OMO NATIONAL PARK
The park is one of the remotest corners of Ethiopia, covering, With Mago,
part of the northern end of the mini rift valley known as the Omo Trough.
It encloses some 4,068 square kilometers on the west bank of the Omo River
with an elevation on the valley floor of 440m. The Maji escarpment is
on the western border and there is a range of volcanic hills – the Dirga
Hills – running down the center of the park some 500m above the valley
floor. West of the Dirga, the valley floor is traversed by the seasonal
Kibish River that marks the park’s western boundary. The kibish continues
in a south- easterly direction to form the border between southern Ethiopia
and the Sudan. The southern edge of the park is marked by the dry Neri
River running eastwards from the Dirga to the Omo. East of the Dirga Hills
are the famous Sai and llibai planis a board expanse of completely open
short-grass plains that are the park’s most outstanding feature. In the
middle of the Illibal plain is an attractive hot spring. The headquarters
is in the middle of the park on the Muri River that like the Kibish rises
in the Maji escarpment and rush east to the Omo. The northern end of the
park is marked by another eastern following river, the Kumar. There is
a dense thick flanking the Omo River that extends for about 15km from
the banks to park. The rainfall is about 780 mm/ year. The main wet season
is March to November and the main dry season from December to February.
August is the peak flood time for Omo River. Highest temperatures are
360-390C in December and February and the lowest temperature is 20-210C
in April and June. Access: Omo National Park is 870 km south west of Addis
Ababa. The route is the same as for Mago National park, but continues
west from Mago up the Mursi escarpment, across the Tama steppe where the
Mursi people live and on the the Omo River. The river is crosses by ferry
and it is then a 32 km drive to the park headquarters on the Mui River.
Camping: There are some very attractive, camping sites, with limited facilities
for the Omo visitor along the Mui River. But for Marvelous Ethiopia tours,
the company organizes; camping tours and arranges every facility from
Addis. Wildlife viewing: Omo provides exceptionally good opportunities
for game viewing with its variety of riverine forest, Savannah woodland,
wide open grassy plains, hills and valleys. The large herds of eland –
up to a thousand are an outstanding sight probably unrivalled anywhere.
The plains also support the largest populations of Tiang and large numbers
of oryx, lelwel hartebeest and gazelle. Ostrich, giraffe, lions, hyena,
wild dog and cheetah are common as well as many smaller mammals. Oribi
are common on the hills. The bush land contains one of the largest lesser
Kudu populations as well as large number buffalos, dikdik, duiker, warthog,
bush pig and small mammals. The forest has monkeys of Colobus & grivet
and many other interesting mammals and birds. There are excellent views
of the park and its animals from the tops of Mizuno and Dirga Hills and
tourist like to hike up these hills. Omo is the Mizuno and Dirga Hills
and tourist like to hike up these hills. Omo is the home of 70 mammal
species and 318 bird species, one of which, the black – winged lovebird,
is endemic to Ethiopia. The Illibal hot spring, the Omo River and the
steep escarpments are all natural features that are of interest to tourists.
Fossils: Just beyond the southern border of the park are the world famous
fossil beds of Shungura , Usno and Nyalibong where vast numbers of fossils