Ethiopian Experiences
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"Visit (Ethiopia) now while you can still see a huge diversity of tribes. See how they build their traditional homes, wear their traditional clothes and create their traditional hairstyles"
Trevor Jenner : Ethiopia, Travellers' Handbook
Tribes, Mountains and Caves
Truly unforgettable experiences
Dramatic vistas, wonderful wildlife, amazing culture in southern Ethiopia
See our Group tours schedule page and newsletters for latest news
The ultimate Ethiopian adventure with no great physical challenges and a good level of comfort.
Dramatic mountains and stunning landscapes, with almost certain sightings of the beautiful Ethiopian wolf, are followed by sculpted river caves, before moving to southern Ethiopia to experience the most extraordinary tribal cultures on earth, with a good chance of witnessing the iconic tribal Bull-jumping Ceremony. An amazing trip!
A thrilling tour of unparalleled rare experiences for just
£2820
plus flights and visa
Everything else is included - comfortable accommodation, good food, amazing scenery, all tourist costs, guide fees, and coffee stops throughout the trip.
All tips and all land transportation.
Note the adjusted dates for this tour
Here are the dates for our next group tour in 2025.
We'd love you to join us.
Departure on an evening flight
Tuesday, 10th June
Return on daytime flight
Monday 23rd June
We would strongly encourage you to join one of our very friendly, small-group accompanied tours.
But if you'd prefer to travel alone, or as a couple, or as a group of friends, we can run this tour for you at any time of the year. You just need to get in touch and let's discuss your requirements.
Use the form at the bottom of this page.
The itinerary
Please note: We shall always endeavour to follow the itinerary as published here on the website, but we reserve the right to flex these details if necessary in order to create the best possible tour for our guests.
🇪🇹 Day 0:
Evening flight
Heathrow to Addis
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Bale Mountains
🇪🇹 Day 1: After restorative coffees and snacks, we may (depending on schedules) have time to stroll around the fast-developing Bole area before our onward flight to Goba, the airport hub for the Bale Mountains. Toyota Landcruisers meet us in Goba with our excellent, tried-and-tested drivers, your companions throughout the road-trip. The well-appointed and peaceful Wabe Shabele Hotel, on an impressive and spacious government hotel site, is our home for the first three nights and we'll give ourselves good recovery time on arrival.
🇪🇹 Day 2: We have a particularly expert guide with us for two full days here as we first drive high onto the Senetti Plateau, an alpine landscape that will surprise and delight. There will certainly be a chill in the air up here as we search for the prize of Ethiopian wildlife, the rare Ethiopian wolf/Red fox/Simien fox, call it what you will. This beautiful creature will almost certainly be seen, perhaps even at close quarters, amid giant lobelia and other mountain flora. After lunch, we enter the National Park to have close encounters with extraordinary Mountain Nyala, Menelik’s Bushbuck, and ubiquitous warthogs.
" It was a most wonderful trip, and I didn't want to go home at the end of it! "
Sof Omar
🇪🇹 Day 3: We meet our friendly guide once again and descend in an easterly direction, with the very welcome sunshine warming us up ready for our visit to the Sof Omar river caves, an unexpectedly sculptural and magical experience. Vervet monkeys and rock hyrax are in frequent attendance, although we avoid sharing our picnic lunch with them before driving back to Goba for the third night in our hotel and a good final dinner.
Hawassa and Arba Minch
🇪🇹 Day 4: A fairly substantial drive is on the cards today, passing through picturesque mountain scenery with further sightings of wildlife and moving us down towards one of the largest cities south of the capital, Hawassa, an attractive place with wide airy boulevards and one of the most picturesque lakes in the Ethiopian Rift Valley. Our hotel is well-appointed and has an excellent restaurant, but we shall make sure we wander along the lakeside for colourful birdlife and sunset views on our one evening here.
🇪🇹 Day 5: We continue to travel south today towards Arba Minch, a pair of twin towns overlooking Lakes Chamo and Abaya which are the gateway to the tribal south (see our May 2021 newsletter). On the way we have plentiful opportunities for photos and coffee stops, with the changing landscape offering constant interest. Our resting place is the Ezana Hotel, named after the 4th century king who adopted Christianity for his country.
THE TRIBES
Bull-jumping
***The itinerary for the next few days is designed flexibly to allow us the best chance of catching a rare Hamer/Banna bull-jumping festival, one of the most extraordinary coming-of-age ceremonies in the world and one that you will remember for ever.
Into the Omo Valley - the Banna tribe
🇪🇹 Day 6: A fascinating drive takes us to Karat-Konso, the centre of Konso tribal culture, where we have lunch at a wonderful hilltop hotel before continuing south into the colourful tribal territories of the south-west. Passing into the area of the Banna culture, we visit a welcoming simple village with a local guide before reaching Jinka and the peaceful Eyob Hotel in its garden setting on the edge of town, our simple base for two nights.
Mursi and Ari tribes
🇪🇹 Day 7: A reasonably prompt start takes us with our local guide into the isolated Mago National Park to meet the Mursi people, the second of our encounters with extraordinary tribal communities. Here is an almost unimaginable simplicity of living where we get a respectful but friendly welcome from the tribal chief - the Mursi ladies with their unbelievable lip plates will not be forgotten.
We return to Jinka for lunch before going deep into the woodlands outside the town for our third tribal experience, an Ari tribe village. A good dinner and a relaxed evening.
Hamer and Karo tribes
🇪🇹 Day 8: Our road journey takes us down towards the south-west corner of Ethiopia to Turmi, centre of the colourful Hamer tribal culture. We check into the well-appointed Turmi Lodge and then, after lunch, we spend the rest of the afternoon with our guide in a Hamer village with very beautiful and welcoming people.
🇪🇹 Day 9: This morning we shall take a trip out into yet another tribal territory, that of the Kara tribe who specialise in extraordinary white body painting, for a village visit high over a dramatic bend in the wide Omo river. And in the afternoon, there is a small but colourful market in Turmi, a memorable affair with desirable souvenirs a-plenty and the Hamer people in their traditional dress.
" I very much enjoyed our visits to the tribes, all so unique and different. So lucky to have been able to see the Jumping of the Bulls ceremony."
Back to Jinka
🇪🇹 Day 10: Today we drive in a northerly direction again. It is time for our Landcruisers to take us back through Banna and Karo tribal territories with Jinka as our destination. On the way we have plentiful opportunities for photos and coffee stops, with the changing landscape offering constant interest. A small but very well-maintained tribal museum is a possible late afternoon visit.
🇪🇹 Day 11: Ethiopian Airlines have altered their schedule this year and today is the only day in the week when there is no flight back to the capital city. We shall therefore spend a relaxing day in and around Jinka, enjoying a little more of our village surroundings, and perhaps catching a local tribal market at Dimeka or exploring further the locality with a guide to focus our attentions. Some relaxing downtime will also be the order of the day before dinner and sleep.
Addis Ababa
🇪🇹 Day 12: Our morning flight takes us back to the capital city today. Once in Addis Ababa, we shall do any further souvenir shopping we wish and then visit the luxurious Sheraton Hotel, deemed the finest in Africa, for a drink together. A good dinner and relaxation in our own comfortable hotel, and our eventful and colourful tour is at an end.
🇪🇹 Day 13: A daytime flight back to London, taking with us some extraordinary memories.
Note :
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We can never be sure of flight costs in advance but based on our recent experience and increases in international flight prices, the complete package of two international flights and two domestic flights may well come to something around £1000 per person.
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The cost of the tourist visa has recently been reduced to a more reasonable £48.
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For other general information, see Our tours > All the tours information