The ‘Dorze’ tribe reside in Chencha, approximately 3000m above sea level. These divine & loving people are renowned for their weaving. Their houses are tall beehive-shaped dwellings and are among the most distinct traditional structures to be seen anywhere in Africa.
Category: Attractions In Ethiopia
In addition to the stunning mountains & lakes, this park protects 84 species of unusual mammals including bushbuck, bushbig, Anabas baboon, velvet & colobus monkey, swayne’s hartebeast, bushel’s Zebra, African wild dog, greater kudu, gent eat, didk-dik jackal, crocodile and hippopotamus and many more! Moreover, there are 88 bird species to be spotted in the park. During a one day tour including a boat trip in one of the Rift Valley lakes, Lake Chamo a vast allay of wildlife can be seen living peacefully in their own habitats
Arba Minch means ‘Forty Springs’. It is the former capital city of the defunct Gamo- Gofar province.
Despite the name of the city, there are over 80 natural springs in Armament. All of which are open to tourists to drink the one of the purest waters of the world.
The Rift Valley can be seen from outer space. On its north eastern side you can fine the ‘Dankil Depression’ It is one of the lowest points on the earth at 116m below sea level, and by far THE hottest place on earth. However the Rift Valley also hosts Ethiopia’s second highest peak in the Bale mountains at 4373m above sea level on its south eastern side.
The Valley includes four national parks including ‘Abita Shala’ & ‘Bale Mountain’ and more than six crater lakes including the beautiful ‘Lake Zway’). The Rift Valley provide a fantastic environment for bird watchers as well as general nature lovers. Birds in these lakes include flamingo, pelicans, strokes, herons, cormorants and many more
Omo National Park is one of the national parks of Ethiopia. Located in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region on the west bank of the Omo River, the park covers approximately 4,068 square kilometers, about 870 kilometers southwest of Addis Ababa; across the Omo is the Mago National Park. Although an airstrip was recently built near the park headquarters on the Mui River, this park is not easily reachable; the Lonely Planet guide Ethiopia and Eritrea describes Omo National Park as “Ethiopia’s most remote park.”
It has long been one of the most remote parks in Ethiopia and travelling here can be incredibly tough – but never less than fascinating. Because there is virtually no tourist infrastructure within the park, you will need to be totally self-sufficient with your own food, camping gear and a reliable, fully-equipped 4WD vehicle.
Are you a bird watcher? If so, this is by far your ultimate dream. Omo National Park is home to over 318 species of bird, one of which includes the rare black-winged lovebird. This is undoubtedly the most remote and unspoiled of all the Ethiopian National Parks and it is also the largest at 4,068 square kilometers.
Wildlife here includes large herds of eland and buffalo, elephant, giraffe, cheetah, lion, leopard, burchel’ zebra, lesser kudu, lelwel hartebeast oryx and the Colobus monkey.
This is the most southerly of the tribes who live in Ethiopia’s Omo Valley only 28km from the Kenya border. They live in small huts made from sticks, corrugated iron & animal hide. The men and a few of the women carry around guns for protection against hyenas at night.
Dassanech girls are circumcised quite young, at the age of 10 or 12. They must go through this process, which is normally administered by their mother or another older woman, in order to marry and for their father to receive his payment. Payment for a bride is made to her father in kilograms of honey, cows, coffee, goat & chicken. Until they are circumcised, the young girls are considered ‘wild animals’ or ‘men’ to tease them. The reason for this is that their clitoris has to be removed before they act like women.
The most significant ceremony in a man’s life is called Dimi. Its carried out and celebrated to signify his daughter for fertility and future marriage. Once a man has gone through Dimi celebration he is them considered an elder of importance. About 10 cattle and 25 goat are slaughtered and other livestock traded for coffee. Men and women dress in animal fur capes to feast and dance, and the elders of the village bless the daughter, who will soon bare more children of the tribe.
Cattle are of great importance to the Dassanech people. They are a symbol of wealth, strength and power in the region. Not to mention a vital source of milk, food, clothing & blood – which is used to drink during serious seasonal drought.
Mago National Park is one of the National Parks of Ethiopia. Located in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region about 782 kilometers south of Addis Ababa and north of a large 90° bend in the Omo River, the 2162 square kilometers of this park are divided by the Mago River, a tributary of the Omo, into two parts.
To the west is the Tama Wildlife Reserve, with the Tama river defining the boundary between the two. To the south is the Murle Controlled Hunting Area, distinguished by Lake Dipa which stretches along the left side of the lower Omo. The park office is 115 kilometers north of Omorate and 26 kilometers southwest of Jinka. All roads to and from the park are unpaved.
sof omar is 120km east from Goba is one of the most spectacular and extensive cavern in the world. Created by the Weib River in the limestone rock, the caves are extraordinary natural phenomena on a place of breath taking beauty. Great caverns have been carved out of the rock creating soaring underground chambers.
The cave, now an important shrine named after the saintly Sheikh Sof Omar, have a religious history that predates the arrival of the Muslim in Bale- a history calibrated in thousands not hundreds, of years.
The most celebrated residents of south Omo are undoubtedly the Mursi tribe! Their ways are beyond anything you could ever comprehend. Known best for their lip plates, the Mursi’s live simply, beyond the Mago National Park in huts and small communities. They are nomads and forever moving from village to village.
The Hamar occupy a mountainous region in the eastern part of the lower Omo Valley. Their name is also spelled Hamer. The “Jumping the bull” ceremony is the most spectacular rite of passage in Southern Ethiopia. This ceremony marks the initiation of young men in to adult hood. The main players are the initiates, those who are going to jump the bulls and the maz, those recently initiated who have already undergone this rite.
The initiate boys are required to jump in to the backs of formidable obstacle jump down on to the other side and then repeat the entire procedure on the day after the “jumping the bull” ceremony, women gather together, beautifully attired in their bedded skins and iron jeweler. Hammer women wear their hair in dense ringlets smeared with mud and clarified butter4 and topped off with a head featuring oblongs of gleaming aluminum courtship daces follow and continue for the following two days and night.