Ethiopia – November 2015 Photographic Expedition Vanishing Cultures of the Omo Valley IN COOPERATION WITH MANGINI PHOTOGRAPHY AND ORYX WORLDWIDE PHOTOGRAPHIC EXPEDITIONS [Indirizzo società]BOOKING C/O ORME DI VIAGGIO – M I L A N O E M A I L : [email protected] TOUR INFORMATIONS CONTACT: MANGINI ADALBERTO EMAIL: [email protected] Ethiopia 2015 Vanishing Cultures of the Omo Valley Photographic Expedition November 2015 ORYX’s Vanishing Cultures of the Omo Valley extension will take us to one of the wildest and most ethnically diverse places on Earth – the Omo Valley. This is primarily a cultural photographic experience during which we will interact with several tribal communities who still live almost exactly as they did hundreds of years ago. Sadly, development and the ravages of modernization are threatening these unique peoples, and as such the Omo Valley is a see it while you can destination. This harsh and inhospitable place has over ten distinctly different tribes existing within a 38 mile / 60 km radius; each with its own unique language, clothing, hairstyles and bodily ornamentation. Our expedition focuses on 3 of these tribes: the Mursi, Karo and Hamar. This is a true photographic expedition to encounter some of the most remarkable tribal people on Earth! YOUR PHOTOGRAPHIC HIGHTLIGHTS Visiting one of the world’s most remote tribal areas in Africa Photographing the unique and isolated people of the Lower Omo Valley, including the Mursi, Karo and Hamar tribes Boat ride on Lake Chamo to the "Crocodile Market” YOUR EXPEDITION AT A GLANCE Tour date 29th November – 5th December 2015 (7 days/6 nights) Tour size: Limited to 8 participants and photographic leader Adalberto Mangini Omo Valley photographic expedition Day 1 - 29th November arrival Addis Ababa (Jupiter Hotel) Day 2 - 30th November flight from Addis Ababa to Arba Minch (Paradise Lodge) Day 3 - 1st December Arba Minch to Turmi (Buska Lodge) Day 4 – 2nd December Turmi area (Buska Lodge) Day 5 – 3rd December Turmi to Jinka (Eco–Omo Safari Lodge) Day 6 – 4th December Jinka – Mursi – Key Afer – Arba Minch (Paradise Lodge) Day 7 – 5th December flight from Arba Minch to Addis Ababa and depart for Final Destination YOUR EXPEDITION IN DETAIL Day 1, 29th November: Arrival in Addis Ababa Depending on our arrival time into Addis Ababa today, we will take a private trip into town and visit the largest open-air market in Africa – the Merkato. Here you will be presented with confusing, but fascinating, glimpses of the vast range of goods and artifacts available from all parts of the country, as well as experiencing the traditional Ethiopian trade exchange in the open air, where you can literally purchase anything you desire! There are also a number of fascinating museums and churches within the city centre to explore. One of these is the National Museum, which is famous for its hominid fossil remains of ‘Lucy’, locally known as ‘Dinknesh’ (meaning wonderful). Alternatively, you are welcome to simply relax at hotel in preparation for the short flight in the morning. Overnight Jupiter Hotel or similar Day 2, 30th November: Addis Ababa to Arba Minch Today we head for the Bole International Airport and fly to Arba Minch in southern Ethiopia. After settling in at our hotel, we may, time depending, visit Chencha, a “city” lying atop the eastern wall of the Great Rift Valley and inhabited by the Dorze tribe. The Dorze are famed weavers who live in tall huts that resemble a giant elephant head. All around Chencha are smaller Dorze villages, which were grouped around the “city” when it was the regional capital. These people have a staple diet of a type of bread made from the fermented false-banana tree. Men are occupied in the day by many tasks including the weaving of their brightly coloured cloths. They are also a farming people who terrace the hills around their villages for crop growing. Women look after the children, spin cotton, collect firewood and prepare food for the family. The traditional clothing of the Dorze consists of cloths called “shammas”, which have gained popularity throughout Ethiopia. Their uniquely shaped and impossibly tall grass huts last for many years. We will have the opportunity to enter these huts and visit with traditional and friendly Dorze people as they go about their daily chores, as well as taste their traditional food and fiery brews! Tonight we will stay at a lodge, perched high on a cliff and which overlooks a bridge of land separating the light-brown coloured Lake Abaya in the north from the darker waters of Lake Chamo in the south. Overnight Paradise lodge Day 3, 1st December: Arba Minch to Turmi After breakfast, we depart by road towards Turmi, home of the Hamar Tribe, and visiting the Konso and Erbore tribal villages en route. Deep into the parched bush, far from any city, Ethiopia’s lower Omo Valley is truly a lost world. To this day, the valley remains rich in traditional culture and human history. We will photograph along the way before arriving around lunchtime at Buska Lodge, our accommodation for the next 2 nights. Situated in the heart of southern Ethiopia, Buska Lodge is an unpretentious ecolodge offering the best accommodation and service in the region. The location is ideal for photographing both the Hamar as well as the Karo Tribes, our main photographic subjects during our stay here. In the afternoon we may pay a visit to a local Hamar village and spend the afternoon capturing images of these fascinating people. The Hamar people are a tribe of subsistence agro- pastoralists who have been described as the most beautiful and dignified people in the valley. Along with the other local tribes, cattle are the focus of their cultural and socioeconomic existence, although bee keeping also forms an important aspect of their culture. Overnight Buska Lodge Day 4, 2nd December: Turmi area. Please note that we do not have a fixed schedule for the next days. Instead, your guide will assess daily which tribe is the best to photograph according to your particular photographic requirements. We will spend time photographing two of the most colourful tribes in the Omo Valley, the Hamar and the Karo. The Hamar is one of the most well known tribes in Southern Ethiopia. They inhabit the territory east of the Omo River and have villages in both Turmi and Dimeka They are especially well-known for their unique rituals, including a cattle-leaping ceremony that the young men have to undergo in order to reach adulthood and to marry. They are a highly ‘superstitious’ people, and to this day they consider twins to be babies born outside of wedlock, while children whose upper milk teeth develop before their lower teeth are deemed to be ‘evil’ or ‘unclean’. For this reason, such children are discarded in the bush and simply left to die, as they would rather lose a single child than inflict any disaster upon their community. The Hamar people are also known for one of the most bizarre rituals on Earth. This is when the women allow themselves to be whipped by the male members of their family as a symbol of their love! The scars of such encounters are conspicuously evident on the bodies of all Hamar women. These women take great pride in their appearance and wear traditional dresses consisting of a brown goatskin skirt adorned with dense vertical rows of red and yellow beads. Their hair is characteristically fixed in dense ringlets with butterfat mixed with red ochre. They also wear many bracelets and necklaces fashioned of beads or metal, depending on their age, wealth and marital status. The men wear woven cloth wrapped around the waist and many elders wear delicately coloured clay head caps that are fashioned into their hair and adorned with an ostrich feather. As mentioned, the young Hamar men are famous for their “Evangadi dance” and “Bull jumping” ceremony (it is as part of this ceremony that the afore-mentioned whipping occurs). This ritual entails young men who wish to marry jumping over a line of bulls, thereby proving their worth to their intended bride’s family. It also signifies their advent into adulthood. Here, in the heart of the Omo Valley, we also find another tribe known for its elaborate body and face paintings, the Karo. These people live along the east bank of the Omo River and practice flood retreat cultivation, their main crops being maize, sorghum and beans. Unlike the other tribes, they keep only a small number of cattle due to the prevalence of tsetse flies. Like many of the tribes in the Omo, they paint their bodies and faces with white chalk to prepare for any ceremonies. The chalk is mixed with yellow rock, red iron ore and charcoal to make its requisite colour. Facemasks are worn at times and they have clay hair buns adorned with feathers. Scarification is also an important part in the Karo people’s lives. This includes the complete scarification of a man’s chest with which to indicate that he has killed an enemy or dangerous animal (Amongst the Karo, killing one’s enemies isn’t viewed as an act of murder, but as an act of honour!). This scarification process involves lightly slicing the skin with knives or razor blades and then rubbing ash into the open wounds to produce a permanently raised effect. The Karo women have decoratively-scarred abdomens, which are considered sensual and very desirable. Overnight Buska Lodge Day 5 – 3rd December: Turmi to Jinka In the morning, we have an excursion to Omorate to visit the Dasenech people who are the southernmost people of the country and are known for their scarifications.