15 Days Omo Valley, Danakil & Tigray Churche s tours

Day 01 Arrival and Addis Ababa City Tour          

You will meet our staff upon arrival from your international flight and after breakfast, begin your exploration of Addis Ababa with visits to some of the city’s most iconic historical, cultural, and religious sites. The day includes the following highlights:

As you embark on your journey to the Omo valley, prepare to immerse yourself in breathtaking landscapes and vibrant cultures.

• Entoto Maryam Church: Located on the Entoto Hills, this is one of the oldest Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo churches, built in 1877 by Emperor Menelik II. The church features traditional Ethiopian architecture with octagonal domes. Inside, you’ll find a collection of royal artifacts, including Emperor Menelik II and Empress Taytu’s crowns, ceremonial garments, their royal bed, and a mirror gifted to the Empress by Queen Victoria.
• Entoto Hills: At an elevation of 2,900 meters above sea level, the Entoto Hills offer a stunning panoramic view of Addis Ababa. This area, once the capital before the city moved to its current location, holds great historical and spiritual significance.
• Ethnological Museum: Situated within the main campus of Addis Ababa University, this museum is housed in the former palace of Emperor Haile Selassie. It offers a deep insight into Ethiopia’s diverse cultures, with exhibits covering anthropology, music, and traditional life. It is also recognized as the first university museum in Ethiopia.
• National Museum of Ethiopia: One of the most important museums in sub-Saharan Africa, it showcases Ethiopia’s rich archaeological heritage. Here, you will find the world-famous fossil remains of Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis), as well as Selam, a remarkably complete child hominid fossil estimated to be 3.3 million years old.
• Merkato: Conclude your day with a visit to Africa’s largest open-air market. Established during the Italian occupation in the late 1930s, Merkato spans several square miles and hosts over 7,000 businesses. It offers a dynamic experience of the city’s daily life, where you can find everything from spices and textiles to handmade crafts and electronics.

Overnight Aya Addis hotel Addis Ababa

Day 02 Fly Addis Ababa to Semera and Drive to Ahmed Ella

You will meet upon arrival at Semera airport and drive to Ahmed Ella visiting beautiful landscape of solidified lava, rock, sand and occasional palm lined oasis after you pass several small hamlets start visiting Ahmad Ella village total population of more than 500 people to see the life style of the local Afar people. Finally, precede to Salt Lake Asale a huge salty lake where you will swim in a natural pool while enjoying sunset reflections of the salty ground.

Overnight Camping at Ahmed Ella

Day 03 Visit Dallol, Then Drive to Erta Ale

In the morning, drive to Ragad (Asebo), where traditional salt mining is practiced. Watch locals break salt from the ground, shape it into rectangular blocks, and load it onto camels for transport. Continue to Dallol, one of the lowest and hottest places on Earth, located 125 meters below sea level. The area is a wonderland of colorful salt formations, bubbling sulfuric pools, and volcanic landscapes, offering a unique and surreal experience. Return to Ahmed Ella for lunch before proceeding to Erta Ale. This shield volcano is renowned for its permanent lava lake, one of only five in the world. Spend the night marveling at the dramatic boiling lava at the summit, a natural spectacle like no other.

Overnight Camping at Erta Ale

Day 04 Drive Erta Ale – Lake Afdera – Semera and Fly to Addis

After Breakfast we will drive to Afdera it is used for salt extraction. It is named after the saline Lake Afdera, located in the southern part of the Afar Depression. It is a major source of salt extraction in Ethiopia, where the Lake water is pumped to saltpans for solar evaporation. After lunch we will continue the trip to Semera airport your flight to Addis Ababa.

Overnight Aya Addis Hotel Addis Ababa

Day 05 Fly Addis Ababa to Mekelle

You will be met upon arrival at Mekelle airport and drive to

Wukro Chirkos Church is dedicated to the child martyr Cyricus of Tarsus; it was constructed during the reign of the two brother kings, Abreha and Atsbeha. However, David Buxton dated the construction of Wukro Chirkos to a period between 700 and 1000AD.The church’s walls and ceilings show signs of damage from fire, which local tradition attributes to a 16th-century sack by Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi. The churchyard includes the remains of several Italians interred there during the time of the Second Italy Ethiopian War. Around 1958, a cement floor was added and the roof to the porch was raised. Later drive to

Church of Abreha wa Atsbeha, was built in East Tigray around 15 km from Wukro, Cut from a single mountain rock between 335 and 340 AD by the two famous twin-brothers kings Ezana and Sayzana, later on, named Abraha and Atsbeha, this is one of the several hundreds of important rock churches in Tigrai. Their bodies are claimed to be entombed in the church. At one time the church served as a monastery but now operates as a parish church the ceiling was blackened by soot due to Queen Gudit setting a fire in the building nine centuries earlier.

Overnight Vision Hotel  Hawzen

Day 06 Visit Mariam Korkor and Daniel Korkor

After breakfast we will visit two Tigray Churches:-

Maryam Korkor unsightly green from the outside, this impressive, cross shaped church is known for its architectural features (cruciform pillars, arches and cupolas), fine 17th-century frescos and church treasures. It’s also one of the largest churches in the area. The path begins around 1km from the road just southeast of Megab and involves a fairly steep one-hour ascent. Maryam Korkor is easily combined with

Daniel Korkor Just a couple of minutes’ walk from Maryam Korkor. It’s the seldom-used church of Daniel Korkor. It sits atop a paralyzing precipice, offers astounding views and has fine paintings.

Overnight Vision Hotel  Hawzen

Day 07 Climb Abuna Yemata Guh Church & drive to Axum

This day after breakfast you will visit the church of

Abuna Yemata Guh. It is a monolithic church dating from the sixth century and dedicated to Abuna Yemata, one of the nine Syrian saints. The interior reveals many religious paintings, very well preserved and many religious books dating from the 13-14th century. The paintings of a few centuries younger are intact and paint the arrival of Christianity in Ethiopia in the fourth century. It is situated at a height of 2,580 meters and has to be climbed on foot to reach. The 360 ​​degree view of the surroundings is amazing. Later drive to the church of

Adi Kesho MedhaneAlem one of Tigray’s oldest, tallest and finest rock-hewn churches and most remarkable estimated to date 4th century, its exterior and interior walls is roughly hewn, which only makes the elaborately carved coffered ceiling that much more special. It features a unique mechanism for unlocking the doors from both inside and outside. Two doors lead to the interior, where the ceiling is supported by six massive square pillars. The ceiling is adorned with reliefs and geometrical patterns, and due to its immense height and substantial pillars. Later drive to Axum.

Overnight Sabean Hotel Axum

Day 08 Fly Axum to Addis Ababa

After breakfast you will visit Axum a city more than 2500 years of history, once the center of a great empire and ancient civilization, home of the original Ark of covenants. Axum is the prime historical site in the north of Ethiopia. Take a city tour that includes:-

The Church of Saint Mary of Zion and the religious complex the sanctuary Chapel which is the repository of the ‘Ark of covenant’

The coronation yard, Stele Park

Tomb of Kaleb and his son Gebre Meskel

Ezana’s Inscriptions

Queen of Sheba’s Bath, Queen of Sheba’s palace ruins and Axum Museum, Later drive to airport your flight to Addis Ababa.

Overnight Aya Addis Hotel Addis Ababa

Day 09 Drive Addis Ababa to Hawassa

After breakfast we will drive to Hawassa. On the way you have a chance to visit

Abijatta-Shalla National Park

It contains 887 square kilometers including Abijatta and Shalla two alkaline lakes. The habitat of Abijatta-Shalla National Park contains open grasslands, dry savannas, arid shrub lands and that were dominated by Acacia trees, which include umbrella thorn acacias, red acacias and gum acacias. You will see Grant’s gazelles, Common Warthogs, the park is also home to 300 species of birds that are listed as endemics, residents, and migratory. Common Ostriches and Somali Ostriches are mostly common for their breeding.

Overnight Hawassa Haile resort

 Day 10 Drive Hawassa to Arba Minch

After breakfast you will visit Hawassa Lake, 16 km long and 9 km wide, with a surface area of 129 square kilometers. It has a maximum depth of 10 meters and is located at an elevation of 1,708 meters. The local Fish Market and different kinds of bird watching at Amora Gedele After lunch you will drive to

Dorze people who are expert in weaving called Shammas Weaving are a primary profession for a number of Dorze people. The shape of their house looks Elephant, in order to remember the existence of these animals around the area many years ago. They are known for their traditional weaving of huts made out of local bamboo.  Enset “fake banana” is the stable food for these peoples.

Overnight Haile Resort Arba Minch

Day 11 Drive Arba Minch to Konso

After having your breakfast you will take a boat cruise on the

Lake Chamo, the third biggest Lake in Ethiopia you will have a boat trip to see the crocodiles, hippos & aquatic bird species. The northern shores of Lake Chamo are famous for its large crocodiles, which can be seen in numbers lounging in the heat. The lake is about 32km long and provides a lush wetland habitat for many species of flora and fauna. Visit and proceed southwards to

Konso village, one of the UNESCO site in Ethiopia know by their terracing in order to protect against soil erosion from the sporadic and often heavy rainfall in the region. The villages are encircled by one to six concentric rings of stone walls, mainly consisting of basalt boulders. The age of each town is classified by a generation pole and each family lives in compounds that are accessible only through gateways that require the visitor to enter on all fours thereby rendering any potential attackers vulnerable. One of the best types of coffee for the country is also from this village.

Overnight Kanta Lodge Konso

Day 12 Drive Konso – Arbore – Turmi

After breakfast you will drive to Arbore tribe, that living near Lake Chew bahir in hot and flat areas and mainly cattlemen. They are speaking their own language Arbore which is from the omotic language family. The Arbore men can have multiple wives with his first wife chosen by his father. Most Arbore children have shaved heads with the older girls often wearing a black cloth draped over their heads to protect from sun as well as a visual tradition to indicate they are unmarried virgins. Later drive to Turmi

Hamer people, distinguished by the fact that their women wear leather skirts decorated with shells, wear several copper bracelets on their hands and heavy iron necklaces around their necks, symbolizing their social status, and their hair is colored with ocher and animal fat. Men, in case of victory over the enemy or a dangerous beast, fix the hairstyle with clay and decorate with ostrich feathers. This hairstyle is carefully guarded the Hamar sleep with a special borkotos chair under their neck. they are also known for their unique custom of “bull jumping,” which initiates a boy into manhood, practice of body adornment and wearing a multitude of colorful beads.

Overnight Paradise Lodge in Turmi

Day 13 Drive Turmi -Kangaten (Nyangatom tribe) — Karo tribe – Turmi

This morning, we continue through the savannah with shrubs and umbrella acacia trees.

Kangaten (Nyangatom tribe) To adore their long and lean bodies, the Nyangatom women wear numerous necklaces and long Skirts from goatskins that are richly decorated They are indeed fierce warriors which is supposedly demonstrated by their custom to scar their chest; one scar for each killed enemy. Herds of cows are their most valuable property. Later drive to Kolcho, the village of

Karo people at the eastern bank of Omo River with beautiful views, Karo are famous for their intricate face and body painting practices, which they apply on their heads and torso before major events and on the weekly markets. Karo is the smallest tribes of the Omo Valley and Karo men also sculpts and shave their hair into extravagant shapes, with special ochre “caps” of hair usually containing several ostrich feathers. Then back to turmi for lunch and proceed to the

Overnight Paradise Lodge in Turmi

Day 14 Drive Turmi – Omorate – Jinka

After breakfast you will drive to Omorate crosses the Omo River to visit the

Dassanech tribe only 72 Km from Turmi, Dassanech are traditional pastoralists, but in recent years began to move to a semi-nomadic way of life. The highest expression of male beauty is the vulgar transverse scars across the entire chest and back, resembling crocodile skin. Such scars are inflicted on a body of the warrior who showed himself heroically in battle, who killed the enemy in course of tribal cattle raids.

Day 15 Visit Ari Village and Fly to Addis Ababa

After breakfast at the hotel you will visit

Ari people, the largest population in the lower omo valley, their traditional territory stretches from the northern edge of Mago National Park to the highland areas around Jinka and Key Afer, The women wear skirts from the banana like tree, called Enset are expert in pottery, blacksmith and distillation of traditional Liquor. After lunch you will drive to airport your flight to Addis Ababa.