Omorate
A Dassanach girl taking care of her little sister
Omorate is situated by the Omo river – about 2 hours drive from Turmi and almost as deep as one can get into the Omo valley if not crossing the river and travelling further down south to Lake Turkana and the Kenyan border.
Boy swimming across Omo river at Omorate to get to the Dassanach village on the other side of the river, together with the tourists in order to act as guides and earn a few Birr. Photo © Mikkel Grabowski
In Omorate one can also cross over the river to the Dassanach village where the semi-nomadic Dassanach people stay part of the year with their cattle and goats.
Goats on the steep banks of the Omo river in southern Ethiopia. Photo M.A. Grabowski
As can be seen on the photograph above, the banks of Omo river are quite steep but in the rainy season even the banks will become flooded. The water flowing through the Omo river is one of the only sources for Lake Turkana, 50 km south from Omorate.
Cattle coming home to the Dassanach village by Omo river. Photo M.A. Grabowski
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Young woman in a canoe crossing Omo river at Omorate in southern Ethiopia – Photo © Mikkel Grabowski 2012
A boy in omorate sits just by the Omo river, contemplating – photo © Mikkel Grabowski
The Dassanach people of southern Ethiopia and the Omo valley have seminomadic migration patterns that relates to the rain and greener pastures for their livestock so their houses are not built to be permanent structures in the landscape, but merely as periodical shelters
