The Mursi tribe in South Omo Valley, Ethiopia

The Mursi are seminomadic pastoralist located on the eastern side of the Omo River near the Mago National Park in South Ethiopia. Over the last 2 years I spent 6 weeks in Suri villages and more than 3 weeks in remote Mursi villages, and I confidently can say: The Mursi as well as their related Suri neighbors are not only fascinating, they are also absolutely likeable, friendly and open-hearted.

On the new road it takes about two hours to drive from Jinka to Maganto (Hayloha in Amharic) and Maregge. But to reach the remote Mursi villages a good 4WD car and an excellent driver are mandatory. Not all remote villages are directly accessible by car, often only a path leads to the villages, and to drive into a village sometimes it is necessary to cross a field. On the website Mursi Online a community-based map of the Mursi territory is available, which was created in collaboration with the Mursi people. One possibility to visit remote Mursi villages is to follow the field road from Maganto to Mirobe, Landi and Motorow. In the area of Motorow there is the huge maize plantation 'Dumui' owned by Mursi people who even come a long way from other remote areas to stay a couple of months on the plantation and grow maize.

Read more about the Mursi tribe in the article "The remote villages of the Mursi tribe, Ethiopia" on my travel blog.