BEST OF THE OMO

3 - 15 NOVEMBER 2024 - SOLD OUT

Deep in southern Ethiopia live some of the most beautiful tribes on the African continent.  Inspired by their environment of wild trees, exotic flowers, and lush vegetation, these tribes use the clay soil of bright yellows, startling whites, and rich earth-reds to paint each other’s bodies. They make bold decisions about their outfits’ hand-crafted from animal skins and decorated with beads, feathers, and shells. Known as a living museum to anthropologists, they become a walking body of art; to photographers, they are visually breathtaking. However, more than the photograph is the epic journey of discovery in a place so uniquely different than any other in the world. These tribes live side by side, each with their own traditions and unique appearance, making the Omo Valley one of the most ethnically diverse places on Earth.

Rarely offered in other trips is the intimate experience with the Kara, Daasanach, and Suri. We are sending special teams ahead to assemble proper mobile-tented camps  – traditional walk-in canvas safari tents, each with a camp bed, mattress, linens, small table and light. You will not need to worry about keeping your batteries charge because there will be a generator in each camp! – to say nothing of the delicious meals and cold beverages!  Staying near each of these villages and far from the tourist lodges will allow you to fully immerse yourself with the tribes and photograph them in the most beautiful light of sunrise and sunset.

2 CHARTER FLIGHTS – while most itineraries spend several days driving you down into the  heart of the Omo, we fly you from Addis by private charter directly into the heart of the Omo Valley and back out at the end of this magical journey. This allows us to maximize the quality time we spend with the most exotic of these tribes. 

Throughout this life-enriching journey, you will be given in-depth insight to the tribe’s lifestyle, beliefs, and ancient traditions to gain a deeper understanding of their world and embrace the true spirit of the people. While visiting the villages, you will not only have the opportunity to document their daily lives photographically, capture stunning portraits, and possibly witness some of their timeless ceremonies, but embrace the experience by spending time with them in their huts, join them in a cup of coffee, or try the local drink.

In true expedition style, the program has flexibility to ensure you will be able to take advantage of any photographic opportunities that may arise. The precise time spent in each village will depend on what activities are taking place and the goals of the group. It is likely we will also meet several other tribes in route.

This trip is limited to ONLY 7 GUEST to ensure that the photographers joining this expedition will have a higher quality experience with the best group dynamics.

ITINERARY

Day 1, November 3, 2024

Upon your arrival at the Bole international airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, you are met by a member of our ground team and transferred to the Radisson Blu by private vehicle. After your long flight/s you will enjoy a relaxing evening in a modern, upper market hotel, which is the perfect way to rest up for the amazing journey that lies ahead.

Accommodation: Radisson Blu

Day 2, November 4, 2024

You will rise early in the morning to the smell of Ethiopia’s famous Coffee. Meet the group for breakfast and a briefing about your upcoming adventure. During the meeting Ben will share his philosophy and ideas on how to create stunning intimate images of the tribes.  The group will then depart to the airport for a private charter flight directly in to the heart of the Omo.

We will be greeted by our incredible team and driven a short distance to our private mobile tent camp right on the banks of the Omo River

Cousins to the Turkana tribe in Northern Kenya, the Daasanach, are a semi-nomadic tribe numbering approximately 50,000. Their clans stretch across southern Ethiopia, Sudan, and down into Northern Kenya. They are very tall and slender, wearing red and yellow jewelry, leather headpieces lined with bottle caps, and are known for their unique and ornate hair buns.

Late afternoon we will enjoy our first village visit of the Daasanach. However, people from this beautiful tribe will most likely be in our camp as we are in the heart of their territory.

Accommodation: Private mobile tented camp BLD

Day 3&4, November 5 & 6, 2024

The next two days will be spent exploring the region of the Daasanach by vehicle, on foot, and by boat. We have the special permission to boat down into the delta’s of Lake Turkana, where life is as it has always been and few ever have the opportunity to go.

Accommodation: Private mobile tent camp BLD

Day 5 & 6, November 7 & 8, 2024

After one last sunrise village visit and breakfast along the Omo River we will we will continue on our journey to the land of the Hamar tribe. The Hamar women are striking, wearing beautiful colorful beaded skins, ornate necklaces, and metal bangles around their wrists and ankles. Famous for their hairstyle — a crown of long dread-lock braids covered in ocher — the Hamer women are the most decorated of the Omo people. During the next two days, if we are lucky, we hope to get word of a bull jumping ceremony, a rite-of-passage tradition whereby a young Hamer man passes from boyhood to adulthood. This is a real ceremony, so there is no guarantee we will be able to see one, but our trip is timed during the season for these ceremonies and parties.

Should the road access be good and time allows, we will visit the Abore tribe.

Accommodation: Buska Lodge BLD

Day 7 & 8, November 9 & 10, 2024
We will have one last beautiful sunrise visit with the Hammer before we head into the territory of the Kara tribe. We have set up another mobile tent camp in the forested area along the Omo River near the main village that I have been visiting for more a decade. This will allow you to connect with the people on a deeper level, where you will feel more like a friend and a guest than merely a visitor.

The Kara excel in face and body painting; this is practiced daily in preparation for their dances and ceremonies. They pulverize locally found white chalk, yellow mineral rock, red iron ore, and black charcoal in order to decorate their bodies, often mimicking the spotted plumage of a guinea fowl. The men create highly decorated clay hair buns, which can take up to three days to complete. Their ornate body scarring, where a cut is made with a knife and ash is rubbed into the wound to produce a raised welt, is also a known characteristic of the Kara.

Over the next two days, you will spend quality time in the Kara villages; documenting their daily lives, creating beautiful portraits, joining them in song and dance, watching them herd the livestock across the dusty plains, join them for morning coffee, learning about their ancient traditions, and learn about how their world is changing with the pressures of the modern world.

Accommodation: Private Mobile Safari Camp BLD

Day 9 – 12, November 11-14 2024
Today we continue our adventurous expedition, crossing over the Omo River and through the bush, to the remote homeland of the extremely beautiful and exotic Suri tribe. In the early morning, we will stop en route to visit a Nyangatom village.The women have layers and layers of beads around their neck, and wear the most strikingly-designed leather skirts.  Although they have their own language, they also speak the Daasanech language.  As we near the town of Kibish, excitement builds when you discover the Suri throughout the landscape in their traditional clothing, going about their daily lives. We will arrive in our private mobile-tented camp along the Kibish river in the late afternoon. As word gets out about our arrival, they will come down to the river and near our camp for a wonderful first introduction and afternoon shoot along the river. We will have four incredible days at this location.

The Suri tribe is known to be one of the most beautiful and ornate tribes in the world, and is thus one of the most desired to photograph. The elaborate body painting and unique flamboyant headpieces, made from natural materials, truly make them a walking body of art. The women still practice one of the most extreme forms of body adornment in the world- wearing large lip plates. The tribe still practices the art of body scarification, created via acacia thorns and razor blades.

The Suri are pastoralist. The men still go off to live in the cattle camps, which are under constant threat as cattle raids are a relentless part of Suri life. The men live their traditional lifestyles drinking the blood and milk of the cow, covering their naked bodies with ash, and giving thanks for their good fortune in song and dance. We will have an opportunity to visit these traditional cattle camps, and it is always the highlight of the trip for participants.

Accommodations: Private mobile tent camp BLD 

Day 13 November 15, 2024

If time allows, we will have one last early morning visit with the Suri before driving to Mizan to catch our private chartered flight back to Addis. This flight is from deep in the southern region where there are no commercial flights available. This will save us from two very long days of driving over some rough roads, and a one-night stay in very local accommodations. Once in Addis, you will be met by our ground team and transported to the Radisson Blu, where you will have a dayroom to rest up and clean up before being transferred to the international airport for your late flights home. Should you prefer to stay overnight in Addis to rest up from your incredible expedition, we will be happy to make these arrangements. Flights should be booked after 10:00 PM. Most international flights depart after 10:00 PM.

Accommodations: Day rooms at the Radisson Blu BL

 Is this adventurous trip for you?

This adventurous photographic experience was created for passionate photographers who want to visit and experience some of the most beautiful tribes on the African continent.   The itinerary was designed to bring the best opportunities to produce high-quality images from your own perspective. Therefore, we will rise early in the morning for the best light; a few mornings we be up well before sunrise. We will push hard to maximize every photographic opportunity, which means some long days, but you should go at your own pace. These tribes live in remote areas; there will be driving on dirt roads, but in comfortable air-conditioned 4X4 utility vehicles. If we get lucky, we will be invited to a special event that may require walking; however, a guide can be hired to assist you with your gear.  However, to best enjoy this adventure you must be in good physical contention and be able to carry your own gear.

This photographic expedition was created for experienced photographers with a good working knowledge of their equipment who fully understand the basics of photography, shutter speed, aperture, iso, exposure and how they relate to each other. Having previous experience photographing indigenous cultures will be beneficial, as this can be a more challenging experience. THIS IS NOT A WORKSHOP to teach you techniques, but here will be a lot of discussions on photography and informal instruction throughout the trip. This trip was designed to give photographers intimate access to the tribes, which will allow them the creative freedom to capture their own unique experience. Your leader is always available to assist you with your vision and for any question you may have.

While our trip is designed around producing high-quality images, we believe our visit should be sensitive, respectful, and beneficial to the communities we visit. We build time into our itinerary to interact with the local people that will lead to a richer experience, rather than just racing from location to location and charging in with camera in hand. It is a privilege to visit these unique tribal areas, and we want to make sure it is a positive experience for them. We also believe in empowering the local communities to look after themselves, and we feel the best way to do this is economically. We work with a small successful, fully licensed local operator, and we hire local guides in every area we visit. Our local partners are key to what we do, and these relationships have been built up over many years, many becoming personal friends. Our visit will generate income in the local areas we visit.

IMPORTANT DETAILS

The Price

The cost of this incredible photographic adventure is $11,895.00 per person. The price is based on double occupancy in hotel and loges – everyone will have a private tent in the mobile tent camp

We would be happy to arrange a private room for you if there is availability. The supplement for a private room is $1,295 (if available, as single rooms are limited)

If a solo guest is unwilling to share and requests single accommodations upon registration, then a single supplement will be charged. If you are a solo guest, who will share accommodations, we will do our best to match you with another guest of the same gender. If we cannot match you with another solo guest of the same gender, then the single supplement will be charged, up to, but not exceeding the fee of the single supplement. In this case, whenever possible, we will try to discount the single supplement.

A USD $3,500 non-refundable deposit is due at the time of registration to secure your spot.

You may purchase travel insurance that will refund your deposit if cancel your trip.

***The cost of this safari is based on a minimum of 6-7 participants. If there are less than 6 participants a small supplement fee of $695.00 will apply.

Payment Terms

  • USD $3,500.00 non-refundable deposit to confirm your place on this trip

  • 2nd payment of USD $4,500.00 + single supplement fee, is due January 30, 2024

  • Final payment/balance is due July 1, 2024

  • We highly recommend proper trip and trip cancellation insurance to protect your investment 

Included in the trip

  • All in-country travel in 4X4 Land Cruiser vehicles

  • All accommodation, as specified on the itinerary.

  • All meals as listed on the itinerary. B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner, beginning with Breakfast on November 4, 2024 through Lunch on November 15, 2024

  • Gratuities for local guides, porters, lodges, and camps.

  • Drinks- coffee, soda, beer, wine (if sold by the glass) and bottled water are included with lunch and dinner

  • Laundry services are included in the private mobile tent camps only and available at the lodges for an extra fee.

  • All entrance fees to villages and village activities as listed on the itinerary and in the included activities.

  • Basic photo fees

  • Airport facilitation, meeting & greeting, private transfers upon arrival and departure.

  • Two In-country private charter flights as stated in the itinerary.

  • VAT and local taxes.

  • All activities listed as included.

  • One main, English-speaking guide

What’s NOT Included

  • International airfare and/or between your home and Addis Abba

  • Visas

  • Travel Insurance

  • Personal purchases (including shopping, spirits, laundry, telephone calls etc.)

  • Gratuities for our main guide and drivers

  • Optional extra activities not included on the itinerary

  • Extra photo fees

  • Pre- and Post- expeditions tours

  • Meals or accommodations before or after the expedition (except as noted in the detailed itinerary)

  • Meals and beverages on the day of arrival, this is considered a travel day

REGISTRATION AND DEPOSIT

If you are excited to join this safari now is the time to secure your spot.  Use the buttons below to fill out your online e-registration form and to make your deposit. We must receive both your completed registration form and your deposit/s to confirm your spot.

Registration form –
Please complete all the required fields. At the end of the form you will be asked to confirm your email address, which will complete the registration. A copy of your registration will be emailed to you and to Piper Mackay Photo Safaris who are handling the logistics and bookings of this experience

Deposit–
Click the deposit button, under the registration button,  to make your deposit. You do not need to have a Paypal account to use this payment service. You may make more than one deposit at a time by changing the quantity on the purchase details that will come up once you click the deposit button.