Ethiopia Rafts-Rafting Tour on the Omo River

Description

Rafting tour in Omo Valley Ethiopia

Itinerary

Arrive to the sunny city of Addis Ababa. Up on your arrival, our driver and guide will wait you at the airport holding sign your group name written on it so that you can easily spot him. They will transfer you to the hotel and right after your check-in, start your first day in Addis.

Based on the time you have, you will visit the below sites.

National Museum:From 9:15am to 10:30am

It comprises of many archaeological and historical findings including the famous complete hominid fossil remain of “Lucy” locally known as “Dinkinesh” meaning wonderful.

The Museum offers a comprehensive overview of the country’s natural, political and art histories. Visitors can easily spend an full morning or afternoon here soaking in the “edu-tainment.” A cast of the bones of the Australopithecus afarensis Lucy are here of course, but so is the throne of Emperor Haile Selassie, traditional tools and textiles, and displays about Ethiopia’s different tribes. It’s worth it to engage one of the Museum’s guides on a tour.

Merkato- 10:45am to 12:30pm

It is the largest open-air market in Africa. Here you will be presented with confusing, but fascinating, glimpse of the vast range of goods and artifacts available from all parts of the country and you will enjoy the Ethiopian trade exchange tradition in the open air, you can purchase anything you desire here.

You will have a lunch in Tayitu, the very first hotel in Ethiopia Addis Ababa. The hotel is also one of the oldest attractions in Addis. After lunch, you will go to Tomoka, the best place of coffee in Addis, you can also buy different coffee bean

Trinity Cathedral

A beautiful church with a baroque style of European architecture which is unique to both Ethiopia and Africa and is dedicated to the holy trinity. Here you will find scripts of the imperial families, status done by a Greek sculpture stained glass window paintings from the old and new testament in the bible and coffins of Emperor Haile Silassie –I, the founder of the church and his wife.

Weaving style at shiromeda :

This is making of cultural clothes with different designs in traditional way. Here you can see while the weavers are weaving and selling the products in the nearby to their weaving place. The main products are the traditional shema clothes like “Gabi”, “Netela”, etc…… from cotton, which are completely in different style with other industrially made nylon clothes. The national cloth is also made in the same way. Even if weaving is the activity that can be done in every part of the country, there are people who are specialized for this activity making quality cultural clothes in many different forms. These are Dorze people, one of the southern nations and nationalities who are also known for their beehive elephant head. In Addis Ababa they are leading in supplying the cultural clothes.

Mount Entoto-Top View of Addis

It is the highest pick in Addis with an altitude of 3200 meters, which was the site for the first palace of Emperor Menelik-II, the founder of Addis Ababa. Here there is St. Mary church, where Emperor Menelik crowned as Emperor in it and you will admire the panoramic view of the city with its surrounding forests and the breath taking air.

Overnight Sidra Hotel.

Wake up morning, have breakfast in the hotel and drive to Weliso. En route we will have chance to see the below sites:-

  • Tiya – ancient stellae field and UNESCO World Heritage site
  • Adadi Maryam – rock-hewn church similar to those in Lalibela
  • MelkaKunture – pre-historic tool-making site

We drive through the typical highland farming country with thatched huts dotting the fields of ripening grain. Our 65 mile drive brings us to the small town of Wolisso, where we spend the night at the Wolisso Hot Springs Hotel.

Omo River Rafting:

Ethiopia’s Omo River gives rafters a chance for true expedition-style adventures on remote, multi-day trips. Steep canyons, isolated tribes, and abundant wildlife give these trips a unique flair.

The Omo River is rated as one of the world’s great rafting trips. It has it all: challenging whitewater, abundant wildlife, excellent birds, superb scenery, and some of the most unique unvisited people in Africa. It is a trip back in time, to another era, road-less and pristine, where wildlife and traditional tribal groups carry on their lives, relatively untouched by the modern world. The trip is for the adventurous in spirit, for the lover of the wild; the river expedition that in 15 years has not become a ‘tour’.

Even the most remote corners of Ethiopia will eventually see roads, bridges and tourists lodges. A strong reason to take the chance to experience this piece of a “disappearing world”.

Among the many attractions are:

Whitewater: From the first hour of the trip, a series of lively and challenging rapids spice our descent. While offering splashing excitement, none of the rapids we encounter are threatening and no previous experience is required. We scout the larger rapids and team members will have the option to walk around, providing excellent photo opportunities.

Scenery: The variety of scenery throughout the trip is truly dramatic; ranging from sections of spectacular sheer inner gorges (up to 4000 feet high) to lowland deserts. There are innumerable side streams with waterfalls up to 1000 feet high; water slides; hot springs; and clear, cool swimming pools. There are still many places yet to be explored and each trip we investigate new ones.

Wildlife: Hippos surfacing near the boats for a suspicious inspection, crocodiles basking in the sun, bushbuck silently taking an afternoon drink, mesmerized waterbuck staring as we float by, colobus monkeys flying through the trees, baboons barking from their cliffs…. Sometimes even lions, leopards, and wild dogs.

Vegetation: Giant euphorbias, fragrant jasmine, rare orchids, the desert rose, classic acacias.

Birdlife: A full complement of African water birds, plus forest and bush species. Fish eagles, Goliath herons, kingfishers, bee eaters, storks, kites, vultures…. In the background, the soft lament of the emerald spotted wood dove, the bubbly purr of the white browed coucal and the raucous cawing of silvery cheeked hornbills.

Activities: Hiking up the sidestreams to fantastic waterfalls, highland villages and markets. Swimming in clear pools, showering under falls, soaking in hotsprings. Fishing the Omo catfish which can exceed 5 feet and 50 pounds.

Exotic Tribes: We’ll meet among the most remote and least visited people anywhere. Our interaction with those spectacularly decorated and friendly groups is something very special.

Comforts: Pleasant climate, great campsites, excellent cuisine featuring fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and dairy products, bread, pies and cakes baked in a well embered Dutch oven. Thermarest sleeping pads and Eureka Timberline tents are provided.

Annoyances: Insects (tsetse flies and mosquitoes) can be a big irritation. Tsetse flies are attracted to blue and red, so try to avoid wearing these colors. They dislike white and yellow, and we’ve found the best protection is to combining a cotton t-shirt with a cotton long-sleeve “duck” shirt on top.

Crew: An elite crew of international and Ethiopian river guides who know and love the African bush along with English and Amharic speaking local guides and staff.

The drive to the put in is 185 km through typical highland farming country, dotted with thatched huts among the fields of ripening grain. After riggin, we’re off and soon baptized by the first of many rapids that abound in this section of the river. The river lies within a 1500 m deep canyon, and the scenery changes constantly. There’s plenty of time for hikes and swimming in tributaries. we visit spectacular waterfalls, careen down the water slides of the Red Grotto and Baboon Flume, float beneath the 100 m cliffs of Serenity Canyon and soak in hot springs by the light of the moon.

We usually layover (2 nights at one site) at least once, frequently at a lovely campsite from which we climb up to visit picturesque Wolayta villages. And the first half has an abundance of wildlife: hippos, crocs, antelopes, warthogs, monkeys, baboons, and sometimes lions. The drive back to Addis Ababa (for those doing the first half only) includes a night at beautiful Lake Langanno.

Drive 50 miles to Gibe Bridge. After rigging the boats, we head downstream and are soon baptized by the rapids abounding in this section. The river lies within a 5,000-foot deep canyon and the scenery changes constantly. We have ample time to stop for hikes and to swim in tributaries. We visit spectacular waterfalls, careen down the water slides of the Red Grotto and Baboon Flume, float beneath the 300-foot cliffs of serenity Canyon and soak in hot springs by the light of the moon. We usually lay over (two nights at on site) at least once on the upper half, frequently at the hot springs and a lovely campsite from which we can climb up to visit picturesque Wolayta villages. The first half of the Omo has an abundance of wildlife: we have a chance to observe hippo as they surface near our boats for a suspicious inspection; crocodiles basking in the sun; Columbus monkeys flying through the trees; and baboon barking from the cliffs. We also enjoy a good variety of bird life and on rare occasions spot lion, leopard, or greater kudu.

WE also have other package combining both the first and second part of the rafting which takes 21 days in Total.

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