SOME INFO - SOUTH/LOWER OMO VALLEY, DODOLA

Some thoughts and comments on the lower Omo/Dodola

I spent about two weeks in the South of Ethiopia, 11 days of this as part of an organised/landcruiser tour.
This was end of December 2008.

From back home, reading the TT and guidebooks, it seemed safer to organise a trip beforehand, to not be stuck in Addis trying to get people together.
Thus, I had arranged to meet three other people for a landcruiser tour to the south, 11 days.

Costs:
car/driver/fuel was 130 USD/day, plus
entrance fees, hotels, food, souvenirs(hardly any), whatever.
I spent about 3500 birr in total for those 10/11 days, on top of my share in the car/driver.
There are a lot of fees to pay, for entering a town, seeing a village, taking photographs, guides, scouts, ... better be prepared for this!
Hotels between about 100 or 150 for a double/twin, or about 50 to 100 for a single, where we stayed, basic, sometimes with en suite shower, further south (Turmi etc) shared shower somewhere across the yard.

Advantage of organised tour/ private landcruiser
we could go to places that otherwise would not be easy to reach (Nechisar Park near Arba Minch, some of the worst road we had ever seen; Mursi village; some other villages)
we could go on our schedule, not needing to wait for buses etc. - I guess this is the main plus, it saves time

Going with the landcruiser, we were part of the landcruiser club - there are not a huge number of tourists, but the ones that go meet in the same places (the further south, the more this applies, once there are only one or two hotels available) - nice to meet other farenji for dinner, but then, it depend's on what you want...

By public transport -
this seems well possible, except for some places that are difficult to reach. For those with time, it should be no problem.

Jinka
There is a guides association, they are just starting a project, offering tours to villages that are outside the normal tourist routine. Places that you cannot get by car, so one would have to walk, take a mule, stay there for the night... it seemed great to me, and I had not known about it beforehand, so could not try it. This would be a different way of meeting/visiting villages in a different way, with more time.
The office is located at the unused airstrip - telephone they gave me is 046-7751728

Tribal villages with landcruiser
was, well, an experience. Museum with the people on display, dressed up for the fanenji, very pushy for fotographs, 2 birr per person, that makes group photographs expensive, and the whole experience is quite stressful. Go well rested and after a good breakfast. Mursi village was especially pushy, almost aggressive.
Konso village (near Arba Minch) was overwhelming with the amount of kids ('we don't do family planning')

Arba Minch/Lake Chamo
lake chamo by small boat, to 'crocodile market' - this is a spot where a few crocodiles hang out. it was nice to see the crocodiles and some hippos, also being in a boat on the lake is a good change from sitting in a car most of the time. For people who have done safaris elsewhere, seen hippos and crocodiles, it might not be as spectacular.

Murule Camping
outragously expensive at 135 per person for the night staying in our own tent. Also, unbearably hot - our driver had warned us that it would be too hot, but we kind of had insisted to spend a night away from villages and hotels, here at the river, well, at the campsite next to Murule Lodge.
It was nice to walk down to the river, to do some cooking ourselves, watch birds etc. Just the night was too hot for sleeping...

Water
We kept about four 'six packs' (of six big water bottles, about 1.8 or 2 liters) in the car, over the whole duration of the trip, we went through about 10 sixpacks, between the four of us, for water on the way, in between, etc - and obviously there were drinks etc in restaurants and hotels.
Water (big bottle) ranged from about 6 to 10 birr, cheaper in Addis, more expensive further south.
Bottled water was available almost everywhere, except for Murule Lodge.

Sorry, I have to go, so Dodola will be an extra comment.

A very comprehensive report Andalon12. Thankyou.

P.S. on Dodola horse trekking

I went to the community based horse trekking near Dodola, west of the Bale mountains.

Shashemene to Dodola about three hours by bus, only about 60 km, road under construction, so will be much quicker once the road is done.

Dodola itself kind of disappointing, I was expecting mountains, lush forests etc - none of that, just a dusty town in the plain.

The community based trekking was great, very quiet - I was the only one starting that day, so my own group - beautiful fairy tale forests. It is good for nature, mountains, afro-alpine forests/vegetation.
Not so good for wildlife - I saw a mountain nyala one morning, two colobus monkeys, some baboons. (A friend went to the actual Bale National Park, and saw a lot of wildlife, whereas I was more interested in the community trekking near Dodola)

Costs about 250 birr per day (100 for guide, 30 pack horse, 30 riding horse, 30 horse man, 50 for bed) plus some food bought beforehand, and some at the huts (oil, bread). Prices on the website might be outdated:

http://www.baletrek.com/about.php

I think on the official sheet I got it said that I am not required to provide food for the guide. But then, I was the only person on that tour, the guide and I went shopping before heading off, I bought lot's of stuff, and the we were cooking together, or mostly the guide was cooking, so it felt right to share and eat together.

Bring a lot of small cash (10, 50 birr notes) because all things have to be paid to the people directly - the 50 for the hut each day, the 60 or 90 for the horseman and horse each day (different horse and handler every day).

For me it was great, just be on the horse or walking, thinking, watching etc - no hassle, no kids asking for anything - people we were passing just kept doing whatever they were doing. Great for some quiet after the hassle during the lower Omo valley. If you don't like solitude, it's better going in a group.

The horses are smaller than in Europe, which was great for me, as it was the first time on a horse. It was neither faster nor more comfortable than walking, but nice to be sitting on a horse anyway, just for the novelty and the different perspective. Also, going uphill can be strenuous if not used to altitude, so the horse does some of the work...

It is cold up in the mountains, in the shade, and as soon as the sun is setting - so either sit at the stove, or sleep early.

It is perfectly possible to arrive around noon/early afternoon, and leave for the tour the same day. The closest site is only 2 to 3 hours walk from Dodola. I did not know about this, and had already booked into the 'Bale Mountain Hotel' in Dodola.

The guides from the community trekking told me that there were some problems with the hotel owner, that the hotel owner tries to keep tourists staying in the hotel, by offering tours that then do not start, so you have to stay another day. I could not confirm this.

There is a 'wrong' office just next to the Bale Mountain Hotel, in the corner of what looks like an old petrol station, where I went first, said I wanted to do a tour, and they said it was fine, and I would not need to arrange anything, just come back the next morning. Not sure if this would have materialised then, the next morning.

Out on the street again I met a guide from the real community trekking organisation, he took me to their office - from the Bale Mountain Hotel a short bit along the road back towards Shashemene, first the fuel station to the right, then a few meters further something like a garage, also on the right, and after that the first path to the right, and then the door in the fence to the right. It's a compound with their office in it.

I think that's it!

Stephan

Great details of the GTZ trek, thank you. I actually hadn't realized it wasn't inside Bale Mountains NP, but just nearby. Looks like they've revamped their website, looks great!