The Mursi people are nomadic cattle herder and live on the land between the Omo and Mago rivers. They live on maize and honey. Sometimes they also hunt animals, but that is not often. The Mursi woman were often clay plates in their lower lip and heavy pieces of iron. The girls are pierced at the age of 15 of 16 and stretched, so as to allow insertion of a clay lip plate. The bigger the plate a woman can hold in her lip, the more cattle she will be worth in trade when she marries. The Mursi wariors have horse-shoe shaped scarifications on their body. The scars are put on the right arm for a male victim and on the left for a female victim. If they are realy succesfull, they can put them on their thighs.

The Karo people live on the east banks of the Omo river. They grow sorghum, maize and beans. Also bee-keeping and fishing. Karo live in conical huts and every family owns two houses. The conical shaped house is like the living room of the family and the flat roofed Gappa is the center of ceveral household activities. Karo people have often painting on their body and face. If they are painted in black, yellow, ochre and red earth, they imitate the guinea fowl. The women scarify them- selves to be beautifull. The scarifications on the mail body stands for the enemies or animals he killed. After the harvest at time of mariage and initiation, they come together and dance the Moonlight Dances. These dances often lead to marriage. Before mariage the man has to accomplished the pilla (jumping of bulls).

The Konso people lives from cattle and highly specialized agrucultural by terracing fields on the hills and valleys around them. On those terraces they grow sorghum, wheat, barley, maize, peas, beans, bananas, cotton, tobacco, coffee and root plants. They love music and use a big range of instruments for ritual and spirutual purposes and for amusement. When a important man dies, waka figures are carved in their honor. They are placed in and around the fields were the man has been buried. He is often surrounded by his wives. On the side any enemies he may have killed, carved in an abstract and phallic fashion. Animals he might have killed are placed at his feet. Usualy on the forehead of the wooden waka a phallic symbol is carved.

Hamar people live in the environs of the great Omo valley. They live on beekeeping and honey collection. Also the herding of the cattle. They live by their own wide spread beliefs and are well decorated with ornaments.

An important event, seen by few tourists, is the Hamer 'jumping of the bull' ceremony. In this rite of passage, youths are required to jump onto the backs of a line of thirty or forty cattle, run the whole length of this formidable obstacle, jump down onto the other side and then repeat the entire procedure three more times without falling.

Finally they walk out of the arena through a special gateway, after which they are judged to have passed from boyhood to manhood.

The Dorze people live primarily in the souther region on the country and are famous for their beehive shpaed huts, whitch are constructed with vertical hard wood poles and woven bamboo. They can be as high as 12 meters and last from 60 - 80 years. For isolation they use falsh banana, grass and cover of the bamboo stem. Through time when termites detroy the basement of the huts, after having avoided the rotten part of the basement, the whole structue can be lifted and relocated in a different place of the same compund. This explains why the new huts are high and old huts are shorter. The house is subdivided in to a fireplace, cattle section, bedroom and a section reserved for brewery. The Dorzes grow spices, false bananas, tobacco, vegetables and fruits in their compound. In their farmland they grow mainly highland cereals. The woman are engaged in weaving, pottery and blacksmithing and responsible for children, household, collecting firewood, spinning cotton. The male mainly farm, weave and construct houses. On tuesday and saturday there is a colorfull market at Chencha and on monday and thursday at Dorze.

The Afar, most of whom occupy one of the most inhospitable desert or semi-desert areas in the world, have once been regarded as fierce and warlike people. Al men are weaponed with a big knife and many carry a kalaskikov on their shoulder. They are certainly proud and individualistic, and somehow manage to make a living out of the challenging wilderness in which many of them live. Almost all are Muslims, and are organized into confederacies, tribes and clans. The nomads live in small, isolated groups with the camel as their beast of burden, and keep sheep, goats and cattle. They live in small oval huts.

The Amhara live in the central highlands of Ethiopia, located primarily in the central highland plateau. The men are resplendent in white jodhpurs and tunics. The Amhara women wear dresses that are tight bodice and full skirted. The dresses are bright white with colored embroidery and woven borders. Although originally most of the border designs were based on the varied design of the Ethiopian cross, today you sometimes see more modern motifs like flowers, airplaines or birds.

They live in the northern highlands. The woman wear dozens of plaits, tightly braided to the head and fuzzing out at the shoulders. Yourg children often have their heads shaved, except for a tuft or a small tail of plaits, which are left so that if God calls them, He will have a handle by which to lift them up to heaven.

They wear colorfull dresses. The men often dress in purple, red or black. The women part their hair in the middle and make large buns behind their ears. For centuries they are known by their basketwork and still weave intricate creations from coloured fibers and grasses.

The Ari live on the north side of Mago National Park. They have a live stock and produce large amounts of honey for trading. Women wear unique skirts, made of special kind of plant. Because they are not easily to wear, the women only are wearing them in special occasions. Ari live of growing a wide range of crops. The land of the Ari people is therefore very green and scenic. The grassroofed houses are decorated with beautifull wallpaintings in natural colours in different patterns and motifs. This is done by the women. The women are plastering the walls of their houses with mud and renew their house this way regularly.

The Surma live on the western bank of the Omo river and live primarily on milk and blood, plants, soghum and maize. They live in dome shaped huts. They paint their bodies and create a variety of designs on their bodies using their finger tips which helps them to expose their dark skins. The figures can be beautifull or frightening. Like the Mursi people the have plates in their lower lip and practise a game called Donga stick fight.

There are more tribes, but we pictured you the most famous ones. During the trip we will show you everything there is to see. Don't worry. You won't miss a thing.

Dorze carnaval

Hamer lady

Harari people in front of the gate In showa  market

Boronna lady

south part of Ethiopia

Mursi man with painting