Rafting Ethiopia an extreme adventure

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The most popular river for Rafting in Ethiopia is undoubtedly the Omo River, which tumbles its way Meet the native inhabitants some 350 kilometers (217 miles) trough a steep, inaccessible valley and mellows its pace as it nears the lowlands, finishing up as a torpid meander trough flat semi desert bush, where it finally feeds into Lake Turkana.

Floating down Ethiopias Omo River, a wild, beautiful remnant of Stanleys-Dark Continent, is like traveling a thousand years back in time, the people who live along the river are still among the most remote and least-visited people on earth.

The season for Omo trips is between September and October, when the river is still high from the June-September rains and the weather is starting to dry out.

Spirited rapids, innumerable side creeks and waterfalls, sheer inner canyons, hot springs, abundant wildlife and exotic tribal peoples combine to make the Omo one of the worlds classic river adventures. Wild and remote, with only one possible motor able track between the start and kilometer 525 (mile 325). At some points, a walk out could take three days to the nearest village or a week to the nearest road.

The trip starts at the Gibe bridge, 185 kilometers (115 miles) south-west of Addis Ababa on the road to Jimma, at an altitude of 1100 meters (3608 feet). The river known here as the Gibe, lies in a deep valley, a belt of

Here and there narrow black basalt inner gorges constrict the waters, forming numerous short but violent rapids, Haystack, Hendersons Hydraulic, Double Trouble and Tewodros building up to the first serious challenge at Gypsy s Bane.

Then a Submerged boulder creating a sharp and awesome hydraulic hole will be one our way, this hole is known to grab and hold a five-meter fully loaded Avon pro in its cycle for several long minutes.

Wildlife spotting

Under the canopy, which is alive with colobus, it is refreshingly cool, even at midday, and a stroll may turn up an interesting bird like the blue-breasted kingfisher or send monitor lizards scuttling noisily off through the dry leaves littering the floor.

Away from the river, above the forest, a shelf of hippo-grazed savannah slopes gently toward the mountain wall, a good place for waterbuck and bushbuck in the occasional thicket, as well as Abyssinian ground hornbills.

All this, plus a beautiful and comfortable sandy camp with good parking, plenty of firewood, and lots of space make it a unanimous choice for a layover - two nights here - and time to bake bread in the cool of the evening in a well- embered Dutch oven, while watching the brilliant sky for flaming meteorites.

The good grazing in the ten kilometers (six miles) above the Gojeb supports a dense hippo population, and without high water, it requires care - and maybe some warning shots from a flare gun - to get past the 200 or so that inhabit this section, which is also rich in plant and bird life.

Hippo Alley

At the end of Hippo Alley, where the Gojeb comes in from the right, the Omo re-enters a steep-sided valley whose walls frequently top out in red stone cliffs, over which curl some mesmerizing long, slow-motion falls. Other falls are located close to the river and reward a creek-bed clamber with a good shower and pool. At one creek, the forceful current pours in a groove over a smooth ledge and plunges in to a deep pool, creating a safe but exciting waterslide.

The last camp before the track and Bailey Bridge that link the towns of Soddu and Waca is on the shelf of clean sand shaded by overhanging trees festooned with jasmine. As a frequently used ford is nearby, there is a trail leading west up to the top, where Wolayta people grow grain crops, false banana, sweet potatoes, and coffee. Their thatched houses are large and well made, and the appearance of visitors quickly elicits an invitation to come in side and rest, while the woman of the house stokes up the fire to roast, grind, and brew the most delicious coffee, served of course in the universal, handle less Chinese- type cups. As sugar is a luxury, coffee is not uncommonly flavored with salt, and the camp at the base of the trail goes by the name Salt Coffee.

At the bridge (day 9 or 10), outgoing and incoming participants are exchanged (you can opt to do just the first or the second half of the trip if you wish). Fresh fruit, vegetables, ice chests are delivered-maybe even ice cream and some cold beers - before the group pushes on down stream, glad to leave behind the sound and smell of cars, the intrusion of the outside world.

South of the bridge, the valley becomes less steep, the inner gorges less frequent and constricting, and the river mellows, with long tree-lined straights, and curves around enormous rock bars. Two of the Omos biggest rapids, however, are yet to come, and those who join the trip at the bridge get their money is worth from potamus plunge and B- Team (days 11 and 13). The latter is long and challenging three-part roller-coaster that definitely calls for an experienced team on the oars. Only at low water may a boat be entrusted to a trainee or talented client. The big crocs circling in the eddy way below do nothing to relieve the pressure either.

Superb vistas

Once past B-Team, there are superb vistas of distant peaks and hikes to highland farms lead to more and more remote groups- Gemo,Gofa,Zala, kulo-konta.

The campsites exude signs of the wild, with lion, leopard, or buffalo spoor embedded in the sand.

Now the sides of the valley start to drop away, the nights become warmer, and near the confluence with the Dincia (about day 16) the first river side farms become visible. These belong to the Bodi, a small tribe who come to the Omo every September and October to grow sorghum, clearing and planting suitable mud banks as the annual floods retreat.

The Bodi are of Nilo- Saharan stock and pastoral background. Although no longer pure pastoral, their culture is very much cattle centered, with livestock playing an important role in marriage, divination, and name- giving rituals. The Bodi classification of cattle is complex, with over eighty words to denote different colors and patterns. Dress is simple. The women wear goatskins tied at the waist and shoulder, while men fasten a strip of cotton or bark-cloth around their waist.

For the last five or six days of the trip , on a wider, slower river, with good campsites fewer and farther apart, the boats are tied together and a Yamaha 9.9 hung over the back happily pushes the whole rig along, producing a light refreshing breeze while still allowing a good look at a pels fishing owl in its day time roost on an overhanging branch.

Frequent stops give an opportunity to visit riverside settlements to exchange news, give limited medical help, take photos, and bargain for baskets, bangles, or carved headrests.

Birding is rewarding too. Goliath herons stalk the shallows where African fish eagles study the opaque waters from riverside rocks as black kites wheel overhead. Crimson wings flash as white- cheeked turacos swoop through the riverside forest. In the background may be heard the soft lament of the emerald-spotted wood dove, the bubbly purr of the white -browed coucal, and the raucous cawing of silvery -cheeked hornbills.

Lower Omo cliffs are densely perforated with the nesting holes of red-fronted bee-eaters ,and noisy colonies of black-headed weavers build their nests in bushes and trees overhanging the water. A short walk from any campsite will produce other sightings be they of cuckoo, shrike, or barbet.

Unique cultures

Other tribes encountered after the Bodi include the Kwegu,the Mursi, and the Bume. The mursi are well known for the large clay discs that the women wear, inserted in their slit lower lips. Mursi men wear very little ,although a cotton wrap is becoming more and more common. Their way of life is similar to that of their traditional enemies, the Bodi depending on sorghum and cattle.

The Kwegu, thought to be the remnants of a hunter- gatherer tribe, live scattered along the Omo, existing in an interesting symbiosis with the Bodi and the Mursi. The Kwegu, are experts in making and piloting dugout canoes and also in hunting. But their Mursi and Bodi neighbors do not allow them to keep cattle. Each Kwegu man attaches himself to a Bodi or Mursi patron, for whom he provides ferry services across the Omo and, occasionally, hunting products like meat, skins, or ivory. In return ,the patron protects his Kwegu client against the depredations of other Bodi or Mursi . Also ,in order for the Kwegu to marry, the patron must loan his client enough cattle to satisfy the bride wealth requirement that even the Kwegu have - a peculiar and fascinating arrangement in this far - away ,disappearing world.

The Bume, close relatives of the Turkana, share both the language and many cultural practices. They live on the west bank of the Omo, growing sorghum and keeping cattle, sheep, and goats. It is in Bume country ,at the bend in the river known as pongoso, where the Omo trip comes to an end after 23 days and 600 kilometers (327 miles) with a walk or drive 12 kilometers across the open thorn bush to the border settlement of Kibish, from there we will travel back to Addis Ababa.

Awash river

Bordering the Awash national park, a 28 kilometer (17 mile) stretch of the Awash river offer a superb one or two-day trip featuring lots of spirited rapids, wildlife and impressive rugged cliffs and side canyons. The trip starts at the Awash falls, with a paddling drill in the foaming pool below, and the rapids follow one after another with fast drops, narrow channels and fast current. It is read-and-run until the Haile Selassie 1 Rapid, Where a quick scout can help avoid a possible wrap on the big boulder obstructing the main channel.

Colobus and vervets stare down from the tamarinds and figs lining the banks, and baboons, waterbuck, warthog, and lesser kudu come down to the river to drink. A few crocodiles share the river and monitor lizards scurry along the banks.

A sacred hot spring (where kereyu offerings of colored string, cloth, brass, bangles, and cowries hang in the gnarled trees that shade the bath- temperature rocky pool) is a great place for an overnight camp. Alternatively, the group can push on for the remaining two hours or so to the take- out at the beach below the town of Awash Station, where the historic Buffet de la Gare provides cold beers and delicious Greek and Italian cuisine.

The Bleu Nile

The famous Bleu Nile has attracted various expeditions, some farcical, some well organized and successful, with Swede Arne Rubins 1965 nine-day solo paddle in a klepper canoe from the safartak bridge to Roseires in the Sudan an especially notable effort. The Blue Nile is still a virgin as it comes to Rafting but it is waiting to be discovered.

Rafting in Ethiopia, a life changing experience for the most adventurous traveler.