12-Day Safari South Omo, Bale Mountain Park and Harar

• You'll be collected from the airport.
• Accommodation before the tour starts can be arranged for an extra cost.

Arrival and City Tour

Upon your arrival at Bole International Airport and you will clear immigration and proceed to baggage claim, after collecting your checked bags, clear customs and pass through the arrivals hall where you will be meet by our representative, who will assist you with your transfer to your hotel.
In the morning after breakfast, we begin our sightseeing atop Mt. Entoto for a sweeping view and introduction to the city. At the National Museum, we will discover an expansive collection including medieval artifacts, memorabilia of former rulers like Emperor Haile Selassie, and an exhibit of Ethiopian art from the traditional to the contemporary. However, the Museum, of course, is best known as the home of Lucy famous 3-million-year-old hominid fossil, discovered in Ethiopia in 1974, and learn about its far-reaching impact on our understanding of human origins. We stay a night in Addis Ababa.

Main Destination:

Addis Ababa (City)

Accommodation:

Monarch Parkview Hotel

• Mid-range hotel located in Addis Ababa (City)

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Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Visit the World Heritage City of Harar

Early in the morning, we drop you for the domestic flight to Diredawa. We continue our journey with a guided tour of Harar to visit the town's mosques and intriguing old architecture, such as the old city wall and the house of the French poet Rimbaud. Harar is home to one of the more unusual sights you will likely see during your travels in Ethiopia. Every night, a local man goes to the outskirts of the city and calls the hyenas from the surrounding area. This custom dates back to the 1950s but is based on an even older tradition that was started initially to deter the hyenas from stealing local livestock. As the hyenas approach, the hyena man offers them pieces of meat, either in his hands or sometimes between his teeth, which the hyenas then take from him. This tradition is passed down from generation to generation, and only one person fills the role at any given time. This evening, you may want to go and witness this peculiar ritual.

Main Destination:

Harar (Town)

Accommodation:

Harar Ras Hotel

• Budget hotel located in Harar (Town)

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Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Drive to Adama

In the morning, you will start drive to Adama. We will have plenty of opportunities to stop and see the countryside we are driving through Awash National park. This park is one of eastern Ethiopia’s main attractions and we plan to have a late afternoon game drive. Although over 80 mammal species have been recorded in the park, the majority being bats, rodents and small predators the game viewing is arguably less of an attraction than the scenery and birdlife. The Park is regarded as one of Ethiopia’s premier birding destinations, with over 450 species. The park also has a magnificent 150 m-deep gorge, carved by the Awash River and its substantial waterfall. Drive to Adama for overnight.

Main Destination:

Adama (Town)

Accommodation:

Tokuma Hotel

• Budget hotel located in Adama (Town)

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Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Drive to Bale Mountain National Park

After breakfast, we drive to Bale mountain National park Through Arsi Massive Mountains. We stop for lunch at Dodola. After lunch, we will arrive to Dinsho the head quarter of Bale Mountains National Park. We can make a short walk inside the headquarters to find some mammals. Many wild animals around the head quarter like Mountain Nyala and Minilik Bushbuck have gotten quite used to humans. Therefore, it is one of the few regions in this park where you could walk among animals. Next, we will go on driving to the lodge located 100 km (62 mi) away and check in before nightfall.

Main Destination:

Bale Mountains National Park

Best Time To Visit Nov to Feb (Little rain)

High Season Oct to Jan (Park is never busy)

Best Weather November to February

Wildlife in Bale Mountains NP

Ethiopian wolf Common

Mountain nyala Common

Warthog Common

Menelik's
bushbuck Occasional

Guereza monkey Occasional

Show more

Olive baboon Occasional

Bohor reedbuck Occasional

Starck's hare Occasional

Giant mole-rat Occasional

Bale monkey Rare

Giant forest hog Rare

Golden jackal Rare

Gelada monkey None

Walia ibex None

Accommodation:

Tokuma Hotel

• Budget hotel located in Adama (Town)

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Visit Bale Mountain National Park

In the morning, we will go on safari at the region of Harenna Forest, where you could see plenty of Ethiopian endemic birds, mammals and amphibians. The national park covering an area of 2,200 square kilometers (1,370 square miles) comprises of grasslands, woodlands, meadows and swamps, and moorlands inhabited by a great variety of rare endemic animals like Ethiopia wolves, Bale monkey, giant forest hogs, and some of Rift Valley's most threatened bird species. Then we will move to Sanetti Plateau and have a picnic lunch there. In the afternoon, hike along the top of the peak over the plateau in search of the endangered Ethiopia wolves and getting close to other African animals.

Main Destination:

Bale Mountains National Park

Accommodation:

Tokuma Hotel

• Budget hotel located in Adama (Town)

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Drive to Arbaminch

After breakfast, we continue with a drive to Arbaminch. We will pass through a number of coffee plantations and various fruit cultivating towns set in verdant countryside. Our destination is the Lake Hawassa. A natural retreat of astonishing beauty and tranquility, the Bamboo thatched Tukuls complement the traditional Sidama villages. The surrounding lake is home for a diverse range of mammals and birds. You arrive late in the afternoon at Arbaminch - meaning 'Forty Springs' in Amharic. Arbminch takes its name from the bubbling streams that cover the groundwater forest occupying the flats of the town.

Main Destination:

Arba Minch (City)

Accommodation:

Mora Heights Hotel

• Budget hotel located in Arba Minch (City)

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Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Drive Jinka

After breakfast, you will have a boat trip on clear blue waters of Lake Chamo to see the crocodiles, hippos & aquatic bird species. The northern shores of Lake Chamo are famous for its large crocodiles, which can be seen in great numbers lounging in the heat. The lake is about 32km long and provides a lush wetland habitat for many species of flora and fauna. Keep driving to Key Afer for the colorful Thursday market where we should see and photographed the Ari, Bena, Hamer and Tsemay people. The Bena and Hamer women usually favor 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 colorful beads. After visiting the market, we drive on to Jinka, often called the gateway to the Omo Valley.

Main Destination:

Jinka (Lower Omo Valley)

Accommodation:

Jinka Resort

• Budget hotel located in Jinka (Lower Omo Valley)

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Visit Mursi Tribe and Drive to Turmi

Early morning drive to Mago National Park, from here, visit the Mursi highlands where the most illustrious of Ethiopia’s unique tribes lives. The Mursi are known all over the world, for their decorative lip plates that adorn the lower lips of the Mursi women. The plates stretch the lower lip beyond imagination and the women’s beauty, pride and desirability is determined in direct proportion to the size of the plate. The Mursi men and women may appear gracious but the Mursi warriors are not to be sneezed at. On their arms are deep crescent incisions that represent each enemy they have killed in battle. The men are also famous for their hairstyle. The various cultural aspects of the tribe will be explain and you will be able to take their photographs but not free. Back to Jinka for your lunch and afternoon, we will continue driving through the Omo Valley region to Turmi via Dimeka.

Main Destination:

Turmi (Lower Omo Valley)

Accommodation:

Emerald Lodge Turmi

• Mid-range lodge located in Turmi (Lower Omo Valley)

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Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Visit Dassanach, Karo, Nyangatom and Hamer

This morning we start driving south to Omorate to visit another tribe, 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.
After lunch, we continue through the savannah along tracks that are barely visible, passing through a vast meadowland with shrubs and umbellifers for an excursion to Morulle and Kangatan Village. The Nyangatom are known to be great warriors and quite frequently, active warmongers, they are often at war with the neighboring tribes including the Hamer, the Karo and the Surma. We continue, across the river and proceed to the Karo village of Korcho, with a stunning location look in over the Omo River. The Karo people, while the smallest tribe of the Omo Valley in number, are also known to be the most decorated. After the visit, return to Turmi for another opportunity to see Jumping of the Bulls.

Main Destination:

Turmi (Lower Omo Valley)

Accommodation:

Emerald Lodge Turmi

• Mid-range lodge located in Turmi (Lower Omo Valley)

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Drive to Arbaminch

In the morning, we drive back to Aribaminch via woita road on the way visiting the Erbore people. The Arbore people routinely intermarry with other ethnic groups. It is also inhabited a substantial number of Hamer and even Borena women adding a cosmopolitan feel to the worthwhile Saturday market. Then you will drive to Konso where colorfully costumed dress, impressive terracing of the land and unusually engraved wooden statues used as grave markers can be seen. Differing from their neighbors, the Konso are pure agriculturists, famed for their use of the stone terraces that they utilize to such good effect in this dry and barren region of basalt hills. The Konso live in settlements that are surrounded by stonewall. A generation pole classifies the age of each town and each family lives in compounds that are accessible only through gateways that require the visitor to enter on all fours thereby rendering any potential attackers vulnerable. We can make 90 km drive to Arbaminch.

Main Destination:

Arba Minch (City)

Accommodation:

Mora Heights Hotel

• Budget hotel located in Arba Minch (City)

Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Drive to Hawassa

After breakfast, you will drive 17 km northwest of Arbaminch to Guge Mountains to visit the Dorze and Chencha villages. Once warriors, the Dorze have now turned to farming and weaving to earn a living. The “elephant huts” of the Dorze are unique and worth seeing. In addition, the Dorze beehive-shaped houses are constructed entirely of organic material and has its own small garden surrounded by beds of spices, cabbage and tobacco, which is located 8 km northwest of Dorze Village. You will pass through the fertile land of Wolayta with their fascinating culture and the false Banana preparation and coffee plantations and Alaba regions. You will pass through land, which produces the best banana, papaya, apple and mango in Ethiopia for the world market. After lunch, drive to privet farm spend the day surrounded by coffee plantations that produce Sidama coffee, one of the three coffee brands of the well-known Arabica coffee.

Main Destination:

Awasa (City)

Accommodation:

Hotel Oasis

• Budget hotel located in Morogoro (City)

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Meals & Drinks:

• All meals included
• Non-alcoholic drinks

Drivce to Addis Ababa and Departure

Today you will return to Addis Ababa. On the way, visit the Abijatta-Shala National Park. Lake Shala is a very deep crater lake (over 260 meters deep!) and Lake Abijatta is a soda lake, which attracts thousands of flamingos. After the visit, continue drive back to Addis Ababa.
In the evening, farewell party dinner invitation by our guide with cultural dinner and traditional special buffet and local drinks to experience Ethiopia’s cultural meals and drinks. Here you will enjoy and experience several tribal dances. After farewell dinner party, we transfer you to Bole International Airport for international departure.

Main Destination:

Addis Ababa (City)

Accommodation:

No accommodation (End of tour)

Meals & Drinks:

• Meals at own expense
• Drinks not included

• Additional accommodation can be arranged for an extra cost.
• You'll be dropped off at the airport.