This journey takes us into the Omo Valley, a place so remote National Geographic calls it “Africa’s last Frontier”. Located in the Great Rift Valley of southwest Ethiopia it is home to the most extraordinary tribes in Africa. The Omo Valley, the last great tribal land left in the world, a world of vanishing cultures.

In the Fall of 2013 I set out to experience, first hand, the Omo Valley. It was a ‘now or never’ trip. Construction of the Gibe III dam had begun with a projected completion date of 2016. It was the last chance to experience the purest indigenous tribes left on earth. Catastrophic changes were predicted for the Omo. With the dam would come new roads, new lodges, loss of tradition lands, large scale farming and foreign oil/gas exploration. The isolation which had kept these indigenous cultures in tact for generations would be gone forever. Steve Turner, Origin Safaris, was the person to get me there. Steve, a second generation safari guide, has a passion and respect for the people and their land. I wasn’t looking for a drive by of the tourist village but a real experience with the people and their lives. Steve’s warning before we set off….

“Having been to Africa before, you’re already oriented, but do remember that you probably have never been anywhere quite as remote and inhospitable as the Omo River. If you are inconvenienced by spartan accommodations, intense human contact or are apprehensive in unfamiliar situations, then I’m sorry but this expedition is not for you. Prepare to be uncomfortable.”

Is it possible to describe the magnitude of life in the Omo? 

Diverse and complex cultures and traditions still run deep even with the constant threat of ‘Progress and Modernity’. Personal adornment and creativity is endless; face and body painting and piercing, decorative, hero and medicinal scarification, head and hair attachments, unexpected found objects, such as an old watch band dangles in the center of a forehead, or an old piece of found plastic strung in with beads on a skirt. Beautifully beaded headdresses, goat skin skirts with extraordinary beading. A woman’s tribe and marital status is identified by her necklace. A Nyangatom woman may wear as many as 100 necklaces, even at night to sleep. Creative, personal adornment is everywhere enhancing already stunning beauty.