VISIT ALLIANCE OMO VALLEY TOUR

Do the Omo Valley tour

Jinka-Ethiopia

Simply put, for you it is about a once in a lifetime chance to see a land frozen in time.  As a kid you would pick up an issue of National Geographic and flip through pages of explorers uncovering the truth of new traditions or being the first outsider to a tribe and thinking “wow that’s incredible”

Now, the tribes that live in the Lower Omo Valley are believed to be among the most fascinating on the continent of Africa and around the world. South Expedition Africa offers off the beaten tracks and ecological camping to several towns and villages. When you visit the Lower Omo Valley, you have a chance to come in contact with the following tribes: Arbore, Ari, Benna, Bodi, Bumi, Dasanech, Hamer, Kara, Konso, Kwegu, Mursi, Tsemay, Suri and Turkana.  It is estimated that the Lower Omo Valley is home to over 200,000 tribal people. Among the ancient African tribes that live in the southern part of Ethiopia, there are a wide variety of wildlife as well. Some of the animals that you will find there are the bites ariettas (a venomous viper species), crocodiles and hippos. The two main national parks in Omo Valley are the Omo National Park and the Mago National Park which are home to the majority of the wildlife in the valley.

South Omo Zone in one of the most diverse culturally rich areas of Africa. It is located in the extreme southwest corner of Ethiopia and is home to 16 distinct ethnic groups, each with it’s own culture, reflected by their hairstyle , body decoration dress, jewelry, language and cultural ceremonies.

Highlights about Omo Valley:

Every single tribe is unique in their culture and language.  Here’s a really quick look at each of the tribes that you will come in contact with.

Mursi Tribe – Most aggressive out of all of them but fascination to be seen because of their clay lip plate traditions.  Out of all the tribes I’d have to say they had the roughest of villages with dung literally everywhere.

Hammer Tribe – Incredibly friendly and easily recognizable by their red shiny wet clay that they have in their braided hair. All the women have the same hair do!

Ari Tribe – The tribe that seemed to have become the most modernized out of everyone.  This tribe was right outside Jinka and was essentially indistinguishable from modern-day Ethiopians.

Karo Tribe – The tribe with the best and most well-known view of Omo River that flows right below the edge of the village in a horseshoe shape.  I remember them being more well off and established than the other tribes and seemed to have a very well thought out community building planning.  This is also the tribe that has it so good that they have their own hut that doubles as the local bar with refrigeration courtesy of outdoor generator.

Nyangatom Tribe –This is the tribe where women will wear large plastic bead necklaces.  We didn’t stay too long here but Steve had a blast learning how to sew.  I had a chance to get inside a few of the huts and overall you will fascinate with how communities were planned and how similar a sense of “home” is to ours with home, front yard and area for gardening.

Dassenech Tribe – Located near the border of South Sudan and Kenya, This tribe required the crossing of the Omo River in a canoe made of one large tree trunk which was an experience in itself. This tribe where make their home with metal sheet roofed.

Safe Drivers

We always respect and give priority for clients with flexibility for your trip, looking for the flexibility of planning and adamant to put together a trip that would allow us to get a more of an authentic and hands-on experience.

Bull Jumping Ceremony

Bull jumping ceremony was quite interesting although less intimate than you had imagined since there are a ton of tourists there. In Hamar and Bana tribes a boy (Ukuli) enters adulthood (Maza) through a ceremony known as Bull Jumping (UkuliBula).

Donga

Donga is something that’s difficult to plan for but you should ask in advance about it and whether they have any inside scoop on if there will be any chances to see special ceremonies while you’re there and whether you should adjust your schedule to align with them.

Mursi Village Camping

Mursi occupy one of the remotest parts of the South Omo, their their clay lip tradition is probably the last you can witness in Africa. Staying with the Mursi and experiencing their life first hand is a fascinating opportunity. They are one of the tribes that practice Donga – the traditional stick fighting ceremony by men to find wives and prove their masculinity.

Alliance Omo Valley Tour Guide is well equipped and has made a remarkable reputation with key activities of tourists to explore the culture and nature of the place where you visit;

• GET TO KNOW LOCAL PEOPLE: most of tourists like to talk with local people and get to know each other.
• TREKKING: Tourist like walking around the village to enjoy village life and trek to hill or mountains, especially young and middle age tourists (20-55 Year Old).
• BOATING ON BEAUTIFUL RIVERS: All tourist like boating as this activity is interesting and relaxing.
• ENJOY LOCAL CUISINE: Tourist like eating local food and drink, but need pay attention to suit their eating habits (such as less bone, not so spicy, no monosodium glutamate…) and ensure food safety.
• SIGHTSEEING: Generally, tourists like going around to visiting cultural and natural attractions and getting to know the destination.
• BUYING LOCAL HANDCRAFTS: Tourists like to observe handicraft processing and buy fine art products for personal use or for souvenir, gifts…
• TAKING PHOTOS: All tourist like taking photos of landscape, people and place they visit.
• VISITING TEMPLES: Visit temples make tourist understand more about traditional culture and religion.
• ATTENDING FESTIVALS: Provide opportunity for tourists to learn local culture and exchange.
• VISIT PARKS, MUSEUM & CULTURAL CEREMONY: This can be a part of natural tour.
• LEARNING ABOUT LOCAL AGRICULTURE: Help tourists to understand agricultural.
• SEEING BIRDS AND WILDLIFE: This can be a part of nature based tour or eco tour in the national park or a natural setting.
• VISIT OF COMMUNITY STYLE: hair making, clothing and housing.