need help planning a trip into Omo Valley

In South Omo Valley, you have to go to Turmi. From there you can jump to Omorate (Dassanecht people near Turkana lake). You can go and may be sleep in Karo country, visite Bana and Bashada people. Then if you want to see Mursi people, you have to go to Jinka and Mago Park. Going back you can visit Arbore people.
I suggest to go down through Arba Minch and visite Dorze people. Going up through Yabelo and Borana.
I travel since about 10 years, twice a year and 2 months each time, with the same agency :
Bella Abyssinia, website : http://bellaabyssinia.com, email adress : contact@bellaabyssinia.com

Most tour operators work from Addis so if you fly to Arba Minch it saves you time, but not money, since the cars usually have to be driven from Addis, so you still pay for car rental, petrol and driver's perdiem

thanks for the info!!!

Also, it's important to note that flights to Jinka are no longer operating, and I would agree with poster #2 about the cars starting from Addis. 7 days is way short to visit, 8 is a bit better.

Highlights would be Turmi (Hamer), Omorate, Dorze, Arba Minch, and Konso. Jinka too, but it sounds like the Mursi are getting less enjoyable to visit. Depends on how bad you want to see them, I guess, but if you have less time, then maybe you can skip them.

As for tour operators, I used Abeba Tours and had a great time with them. They have also received other good comments on this forum.

appreciated especially abt no more flights to jinka...

Dear Mirwan,

I have just back from my three weeks trip to north and south part of Ethiopia, And everything was amazing and wonderful. I had a very wrong point of view before I travel But finally all my thinking were wrong and completely out of the truth. Ethiopians are people who love guests very hospitable and kind people. So for more details activity contact the following professionals and they will provide you free Itinerary, and if you would like they will take care of your tour programs. contact them www.tourinethiopia.com for free advise and any question they will help you with a professional service at ethio_advisor@tourinethiopia.com

And for the south part of your tour for 8 days you can be able to see very great and diversified ethnic peoples of Ethiopia. I highly recommend you that me and my family with 6 years daughter and 14 years old son used one of very recommended travel agency for Family travelers. And until we meet them at the airport we were not sure about the recommendation. They start to gave us a free Itinerary choices, suggestion and what we should bring for our children before the travel. And through out the tour the manager of the tour company was calling and controlling the situation how it goes and if we got any problems. But there was nothing the drivers and the guides were very professionals and we have seen how they take great care of their job. I wish them a Peace, happiness and success for their work and their country.

Blessed Day travelers.

Fabio.

sora tours, professional, reliable, flexible, well priced ,gr eat guide name brooke and excellent car. did 10 days last october. incredible trip everyone who uses them is happy.
made for the best travel experience in my 27 years of yearly trips. owner is named osman and he can coordinate flights, hotels, airport pick up.

After extensive research on this and other forums, we used Abeba tours and all the work paid off as we were delighted with their service.
Trip went like clockwork.
Bethspoon

With 7 to 8 days, you won't have much option down in the Omo Valley and will be limited to visiting the Mursi and the Hamer tribes, with possible visits to the Rift Valley line, the Dorze, Konso, Tsemai, Arbore and Bena tribes en route. As mentioned above, your only flght options are to/from Arbaminch, saving yourselves from a day's drive each way, flights operating on Wednesdays and Sundays only. Travelling in June when it is likely to start raining, I wouldn't put all my trust in Ethiopian Airlines domestic flights. I had a bad experience with them when their flight couldn't land at Axum due to same bad weather which to me was no more than a 'light rain' situation. Better to drive down and back up which to me is more reliable. Would also be good to add up at least a day or two make your minimum travel days to nine. That will significantly allow you to have a more relaxed, fruitful travel experience. And lastly, I have been doing my tours in Ethiopia with Sora Tours who have so far gave me excellent experiences throughout. I am currently planning on doing a tour with them end of 2009 a crossborder Ethiopia/Kenya 24 days tour that is to include visits to the Upper Omo Valley in Ethiopia and tribal visits in North Kenya (Borana, Samburu, Rendille, Turkana, El Molo) and Park visits to Marsabit, Nakuru and Masai Mara. I am really looking forward to it as I have noted it is not a much frequented tour with much 'off-the-beaten-track' experience.

For your tour in June, try visiting their web www.soratours.com or emails info@soratours.com / osmanao@ethionet.et.

Evans