Ornithopia tours
Agritour sites and itineraries
North-central Highlands of Menz-Guassa
The central highlands of Ethiopia form an upraised block of land and are part of the greater mountain ranges that extend from the north to the southwest. The north, central and southwestern highlands are dissected from the southeastern ranges by a diagonally cut rift valley. Menz Guassa. People who live here are predominantly Amahra in origin. Afro-alpine area is part of the central highlands and is some 260 km away from Addis Ababa. Menz Guassa is a good representative of the livelihoods of the Amhara people living in the greater range. The presence of a community conservation area that practices 400 year old traditional nature conservation makes the area one of the best examples of an extant community natural resource conservation system in Africa. We will be visiting the traditional Menz villages that consist of thatched Tukuls. The Guassa Community Conservation Area is a community led initiative that has a lodge where we can stay on our visit to Menz. A two to three day overnighting trip will give you an excellent opportunity to interact with locals, learn their history, culture and admire their handicrafts. Trekking excursions in the conservation area will give you an excellent opportunity to observe several endemic mammal and birds species in the region. These include the rare and endemic Ethiopian Wolf and Gelada Baboons. Several highland biome bird species abound this area including Black-headed Siskin, Abyssinian Longclaw, Rouget’s Rail and Blue-winged Goose. This region is especially known for the wool rugs in earth colours of brown, reds and blacks. The Amhara people here practice mixed farming with arable agriculture and cattle-raising.
Shepherds dress cozily in a decorated woolen hat and blanket to protect themselves from cold weather.
Guassa, next to Bale Mountains is the best place to see the Ethiopian Wolf
Shepherds dress cozily in a decorated woolen hat and blanket to protect themselves from cold weather.
A Guraghe woman decorticates the leaf sheath of Enset to produce pulp and fibre.
Huts with Enset home gardens are typical in southern and southwestern communities in Ethiopia
A Guraghe woman decorticates the leaf sheath of Enset to produce pulp and fibre.
South central Ethiopia - Sodo Guraghe
The Guraghe people in general inhabit parts of the central and south-central Ethiopia in areas which are fertile or semi-fertile. They are a Semitic speaking people identified on the basis of their dialects. This itinerary revolves around the Sodo Guraghe who occupy an area south to Addis Ababa, the Capital of Ethiopia. Christianity and Islam are the major religions and the population is almost equally divided between these two religions. The Sodo Guraghes are mainly Christian. The population in the rural areas is engaged in agriculture but they are also involved in trading. In the rural areas, the husbandry of the Enset plant is a prime occupation. Besides the Enset, cash crops like coffee and Chat are also grown. Households can keep a few cows which are valued for milk and butter rather than meat. The Enset (Enset ventricosum) as a staple plant is central to the social and economic life of the Guraghe. This plant even plays an immense role in the rituals and acts as a form of payment for work done. In our trip to Sodo we will interact with the daily life of local communities. We will especially focus on the Enset Culture and its role in the daily life of the Guraghe people. The Guraghe are also known for the fabulous houses they construct. We will be staying in villages within the community in thatched huts and relating to their daily lives in their farms. On the other hand, the visit will make use of occasional but special situations where the community celebrates different local holidays and social functions. Local people have unique and most often colorful ways of celebrating occasions including weddings and mournings.
Southern Ethiopia - Borana
The Borana are a pastoralist sub-ethnic group of Oromo people. The name Borana refers to the people as well as the land they live on. They inhabit the vast rangelands of southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya that extend from. These rangelands are dry with little water but nonetheless covered with thick Acacia-Commiphora woodlands and thickets. The livelihoods of the proud Borana people center on their cattle and goat herds. Pastoralism amongst the Borana is known to be one of the best rangeland systems in Eastern Africa owing to its adaptability to changing resources and internal management systems. As a result of low rainfall, Borana pastoralists are forced to move their settlements from time to time. This movement can sometimes be as extensive covering hundreds of kilometers. Young men usually herd the cattle and household chores are the domain of womenfolk. Their transhumance movement from one place to another is governed by rainfall and presence of water. As a result, they have “dry season” and “wet season” grazing areas. The Borana plains are also dotted by deep water wells and are the sites referred to as “singing wells”. This naming comes from the ritual singing that is accompanied at these wells. Water from the deep wells is extracted by a line of Borana who pass buckets of water by These wells are accompanied by thirsty cattle and goats in the dry season. They live in “Olaas” comprising of 20-30 households. Our stay in Borana (mainly around Yabelo and Diire) will allow us to visit selected Olaas where we will have a first hand experience of daily life of pastoralist families. Visits to singing wells will give us a better understanding of how pastoralists in this dry land cope with water shortages and appreciate their egalitarian system of resource allocation. Agritour visits to Borana form an excellent combination with bird watching. Borana has a number of rare and endemic bird species including the White-tailed Swallow, Ethiopian Bushcrow and Prince Ruspoli's Turaco.
