I think I maybe got about 2 or 3 hours of sleep before I was rudely awakened by a call at 1 in the morning. It was someone working for the bus company. I was like— WTF. The bus back to Addis Ababa doesn’t leave until 3 AM. Why are they calling to remind me two hours before departure. i was already awake, so even though the bus station was only a ten minute walk from the guest house, I decided to get up and took a quick shower. I didn’t want to wake the caretaker up so early, but i did tell her I had to catch a bus at 3 AM so I’m pretty sure she expected me to wake her up. After about 10 minutes of discreet knocking on her bedroom door, I managed to wake her up. I apologized, and thanked her for a wonderful stay.
When I found the bus, I immediately understood why they called two hours prior to departure. There was a long line because everyone’s bags were being checked thoroughly. Due to the situation in the country, the capital is presumed to be a target. So all buses heading to Addis were thoroughly checked. We left at exactly 3 AM. We had two stops, one for breakfast and one for lunch. Right outside the capital there was a checkpoint and everyone’s bags were thoroughly checked again. Nope, they don’t give a pass for tourists in Ethiopia. We arrived in Addis at around 3:30 PM.
I’ll be leaving the next morning from a different bus station, so I chose a hotel close to that other one. I would be heading to the Omo Valley. This is where those famous tribes in Ethiopia are located. To visit the tribes, you’d either have to base yourself in Arba Minch or Jinka. First off, do not book an Omo Valley tour from Addis Ababa. Tours from Addis are ridiculously expensive— not surprising since the Omo Valley isn’t close to Addis. If you pay for a tour, you’d be paying for private transport. If you’re not on a tight budget, you can choose to fly to Arba Minch or Jinka. Take note that flights aren’t daily though, so plan your itinerary properly. Buses on the other hand, run daily. If you plan to visit a lot of tribes, it would make sense to base yourself in Jinka. It’s deeper into the valley, thus it’s closer to most of the tribes. It would be cheaper to arrange tours from there. There are no buses going directly to Jinka though. From Addis, you need to take a bus to Arba Minch then take another bus heading to Jinka from there. I already bought a bus ticket the last time I went to the ticketing office right by St. Estifanos Church ( close to Meskel Square), so I could just chill a bit, have dinner, and call it an early night… I’d have to because the bus leaves at 4 AM. Man, why do all these buses in Ethiopia leave at such ungodly hours.
There wasn’t a long line when i found the bus the next morning. I guess they don’t care about possible terrorists when you’re leaving from Addis? The journey to Arba Minch takes about 9 hours, with one stop for lunch. A funny thing happened on this stop. As soon as everyone got off the bus, the bus left. I had a tracker on my back pack and I could see that the bus kept going farther and farther and farther. I must’ve had an incredibly worried look on my face because this lady approached me and spoke to me in broken English. She assured me that the bus was going to be back. While this was happening I kept hearing people around me saying “faranji, faranji, faranji…”. Yeah guys, i know I’m a faranji, you don’t need to keep saying it. Faranji (or farenji, or ferengi… i’ve asked locals how to spell it and everyone kept giving me different ways to spell) basically means foreigner, and you’re going to keep hearing it if you’re obviously not a local.
We arrived at Arba Minch at a little past 1 in the afternoon. My guide was right there waiting. If you’re on a very tight budget and you want to visit some tribes, you might be thinking of visiting tribes on your own. For one thing, some tribes cannot be reached by public transport, so you can cross those tribes off your list. Among those tribes that are accessible via public transport, most of them do not speak English. Most of them do not even speak Amharic, the official language in Ethiopia. Do you know the languages of these tribes? If not, how do you expect to communicate with them? Do you expect them to welcome you with open arms just because you’re a faranji? Based on my experience, some of them weren’t friendly at first. They only warmed up to me after my guide introduced me to them. I’ve also heard of one faranji who just showed up at one tribe and they chased him away. Sure, the tribes who are used to seeing many tourists may welcome you, but how would you even communicate with them? Do you just plan on taking selfies with them, that’s it? There are guides who don’t ask for much. If you can’t even afford the cheapest rates, maybe hold off visiting these tribes until you can actually afford to do so.
You’re going to encounter many guides in Arba Minch and Jinka, but it may be risky to just pick any guide you encounter. I’d recommend making an account on couchsurfing and post a public trip. In a number of countries, the couchsurfing app isn’t really used for couchsurfing. I’ve noticed this in many developing countries. Many wouldn’t offer to host you. If you post a public trip, you’d get lots of invites from guides. That’s right. Ethiopia is one of those countries wherein many guides look for customers on the couchsurfing app. What’s good thing about the app is, you’d see feedback from people who’ve availed of their services. If you don’t want to use this app, you can check TripAdvisor. Several guides have pages there and their customers leave reviews.
My guide charges USD 80-120 a day, depending on what you want to see and do. Yeah that seems pretty pricey, but considering this includes lodging, 3 meals per day including unlimited drinking water, the cost of transportation, the cost to enter attractions, the cost of miscellaneous fees… it’s actually a great deal. You don’t have to worry about tipping everyone you encounter, he’d be in charge of tipping. In fact, you don’t have to worry about anything. And it is way cheaper than any tour you could find advertised online. After I discovered how much they paid for gas in Ethiopia, it would seem that guides don’t get much profit if they’re paid about 100 bucks a day. This is why they ask to be paid in US dollars or Euros. Because of the black market rate in Ethiopia, they’re effectively being paid almost double the amount. They get a huge profit if they’re paid in US dollars or Euros. In fact, they’ll usually ask for more if you say you’ll pay in local currency. So to anyone planning on visiting Ethiopia, bring lots of US Dollars or Euros. Your money will go a long, long way.
If you really can’t afford spending that much daily, most guides can still plan a tour that may fit your budget. My guide told me that one tourist could only afford to spend 50-60 dollars a day, so this tourist just rode with him on his motorbike and they went to several villages on the outskirts of Jinka. Obviously, this won’t work if you want to visit those tribes in the mountains and those tribes that aren’t close to Jinka. But try planning with your guide. Your guide may be able to plan a tour that would work for you.
Since I was already in Arba Minch, I figured I’d spend one or two nights here and check the place out. My guide found me a cheap hotel for only 600 Birr a night. It was very basic, but I just needed reliable wifi for work that day, and they delivered. By the hotel restaurant, they had a great view of Nechisar National Park and the two huge lakes— Lake Abaya on the left, and Lake Chamo on the right. The restaurant serves good food too, and it’s cheap. It’s Bekele Mola Hotel, and I would recommend staying here if you aren’t picky. I was happy just working and relaxing at the hotel that day, and I made arrangements with my guide to start the tour the next morning.
He picked me up at 6 in the morning, and we had breakfast at a local restaurant nearby. If you love avocado, you can order avocados to your heart’s content here. Avocados are incredibly cheap.
Our first stop was the Dorze Village, which was about an hour away from Arba Minch via bajaj (tuk-tuk/ motorized rickshaw). If you’re planning on spending some time in Arba Minch before heading to Jinka, I would recommend visiting this village. It’s a perfect introduction to the local culture in the Omo Valley. On the way up the mountains, you’re going to see a number of children from this village trying to catch your attention by dancing. They’re basically asking for money or candies. Feel free to ignore them, but if you have some snacks to spare, by all means hand them some. I’m not sure how I felt about this. It seemed that the village has become extremely touristy, so the children expect to easily get some free stuff from faranjis.
The Dorze Village has its own tourist center, and there’s a set tour for every visitor. This might turn off some people who are looking for a more authentic and spontaneous experience, but as I’ve said earlier this is a perfect introduction to the local culture because of the way they run things. There’s already a system in place for visitors. In the main visitor’s area, they’ll tell about the history of their people. In here, you’ll get your first glimpse of their traditional houses. Those huge huts resemble an elephant’s head, and their ancestors revered these creatures when elephants used to roam freely in the area. They’ll also teach you how to weave— the Dorze people are renowned for weaving, and you can purchase some of their crafts as souvenirs. Deeper in the village, you’d get to see how locals make fermented bread called Kocho. You can also try making one if you want to. Unlike Injera which is made from Tef flour, Kocho is made from fermented Enset. Enset is commonly known as “false banana“, because these plants resemble banana plants. The fruits aren’t edible, but the other parts are used to make food like kocho. Kocho is made from the pulp which is chopped and mashed. The roots are edible too. Some parts of the plant are used to line roofs and for wrapping food. The false banana plant is very important to these people because it has many uses. We ended this very informative tour with a light meal of kocho. It tastes great with honey. They then brought out a bottle of honey wine called Tej. I thought it was gonna be some light sweet wine, but it was really strong. After 5 shots, I was hoping they wouldn’t hand me another shot. I didn’t want to get drunk before noon. lol.
On each part of this tour of the village, I noticed my guide handing out cash at every stop— to the village chief, to the dude who taught me how to weave, to the lady who made kocho, and to the guys who offered me wine. If there’s one place where you may not need a guide, I guess it’s in this village. You can just get a bajaj in town and arrange for a roundtrip transfer. There’s a system in place for visitors and the people in charge speak English. However, they may ask for more money from you because you’re a faranji.
After visiting this village, our original plan was to visit the Nechisar National Park and Lake Chamo to see some wildlife, but apparently visitors weren’t allowed in the park that time due to bandits in the area. I had my suspicions that my guide was bullish*tting me so he could keep more of my money for himself, but I did ask some random local who understood English and he did say that visitors weren’t allowed in the park for the past couple of weeks. If visitors are allowed again by the time you are in Arba Minch, i believe it’s worth checking out. Instead, we went to some crocodile farm which I found pretty boring. It’s worth a visit if you haven’t been to one I guess.
If you’re planning on heading to Jinka after Arba Minch, direct buses to Jinka leave early in the morning. Since our day was cut short because we couldn’t visit the national park, my guide had this bright idea that we head to Jinka that afternoon instead of spending another night in Arba Minch. We just had to take a local bus to Karat, then take a bus to Jinka from there. Jinka is about 6 hours away from Arba Minch. It was already past 3 PM. We’d still be able to get to Jinka before 10 PM. That made sense so i went along with it.
As soon as the bus was full, we were on our way. Now what we didn’t expect were a couple of checkpoints along the way. The bus driver ignored one checkpoint so he was apprehended by the military. I thought we’d be stuck in whatever random town that was. To cut a long story short, instead of arriving in Karat at around 5PM, we arrived past 7 PM. The last bus to Jinka already passed through the town. My guide tried to find a private driver who’d take us to Jinka, but he couldn’t find any. So we had to hitchhike. However, all the vehicles passing by weren’t heading to Jinka.
We eventually managed to hitch a ride on a 16 wheeler truck. I’ve never ridden on one so I was excited at first. Then i realized that we were moving so painfully slow… for safety concerns apparently because he was moving such a heavy load. We arrived at Jinka at past 1:30 in the morning. I had no dinner yet, all restaurants were closed, and i was so f*cking hungry. I wanted to strangle my guide. lol. Good thing I still had some crackers. I needed a shower but there’s no water. Guess I’d just sleep then. But man, the room I got had so many mosquitos. No problem, there’s a mosquito net provided…. but it had huge gaping holes. As expected, i didn’t get much sleep that night. And that hotel was supposed to be one of the better ones in Jinka. lol.
To be fair, it’s actually not bad. I realized this when I stayed at the same place when we got back. I was just really unlucky on that first night. I got a room where the screen was broken, so mosquitos were able to get in. If you’re going farther out into the Omo Valley, take note that the best accommodations are in Jinka. These accommodations may be basic, but it gets worse the farther you venture out from here. Farther out, the only options would be very basic guesthouses or camping sites. When I say very basic, I mean guesthouses with no western toilets, only shared pit latrines (basically a hole on the floor). Many have no bathing areas. On one of our stops, they offered to get a bucket of water from a well if i wanted to clean up. On another stop, I desperately wanted to take a shower because I haven’t showered for 2 days and i was sweating the entire time. I definitely stank. The only option was to wash myself on the nearby stream. There were lots of locals who were totally naked cleaning themselves, adults and children alike, so I thought maybe i should get naked too? it would be easier clean up… Nah, i was getting too much attention already, being the only faranji washing himself in the stream lol.
Anyway, back to Jinka. One notable village is just by the outskirts of the town— the Ari Village. It’s a huge village, and it’s worth visiting to see how locals live their daily lives. If there’s one place where you’d feel like a celebrity, this is the place. Every now and then locals would shout “faranji” in Jinka as they try to get my attention. But in the Ari Village, i was hounded by children all shouting faranji. As we were walking through the village, more and more children would join us, shouting faranji and giggling as they try to hold my hand. At one point there were probably more than 30 children following us, it was crazy lol. They weren’t even asking for anything. No one asked for food, candies, or money. It seemed that they were really happy being with a faranji. Like the Dorze Village, the Ari Village also had a system in place for visitors. There are several stops wherein they show you how to make bread, pottery, coffee, and wine. You can also buy some of these for souvenirs. You don’t have to, and it’s easy to say no. They won’t be persistent about it. There’s also a market by the village where you could buy cheap stuff. I bought some fruits and gave them to the children who kept following us.
After visiting this village, we got picked up by a 4×4 to visit one of the tribes. We needed a 4×4 because we would be heading up the mountains. The terrain is rugged, so a bajaj isn’t an option. To be honest, up until this point, I wasn’t sure if this was something i’d want to do because of the stuff i’ve been hearing about the tribes in the Omo Valley. I’ve heard people refer to them as “human zoos“. I’ve heard that they’ve become spectacles due to mass tourism, and visiting these tribes felt like visiting a zoo or a circus. Hoards of tourists would frequently descend upon the tribes at the same time, and the tribes would perform scripted versions of their rituals and customs. With this image in my mind, it does feel like watching a circus. I specifically told my guide that I do not want that kind of experience. I wanted to interact with these people, see how they live their daily lives. I’m not interested in watching them perform. And I don’t want to be part of a horde of tourists either. So we timed each visit properly so there’s less chances of other tourists being at each tribe when we paid them a visit.
When you read about tribes in the Omo Valley, you’d most certainly come across the Mursi Tribe. I’d say they’re the most famous one, because the women have lip plates made of either wood or clay— their appearance certainly stands out. When females reach the age of 15, their lips are cut and slowly stretched over a period of time until these plates would fit. I do have my reservations about this custom. What actual benefit does this do? From a modern perspective, this practice seems sadistic or even barbaric. But the women wear these as an expression of beauty, adulthood and fertility. They are proud of this custom and their traditions. These people also create ornate patterns on their bodies with scars. They do this by cutting themselves with thorns or blades and rub ashes on the wounds to create these raised patterns. Again, they are proud of these. When visiting any of these tribes, we should treat them with respect and leave all modern sensibilities behind.
None of them spoke english so my guide was very helpful while i was trying to interact with the people of the tribe. Everyone was asking for two things: bottled water and soap. That’s right, they want bars of soap. Asking for bottled water made sense. I’ve been told potable water was hard to come by in these parts, and having bottled water saves them the trouble of boiling water. We had a couple of bottles of water with us, so I told the guide to give some to the village chief. As for soap, i had a couple of bars of soap with me because a tourist I’ve met elsewhere gave me the heads up— the tribes would ask for soap. I only brought 24 bars of soap, and obviously that wasn’t enough. I felt bad when i saw the faces of those who didn’t get any. It seemed that soap was a necessity to them.
A young woman asked if I wanted to have my face painted like theirs. I thought it would be rude to say no, so I obliged. While she was painting my face, people started to line up behind me. I wondered why. I thought that was really odd. Apparently my guide told the village chief that I was a doctor, and the chief told everyone. Basically they thought I was there for a medical mission. So my cultural immersion trip suddenly turned into a medical mission. lol. There was another group of tourists there, and they were probably wondering why everyone was gathering around me. Man if I actually saw all these people and gave them medical advice and treatment, what I’d be doing is technically illegal… but since I didn’t visit their tribe with the intention of doing a medical mission… what happened was basically spontaneous… it wouldn’t be wrong to address each of their concerns would it? I can’t just turn all these people away, just because i didn’t have the necessary permits. I did consider doing this prior to my trip— to do some medical volunteer work by the book, similar to the ones I’ve done in Tanzania several years ago. But I’d have to get another type of visa which was more expensive, i had to get the necessary permits, coordinate with local health officials or team up with an NGO based in the area who’d help me with everything… it’s not about the cost. I just figured all that effort won’t be worth it, considering I’d only be staying for a week in the Omo Valley and I planned on doing lots of other things. This trip was primarily for cultural immersion, and not for doing some volunteer work.
Most were simple cases. Easily treated… a kid with a pink eye, another kid with abdominal pain, some men and women with skin rashes, a few with runny nose and sore throat, someone with diarrhea— all conditions that are easily treatable, if only I brought medications. I did have some medications in my medicine bag, but these were mainly for personal use while traveling. Obviously i didn’t have enough meds for everyone. I just took note of all those who needed medications that i didn’t have, and i promised them I’ll be back the next day with the meds. My guide then directed me to one of the huts. There was a man inside who fell from a tree 2 weeks prior and couldn’t walk. His entire leg was wrapped with leaves, and as i examined it, it was obviously deformed. This guy had a fracture, and he needed an operation. With the help of my guide I told the chief what was needed to be done. One huge problem though— they had no way of transporting him all the way to Jinka. And if they ever find a way to transport him to Jinka, they had no way of paying for the operation. My heart sank . It wasn’t an open fracture, his broken bones will eventually fuse. But with the way his leg was deformed, there’s no way he’d walk properly again. i wondered how life would be like for someone with a disability in the Mursi Tribe. It must be hard since men are primarily hunters and gatherers providing food for their tribe.
Once I’ve seen everyone who were in line, i made a note of all the meds I’d need to buy from town. Heading back we’d need to hire another 4×4 for the next day (they charge by the day). I asked our driver how much I’d have to pay, and my mouth dropped when he said 4,000 Birr… damn, another unexpected expense… together with the meds I’d be buying. But you know what? I actually felt really great that time, so I just agreed. I was on a high. Nothing beats the feeling of being to help out people who could use your help. That sense of fulfillment is indescribable. Medications back in Jinka were quite cheap, so I didn’t really spend much overall. Handing out all those meds the next day, as well as more soap and water, made me feel real good. This may have unexpectedly turned out to be the most expensive part of this trip, but it’s also definitely the highlight. When we visited other tribes, I was pretty sure the same thing’s gonna happen because my guide couldn’t keep his mouth shut lol. So I came prepared— I brought lots of bottled water, soap, and medications for common illnesses. True enough, people with health concerns lined up again. Hey, it was all still spontaneous. I didn’t tell my guide to announce that I was there to help anyone with medical concerns. They just lined up on their own. It wouldn’t feel right to just turn them away.
So to anyone who’s planning on visiting these tribes, bring lots of bottled water and bars of soap! And if you work in the medical field, at least bring some medications for common ailments. You never know, your cultural immersion trip could turn into an impromptu medical mission trip as well. 🙂
If you’re in Jinka on a Thursday, check out the tribal market in Key Afer, about an hour from the center of Jinka. This only occurs once a week, and it brings together the Benna, Hamar, and Tsemai tribes. If you don’t have time to visit these tribes, this market is the perfect opportunity to interact with them. You could also buy some of their crafts. These are cheap too since they’re mostly selling to locals. On the way to Key Afer, you’ll most certainly come across those famous boys in stilts. They’re from the Benna Tribe, and this custom has cultural significance. Being able to balance and walk on stilts creates the impression that a young boy is already mature. it’s some sort of a rite of passage. But these boys waiting along the road mainly do this for money lol. No harm done, they’d be happy getting a few Birrs in exchange for a couple of pictures.
On the day when we went to the Key Afer market, my guide informed me that there was a bull jumping ceremony at the Hamar tribe that night. He asked if I wanted to witness that. Bull jumping is a rite of passage for young boys, wherein they would attempt to jump over at least seven bulls. If he succeeds, he would be considered a man and is given the title of Maza. If he fails four times, he could try again the following year if he thinks that he’s ready. To show support for these boys, some women ask the men to whip their backs. The more pain they endure, the more bloody their wounds are, the greater their loyalty. So they ask to be whipped hard. When these wounds heal, these scars serve as proof of their loyalty to them. In the future, if these women would ever need any help from the men, showing these scars would oblige the men to give them aid. This tradition is brutal and it’s not something I’d want to see. As I’ve mentioned above, I respect the traditions and customs of these tribes. I would never display arrogance and impose my set of values on them, especially since they are proud of their traditions. But I didn’t think I’d be comfortable seeing women getting whipped repeatedly. The tribe chief was asking for 200 US dollars to be able to watch this bull jumping ceremony, and that seemed like quite a cash grab. it’s okay to ask for donations, but to have a set price? I told my guide I’ll take a look before i decide. When we reached the place, it was packed with tourists, and the ceremony hasn’t even started yet. All these people were paying 200 bucks? Man, this tribe was raking it in! It didn’t feel intimate at all. If the ceremony occurred without those hordes of tourists, if only fewer outsiders were invited to witness this ceremony, i may have agreed to pay 200 bucks. It would seem as if i were witnessing something special, as if i were invited to be part of the tribe somehow. But this wasn’t what it seemed like. It looked like the “human zoo” or circus that i was trying to avoid. It’s a shame how some tribes have learned to monetize their traditions. I know, they could use the money from tourists. But there should be a way to make it seem less of a blatant cash grab. It’s a shame how they allow their cultures to be exploited this way. I told my guide I’d rather head back to town and call it an early night.
I have mixed emotions about the time I’ve spent in the Omo Valley. On one hand, interacting with people from different tribes and villages were definitely the highlight of my trip to Ethiopia. That impromptu medical mission gave me that kind of fulfillment that I haven’t felt in a long time. On the other hand, I’m saddened at the extent of how some tribes have monetized their customs and traditions, allowing themselves to become spectacles. They’re being exploited by mass tourism, and they allow themselves to be exploited. Perhaps it’s inevitable, how the outside world would eventually reshape their way of living. Perhaps their way of life isn’t ideal, nor is it sustainable. The modern world offers many benefits. Proper healthcare is one. Easy access to potable water is another. Or they may decide to put an end to certain practices that are part of their culture, such as those that are basically self mutilation, because they’d realize that these could cause great harm with very little benefit. Still, it’s sad to realize that if this goes on, as the outside world continues to creep in, their unique culture may eventually be erased. In the future, what’s going to be left would be shells of their former selves. Ceremonies and traditions would only continue to be done for show, to earn money, and not to preserve their cultural identities.
One final note, if you’ll be flying out from Jinka, the airport is just by the outskirts of the town, about 30 minutes away. Most locals don’t fly, these flights mostly cater to tourists so there are no buses going to the airport regularly. To head there, you can easily take a bajaj, however they’d usually charge 500 Birr for faranjis. Locals usually pay less than half of that amount, so you could ask for a lower rate depending on your bargaining skills. My guide offered to bring me to the airport on my last day so that I won’t have to pay the faranji rate. I thought that was an awesome gesture because I thought he’d be taking me to the airport for free. Once we got there, he asked for 500 Birr. Turns out he just wanted the faranji rate for himself.
And that’s why I’m not recommending this guide to anyone. haha.
no roads to follow 