FIRST PEOPLES AND WONDERS OF THE RIFT

Addis Abeba
African capital

Cosmopolitan metropolis, high Addis Ababa has established itself over time as the capital of the entire continent, but this seat of major pan-African institutions holds curiosities that only reveal themselves to the attentive traveler.
After welcoming you at the airport and taking you to your hotel to drop off your luggage and freshen up, we will begin exploring this multifaceted city. Obviously, we will start with the National Museum, where the unmissable Lucy, our common ancestor, can be found. We will then go to the Ethnographic Museum in the former palace of Negus Haile Selassie at the heart of the current university, then to the Holy Trinity Cathedral where he is buried. In the afternoon, we will gain altitude to enjoy the formidable viewpoint offered by Entoto Hill at the origin of the city’s creation and its wonderful rehabilitated park. We will end this day at Sheger Park, a true green lung resurrected in the heart of the city that inaugurates a new era. From this green enclave, you can observe the rise of this irresistible and modern Addis, all of vertiginous skyscrapers, concrete and polished glass.

Night at Nexus Hotel

Addis Abeba /Arba Minch
Heading South

We will arrive during the day in the lush city of Arba Minch, pleasant city on the shores of Lakes Abaya and Chamo circled by forest and national parks and which constitutes a magnificent gateway to the South of the country. Part of Lake Chamo houses a crocodile market. The two lakes Abaya and Chamo are full of fish, notably the famous Nile perch which forms the basis of the local industry and which you will obviously have the pleasure of tasting. This last lake on which you will take a pleasant cruise is populated with crocodiles and hippos.

Night at Halie Resort

Arba Minch /Konso
Villages hidden in the clouds

This morning, we will take some elevation to go to the mountains surrounding Arba Minch where the villages of the Dorze community and their very particular house roofs are hidden
We will then take the road to meet a completely different ethnic group, that of the Konsos. The Konso are a formerly nomadic people who have settled and have managed to make fertile a land among the most ungrateful in the country. Their villages are particularly aesthetic, and it is a tribe that tends to gather, unlike their neighbors, more scattered and nomadic. Each village has a certain number of sub-communities, in a very complex social stratum that your local Konso guide will explain perfectly

Night at Kanta Lodge

Konso/Jinka
Like on a plateau

On the way to the small town that can be considered the capital of the Omo, we will stop at Mago National Park.
The reputation of the Mursi far exceeds the borders of the park and the country. The Mursi have become a renowned ethnic group due to the lip plate, worn only by women. It is a voluntary sign of beauty, and would provoke fertility and loyalty to their husband. Mursi men, fierce and proud, are particularly distinguished during the renowned saginé, duel in stick fighting. The Key Afer market (every Thursday) brings together several tribes from the region. The Ari tribe is the most numerous in the region, and among the most peaceful.

Night at Eco Omo lodge

Jinka/Turmi
At the crossroads of different worlds

Turmi is a small village at the crossroads of numerous tribes, and one of the bastions of the Hamer tribe, where you may have the chance to witness a ‘cattle jumping’ (additional cost to be paid on site), a male initiation ceremony to adulthood and marriage. The Hamers move in groups with their herds of cattle, according to a precise itinerary established by their ancestors at the first morning of the world. Their painted masks are among the most elaborate. Cattle, as you will have understood, is the nerve center of Hamer culture, a man’s fortune and social rank being evaluated by the abundance of his livestock. Dimeka being a strong Hamer town, you will see many during the market.

Night at Buska lodge

Turmi
Traditions in common

The Dassanetch are nomads, who are beginning to settle thanks to fishing and agriculture, and whose environment resembles the deserts of the Sahara or the Kalahari. The Dassanetch ethnic group do not form a united people but is made up of a cluster of small groups with a common language, land, and rituals. The Karo are a small tribe of barely 1,500 individuals, relatives of the more numerous Hamer. Like them, scarification (scars on the body) plays an important role in their customs, as well as very singular female hairstyles.

Night at Buska lodge

Turmi/Arba Minch
Going up the Rift Valley

Today, we will bring you back to the city of Arba Minch where you now have your habits. You will stroll again in this city where many bird species have taken up residence. Lake Chamo is located on the Rift Valley, the true backbone of the country that we will gently go up to the capital.

Night at Halie Resort

Arba Minch/Langano
A little swim

The main attraction of Lake Langano is that the water is free from all bilharzia, which makes swimming possible. You can perform water activities on request, and a boat trip is possible to an island renowned for its springs. The lake and its shores lined with acacias where savannah and dense forest alternate shelter a wide variety of water birds of all colors. You might even spot some species said to be extinct!

Night at Sabanna Resort

Langano/Debre Zeit
A lake city

After the morning dip in Lake Langano, we will take you to another city of lakes. Bishoftu, otherwise called Debre Zeit, and its many lakes, is located at 1900m altitude, enjoys a mild climate. In the Quaternary era, violent volcanic eruptions shaped, to the east, Mount Yerer, and to the southwest, the volcanic cone of Mount Zuauala, numerous lava cones and a group of crater lakes that are a tourist curiosity. Seven of them house magnificent small lakes fed by rains and underground springs.

Night at Liezak Resort

Return to the capital
See you soon

After a morning stroll in the pleasant city of Debre Zeit, we will take you back to the capital which is one hour away by road.
We wish to show you the metropolis you have already glimpsed through a completely different angle, that of craftsmen and artists, far from the usual souvenir shops. Indeed, we will take you directly to places of production and creation (potteries, tanneries, art galleries).
And to end the trip beautifully? we invite you to a traditional restaurant where you will have the chance to attend a music and dance show.

Courtesy room at your disposal