Ethiopia: Omo Valley tribes - Simien Mountains - Lalibela
Cost for 8 persons sharing: $8,950
Cost for 6 persons sharing: $9,950
Cost for 4 persons sharing: 10,950
Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world - it has been existing for at least 2,000 years. The country comprises more than 80 ethnic groups and as many languages. Primarily their shared independent existence unites Ethiopia's many nations. Unique among African countries, Ethiopia has never been colonized, one exception being the occupation by Italy in 1936-41.
Our first stop will be the Simien Mountains National Park, a World Heritage Site, where we will spend 3 days. Massive erosion over the years on the Ethiopian plateau has created one of the most spectacular landscapes in the world, with jagged mountain peaks, deep valleys and sharp precipices dropping some 1,500 m. The park is home to some extremely rare animals such as the Gelada baboon, the Simien fox and the Walia ibex, a goat found nowhere else in the world. During our visit we will enjoy easy hikes to stunning lookouts and will concentrate on observing and photographing Gelada baboons. Spending almost all of their time on the ground, geladas are the world’s most terrestrial primates. They are poor tree climbers and spend 99 percent of their time on the ground partly because of their extreme dietary specialization as a grazer. Specially adapted to live high up in the mountains, they use small ledges on the steep, rocky cliffs to escape predators; they also sleep on these edges huddled together in small groups.
The next major stop during our two week long Wild Focus Expedition is Lalibela. Situated in a mountainous region in the heart of Ethiopia, some 645 km from Addis Ababa, Lalibela counts eleven medieval monolithic churches that were carved out of rock. The churches were not constructed in a traditional way but rather were hewn from the living rock of monolithic blocks. These blocks were further chiselled out, forming doors, windows, columns, various floors, roofs etc. This gigantic work was completed with an extensive system of drainage ditches, trenches and ceremonial passages, some with openings to hermit caves and catacombs. During our visit in Lalibela we will have unique opportunities to capture images of people carrying out their religious life and daily activities.
Another highlight of our Ethiopia Wild Focus Expedition is the Omo Valley in the South of Ethiopia with various very colorful, traditionally living tribes. The women of the Mursi tribe are famous and unique because of the large plates inserted into their lower lip. Another tribe, the Hamer, are known for their practice of body adornment and wearing a multitude of colorful beads. Women adorn their necks with heavy polished iron jewelry. The Hamer men have a reputation of being less than adoring husbands. The women submit to the ritual floggings proudly and love to show the deep scars that are regarded as a proof of devotion to their husbands. The Karo people differentiate themselves from many of the neighbouring tribes by excelling specifically in body and face painting. They paint themselves daily with coloured ochre, white chalk, yellow mineral rock, charcoal, and pulverized iron ore, all natural resources local to the area. The specific designs drawn on their bodies can change daily and vary in content, ranging from simple stars or lines to animal motifs, such as guinea fowl plumage, or to the most popular – a myriad of handprints covering the torso and legs. The Daasanach tribe has proved itself to be a thrifty group with many tribesmen and women wearing their unique jewellery made out of everything from old digital watches to bottle caps. They have created iconic headdresses from bottle caps, earrings from sim cards and necklaces from syringe caps. While the Daasanach are keen to sell their wares, they have become so fond of their iconic bottle cap hats that they keep them for themselves.
We have made special arrangements to photograph these colorful unique people for the last 5 days of our expedition before returning to Addis Ababa for the last night of our trip.
