to the village of Turmi.

Day 9
Driving south to Omorate we visit another tribe, the Gele (or as they are sometimes known the Dasenech), and one of their villages. These people inhabit the areas bordering with Kenya, north of Lake Turkana, and they live on the east and west bank of the Omo River. They are agro-pastoralist and herd cattle and practice flood retreat cultivation on both sides of the river.

Day 10
We spend all day exploring the fascinating Monday market of the Hamer people and visiting some small Hamer villages. The Hamer are particularly photogenic and the women usually wear heavy silver coloured necklaces and leg bracelets, leather skins decorated with cowries and, like the Bena, braid and colour their hair with red ochre. The men are more simply dressed though some have the most elaborate hairstyles; clay painted buns covering the rear half of their scalp and decorated with feathers. This denotes bravery in that they have killed a dangerous animal or person in the past.

Day 11
Next to Konso stopping on the way at the rustic village of the Arbore people where we should see their neighbours, the Tsemay, and perhaps some Borana women. In the afternoon we visit a traditional Konso village and the local headman's palace. The Konso are mixed agriculturalists, whose most important crop is sorghum and they are known for their beautifully constructed stone and stick villages. Each family compound has several thatched stone huts enclosed by Moringa trees and several communities within the village share a 'mora' - a house where communal decisions are made.

Day 12
Today we enjoy a scenic drive to Yirga Chefe through the valleys of the Konso Hills down to the Borana Plains. We pass through friendly Muslim villages of the Borana people and Yabello town and visit the weekly market of Hagere Mariam en-route

Day 13
A morning visit to the ancient anthropomorphic and phallic stelae fields of Tutu Fela or Tututi. Little is known about the origin of these stelae or the reason for their erection, though it is thought that they date from the 9th century. Although many of them have toppled over, there is a 7.55m phallic stele at Tututi, which is thought to be the tallest ever erected in southern Ethiopia. A short drive takes us to the lush tropical vegetation of Wondogenet. Like a little oasis, Wondogenet is a hot springs resort with the remains of the original Ethiopian forest. Papaya, mango, bananas, false banana (enset) and coffee all grow here and Colobus monkeys, parrots and baboons play in the trees beside the hotel. We can take a short walk in the afternoon or just relax in the hot springs.

Day 14
Before returning to Addis we drive a bit further south to the freshwater Lake Awassa. A rich variety of plankton and fish inhabit the lake and support an interesting lakeside market where the Marabou storks will undoubtedly perform impressive dives to capture fish. More attractive birds also are also common by the shore and hippos live in the lake. Drive back to Addis Ababa in the afternoon. In the evening we will go out to a local restaurant for a last night dinner. Day rooms will be provided for those on the group flight who will depart for the airport after dinner for the early morning flight home. Those not on the group flight will return to the hotel for the night.

Day 15
Our trip ends this morning in Addis Ababa.