Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Information
Dashen Bank
Has Omo's only ATM.
Commercial Bank
Will cash travellers cheques.
Jinka Zonal Hospital
( 0467-750046; 24hr)
Pioneers Local Guide Association
( 0467-751728; 6.30am-6.30pm)
Has an inter-
net cafe in the front charging Birr1 per two minutes, and a very public campground.
Getting There & Away
It's expected that a new airport will be built and Ethiopian Airlines will resume flights.
There's a daily bus to Arba Minch (Birr101, six hours) leaving at 6am, several daily
minibuses to Konso (Birr70, 3½ hours) and one bus to Omorate (Birr100, 3½ hours) via
Turmi (Birr70, 2½ hours) on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, returning the next day.
The guide associations rent out 4WDs with drivers and fuel for an outlandish US$185 a
day (definitely bargain) and also have motorcycles available for tours. For anything more
than a day, it's better to deal directly with
Bereket Tadesse
( 0928-310295,
meetthetribes@gmail.com)
, who is half-Mursi, and
Lalo Dessa
( 0913-363077;
www.lalo-tours.com
)
, two Jinka-based guides who can organise total Omo packages start-
ing in Addis or anywhere else for reasonable prices.
JOEY L'S TIPS FOR PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE OMO
VALLEY
Joey L (
www.joeyl.com
)
is a renowned Canadian photographer and filmmaker. He's spent extended periods of time
working in the Omo Valley. We met him in the Surmi area of Southwest Omo and asked for tips on photographing
the peoples of the Omo Valley.
You need a good guide:
When I travel, I need a guide to help bridge me between my culture and the one I am
visiting. This is someone who will show me around, translate for me…a sort of co-pilot. Your guide should be used
to working with photographers. Other things to consider are their language skills; how flexible they are in unpredict-
able situations; whether they can help you find unique perspectives that help tell the story of the place and its
