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boltonian Says: In Arba you can go on Lake Chamo by boat to see crocodiles/hippos.This costs approx 75 Birr to enter the park, and 150 Birr to hire the boat.As we were low on funds, we opted to visit the Crocodile Ranch (50 Birr) which is 4km from Arba.The ranch is, well, awful. It is a...
boltonian Says: About 1 hour up the mountain road from Arba is the Dorze Village of Chincha.It is a real village, but set up like a working museum, with a tour, demonstrations of local cooking etc.You get to see how the Dorze live, making use of everything they grow with no waste. Even the...
Gelagay Says: Have a look who much it is special
Dorze village with beehive huts.
sachara Says: The Dorze people are famous for their huge huts, resembling a giant beehive.Allthough these huts look fragile, they can last up to 60 years. The huts can also be transported to another locations, thanks to the structure made of vertical poles.The Dorze people are farmers,...
boltonian Says: Serves the usual pasta and local injera.100 Birr fresh fish seems over priced.We had 'Ribs' which turned out to be a huge plate of fish for only 30 Birr.
Soma Restaurant: Giant tilapia
sachara Says: The Soma Restaurant in the Shecha part of Arba Minch is very known because of its fresh fish dishes. You will start with a fish soup. Then you can choose, there are several main fish dishes with different sauces.I never saw such a giant tilapia, served in such a special way....
Colourful woven shammas, gabis and hats
sachara Says: It's told that the best woven cotton of Ethiopia comes from the Dorze people in Chenca.Along the road to Dorze and Chenca we saw the stalls with the colourful cloth. Also sometimes the men were weavening at the spot. The colourful shammas (local toga) and gabis (the thicker...
sachara Says: In the Dorze villages in the Guge Mountains you can find nice local pottery and calebashes.Some of the dark brown and black pottery is traditionally decorated. There are bowls and coffeejars, nowadays still used by the local people. The local people also use the calebashes...
sachara Says: After the Dorze woman showed us how she made the pulp of the enset, she wrapped the pulp in the banana-leaves She brought us to the corner of her compound, where she buried the wrapped new pulp of the enset or false-banana in an underground pit for the process of...
sachara Says: During our visit to a compound in one of the villages of the Dorze people, a woman showed us the different stages of preparing banana-bread of the bast of the false-banana tree, called enset. It is a laborious processAfter scraping the bast she showed us, how she made pulp...
sachara Says: Around the beehivehuts of the Dorze people you can find enset plantations. Enset (Musa ensete) or the false-banana tree is a old banana tree, that is past bearing fruits. The Dorze people have a special custom to use these false-bananas. Nowhere in Africa you can find these...
sachara Says: Like everywhere in Africa, you see also in Ethiopia women pounding grain, plantain or cassave.At the restaurant of our campsite annex hotel in Arba Minch we saw this woman pounding.It was very special, because I didn't expect, because all the food you could order was western...
sachara Says: In the rear of the procession we saw the women. It was nice to look at those women, while they were clapping hands, smiling and singing. It was the most lifely and joyful part of the procession.When the procession had passed, we like it to visit the new church, but some men...
sachara Says: After the priests with their umbrellas had past in the procession in the Dorze village, we saw a large group of men walking just behind the priests. There were many very old looking men, with grey beards.For such a small village it was a very large procession. So I supposed,...
Procession with colourful togas
sachara Says: In the middle part of the procession we saw a group priests in their yellow togas with multi-coloured umbrellas.In their midst walked two important religious persons, wearing nicily decorated and embroidered togas, made of precious materials. There was nobody around, who...
sachara Says: After the first group of people in white shammas passed we saw two men in the head of the procession, who where were bearing big boards. At the boards were the the images of Jezus and the holy Mary in almost real size.The people in the procession were clapping hands and...
Procession in one of the Dorze villages
sachara Says: We were very lucky ! In the village, where we visited the beehives and enset plantations, they told us, there would be a procession in a few minutes. The procession was on behalf of the opening of a new church at the other side of the village.So we were invited to sit down...
sachara Says: In the Guge mountains about 35 KM north of Arba Minch at a height of 2.400 live the Dorze people.It was nice to visit this cooler area. The Dorze people we met in the villages were very friendly. I was a pity we couldn't communicate very well with these women, who hardly...
Natural beauty of flora and fauna
sachara Says: In the scenic area around Arba Minch we saw a lot of nice trees, lovely plants and flowers. I really enjoyed the natural beauty. We saw also many birds or their nests along the road. At the roadside just south of Arba Minch we encountered this huge baboon. The driver stopped...
Mountains, lakes, beautiful nature
sachara Says: The area around Arba Minch is very scenic. there are two lakes, Lake Chamo and Lake Abaya with in between the Nechisar National Park. The views at the lakes with mountains at the background are wonderful.Also the Guge mountains, where the Dorze people live are nice to...
Plan a Arba Minch' vacation with reviews, tips and photos posted by real travelers and Arba Minch' locals
Have a look who much it is special
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South of Addis Abeba we visited Arba Minch, the largest town in Southern Ethiopia with about 40.000 inhabitants. Arba Minch lies on an escarpment at 1400 M, overlooking Lake Abaya and Lake...
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A 8 hour drive South from Addis will see you arrive at Arba Minch. Arba is 2 towns, 4km apart, neither one has much to offer. A few bars and hotels line the road. Arba is really a base to stop off...
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