On your arrival, I will be meeting you at Bole international airport, anf transfer you to your hotel in Addis. Then after check in and break, we will in bark on acity tour og the bustling Addis Abeba. Our visit includes:
Overnight: Addis Hotel
Today we take the morning flight to Jinka, check in to your hotel then, after some break, we will drive to one of the local Ari villag of the Ari tribe.Ari are the biggest tribe in Omo Valley and occupied the centeral highlands of tbe area. Their villages set on the nearby hill around Jinka, so you will do a small hiking through this village.
Overnight: Jinka Nassa Hotel
An early start (5;00:am) for long drive toward the isolated Suri village via Omo National park (10 hrs drive). Despite it is long and challenging drive,this is an exciting travel day as we will encounter different tribal boys with their herds and do a photo shooting with them. We will be arriving Kibish by late afternoon. Kibish is a village where the biggest Suri settlement is located. And also,where we will be camping for the next three nights.
Our focus for next two days will be photographing the fabulous Suri people, who due to their remoteness are one of the least visited of the Omo Valley’s tribes. The Suri are pastoralists, placing much value on their cattle, which they protect vigorously against theft from neighbouring tribes. The Surma however also steal livestock from their enemies, and in recent times there has been more pressure on their grazing lands due to input of people from adjacent Sudan who have been displaced by civil war, resulting in not-infrequent fighting in the area.
The Suri people do not make woodcarvings, statues etc., and instead are renowned for their incredibly ornate decoration of themselves, which they achieve through painting, scarification and adornment with flowers and other natural objects. The paintings are dynamic artworks, which vary greatly in design and are truly fascinating to photograph!
Virtually no area of the body is left out, and nakedness is a standard and acceptable part of daily life for the Surma, who regard Westerners concept of clothing with fascination!
Possibly more famously, Suri women, like Mursi women, wear lip plates. In her early 13 -15th ,an unmarried woman’s lower lip will be pierced and then progressively stretched over the period of a year. A clay disc, which has its edge indented like a pulley wheel, is squeezed into the hole in the lip. As the lip stretches, a succession of ever-larger discs are forced in until the lip, now a loop, is so long it can sometimes be pulled right over the owner’s head! The size of the lip plate determines the bride price with a large one bringing in fifty head of cattle. Suri women make the lip plates from clay, colouring them with ochre and charcoal and baking them in a fire.
Overnight: camping ay Kibish Village.
We have two full days to explore and photograph the fascinating Suri prople at varies different villages. Another famous component of Suri life is stick fighting, known a Donga. We will be exceptionally fortunate to witness such a contest, but our local guide will keep an ear to the ground and with luck, we may be able to attend such an event. At a fight, each male contestt is armed with a hardwood pole about six feet long and with a weight of just less than two pounds.
The men paint their bodies with a mixture of chalk and water before the fight. In the attacking position, this pole is gripped at its base with both hands, the left above the right in order to give maximum swing and leverage. Each player beats his opponent with his stick as many times as possible with the intention of knocking him down, and eliminating him from the game. Players are usually unmarried men.
The winner is carried away on a platform of poles to a group of girls waiting at the side of the arena who decide among themselves which of them will ask for his hand in marriage. Taking part in a stick fight is considered to be more important than winning it.
Overnight: camping at Kibish
An early morning 5:am we drive to Turmi Village via Omo NP (10 hrs drive), but along the way we will visit and do a photo shooting at Nyangatom Tribal village , who are said to be descendants of the Toposa tribe in South Sudan.
Here, we will have opportunities to photograph the tribe, who live in a climatically challenging area of the Omo (very arid). The women wear numerous strands of beads, which they build upon during life. Tribal adornment is an integral part of their culture. The area is semi arid and water has to be collected from rivers each day. Camp overnight in Kakuta. 105kms / 3 hours driving. Lunch boxes are provided to create time to photograph in the villages.
After our visit at Nyangatom,we will proceed driving to Turmi.
Overnight: Turmi Emerald Lodge .
Today anearly start driving to east towar Dus. Dud is the second of three village settlements of the Kara tribe. Sited on the banks of the Omo River, the Kara known for their creative and decorative body chalk painting.
Many of the Kara women have pierced lips and insert nails, flowers and pins. In addition to various photographic opportunities in the village and on the banks of the Omo River, if Lucky today, we may also be able to photograph the ceremonial, communal dance performed by the people of Dus.
Afterwards, drive back to Turmi in the afternoon.
Overnight: Turmi Emerald Lodge
Today again we depart at 5.30am from Turmi, heading to Arbore located at the northern edge of Mount Buska. The Arbore women are absolutely stunning, with extremely dark skin and strong features.
Prior to marriage the women have their heads shaved. They wear dark robes, colorful beads and their huts are constructed of tree branches and reeds.
Afterwards, drive back to, buy again a long the way we will visit another Hamar village in the afternoon. The Hamers, are a fine looking people, both men and women take great pride in their appearance, shaving and coloring their hair, oiling their bodies and decorating themselves with beads and bracelets worn around arms and legs. So, we will spend the rest of the days visiting anf photographing Hammer people at one of their remote villages.
Overnight: Turmi Emerald Lodge.
Today is a Market day in Hammer. Most of the weekly markets we have in Omo Valley are not only a place where people buy and sell, but they are rather weekly social events, where different tribal people groups exchange news as well as offer and recieves invitations for whatever ceremony they have. So you will have amezing exprience at the market. While we visit the Market, we will seek the best moments, light and opportunities to compose shots, which reflect upon those inimitable moments.
Interaction and understanding and, where feasible, spending time with people, makes moments and images more meaningful.
*However after the Market: today if there is a Bull Jumping ceremony take place in the afternoon , that will be visited as well.
This “Ukuli Bula”, (jumping of the cattle) is The most important milestone in the life of every Hamer family.This rite of passage marks the transition of a boy to a man. After jumping the cattle, Hamer men gain respect within the tribe and are allowed to marry and to carry a weapon.
The ceremony usually takes place between June and January after the harvests. Once the young man has been prepared for the ceremony, his closest relatives and family give him a stick known as boko. Then, a week or more before the ceremony, the young man sets out on a journey with boko, visiting both nearby and distant friends and relatives to invite them to the festivities.
On the jumping day in the afternoon, the mazas – the boy’s age-mates who have already completed the ceremony – take charge to line up the cattle. The number of cattle depends on the status and wealth of the young man’s family, generally from six to 18 cattle. The initiate runs and leaps up onto the back of the first cow, and jumps from one to the next along the line of cattle going back and forth at least two times.
After passing this initiation, he is proud to also be called maza, and recognized as a man.
Overnight: Turmi Emerald Lodge
After early breakfast , we will drive back to Jinka in order to fly back to Addis.
End of the tour.
