Prehistoric fossils, cultural diversity, and white-water rafting safaris—these are just some of the thrills why Lower Omo Valley ranks high in the score card for adventure. A World Heritage Site, the banks of the Omo River is where archaeologists found the fossils of the earliest Homo Sapiens, estimated to be 195,000 years old, as well as Olduwan honids, an Australopithecine man, and quartzite tools dated more than two million years ago.
Apart from being archaeologically important, the Omo is also a popular white-water rafting destination for its rapid stream and chain of falls that empties into Lake Turkana, one of the lakes of the Great Rift Valley, a rich source of fossils essential to the study of human evolution. From September to October, when the river is still high due to the rainy season, it denotes the best time to do white-water rafting to see hippopotami, crocodiles, and viper snakes, among other species.
The Omo flows past the Mago and Omo National Parks, "Ethiopia's most remote parks" famous for embracing varied territories such as deserts, acacia forests and savannahs rearing large herds of elands, buffalos, cheetahs, lions, and zebras, among others. Nonetheless, the main attraction of these parks is its indigenous tribes, whose ancient traditions have remained almost intact for centuries. It is not unusual to see Hamer men jumping off raging bulls, or the Mursi people inserting clay disks into their lips.
There is virtually no tourist infrastructure in the valley, but it offers little comfort for travelers such as basic accommodation, especially in a little village called Jinka, which is linked to Addis Ababa through buses and airplanes. To get around, tourists could hire a four-wheel drive or for a more adventurous, cheaper way, hitch on local trucks.
