Western Ethiopia is undisturbed and seldom visited, yet it's one of the most
beautiful regions in Ethiopia. Rain for- ests, coffee plantations and muddy
agricultural ...
Western Ethiopia Why Go? Gefersa Reservoir......... 198 Addis Alem ................... 198 Ambo ............................ 198 Mt Wenchi..................... 199 Guder & Around ........... 199 Nekemte .......................200 Metu .............................202 Tepi ...............................203 Mizan Tefari ................. 203 Southwest Omo Valley ............................204 Jimma.......................... 205 Gambela .......................209
Western Ethiopia is undisturbed and seldom visited, yet it’s one of the most beautiful regions in Ethiopia. Rain forests, coffee plantations and muddy agricultural towns share the landscape with savannah grasslands, wildlife-infested swamps and high plateaus carpeted in fields of tef (an indigenous grass cultivated as a cereal). As impressive as the scenery is, it’s the ethnic diversity that is the real attraction: white-robed highlanders flock to churches; Surmi women with giant lip plates and men painted white like spirits of the night patrol the lowlands; and, on the South Sudan border, ritually scarred Nuer peoples stride across the grasslands with their long-horned cattle. The Anuak peoples of the Gambela region believe that to continue travelling west is to fall off the edge of the world. The Anuak are wrong on this score: the world doesn’t end in western Ethiopia, it just feels that way.
Best of Culture » Kibish (p205) » Itang (p213)
When to Go
» Gambela (p209)
Jimma
» St Maryam Church (p198)
°C/°F Temp
» Jimma (p205)
Rainfall inches/mm
30/86
6/150
20/68 4/100
Best of Nature » Gambela National Park (p212) » Omo National Park (p205) » Mt Wenchi (p199) » Menagesha National
Forest (p209) » Gibe Sheleko National Park (p209)
10/50 2/50 0/32 0
-10/14 J
F
M
Jan–Mar Huge numbers of antelope move through Gambela National Park.
A
M
J
J
A
Oct–Nov Meskel flowers bloom: the countryside glows green and yellow.
S
O
N
D
Dec–Mar The dry season is the easiest time to get to southwest Omo Valley.
196 Mendi
SUDAN
Bambesi
Nejo
Anger Falls Ghimbi
SOUTH SUDAN
Muji
Dembidolo
Shebel Jikawo
Teylut
Baro
Itang
Gambela
River
Bure Gummarro
Metu
Sor River Waterfalls
Gore
Bechu Akobo
Bar
o River
Gambela National Park
Abobo
Lake Tata Masha
WESTERN ETHIOPIA
Gog Gecha
Dimbira
Tepi Mizan Tefari
Southwest Omo Valley Bebeka Coffee Plantation
SOUTH SUDAN Tum Kibish
Maji
Omo National Park
Western Ethiopia Highlights 1 Experience African tribal life at its most raw and wild in the endlessly fascinating southwest Omo Valley (p204)
2 Be among the first to
witness one of the greatest migrations of large mammals anywhere on Earth in Gambela National Park (p212)
3 Wrap your legs around a scrawny horse for a scenic descent into the lake-filled crater of Mt Wenchi (p199)
