As the Omo tumbles off the escarpment, it passes from alpine environment and rain forest into the savannah country for which East Africa is famous and finally into the searing desert lands north of Lake Turkana. The Omo is the sole source of water for this massive inland lake, Africa's fourth largest.

If you enjoy the wild and the untouched, and would like to witness first hand and remnant of what Africa must have been like before man then this is the trip for you. Hundreds of different varieties of strange and colorful birds dart in and out of the lush vegetation. Wild game is abundant: troops of baboon bark from the cliffs, the soft songs of Cape Turtle doves echo up the canyons, troops of magnificent Colobus monkey leap between the trees and warhogs scamper through the under- growth. At times, the canyons are over 5000ft deep and spectacular waterfalls tumble down their walls, cliffs rise hundreds of feet over our heads and the river flows serenely through this magical land The side streams that tumble through deep forested gorges are an ideal escape from the sun and sometimes we bathe for hours in pools at the bottom of cascading waterfalls.

As we drift downstream, dozens of hippopotamus wallow in the quieter reaches and the rapids in this sections of the Omo are innumerable. We usually layover at least once (spend two nights in one camp) and relax in the refreshingly cool shade of large tamarinds and sycamore figs at the junction of the Omo and the Gojeb rivers. We bake bread in the Dutch ovens and sit back to watch the smoke rising from the distant ires of the Wolayta villages nestled in the hills high above the river.

Our rafts drift as objects of curiosity or the huge pods if hippos that inhabit "The Bronx". Loud snorts blast across the river when big bulls surface and lay claim to their river territory. Numerous rapids lead us into the canyons and our campsites exude signs of the wild with lion, leopard or buffalo spoor embedded in the sand. The striking birdsongs continue to be one of the highlights and a tremendous variety of species call the Omo river their home; Fish eagles, Dward Bitterns, Pel's Fish Owl, Cape Turtle Dove and Goliath Heron to name a few.

The river's deep canyons begin to give way to mellow currents, distant peaks, dry plains and rolling grasslands. The hippos become less abundant as we make our first encounter of the tribes of the lower Omo. There is no mistaken their striking presence as in appearance they are very different to the Ethiopians of the highlands. For the Bodi, Mursi, Kwegu (Bacha), Karo and others, clothing is simple and effective but hairstyles are often radical in the extreme -- shaped and fashioned with razor-sharp knives and adorned with skull caps of red mud. Many of the men display tribal cicatrices; scars which denote their standing in the community. They live much as their ancestors will have done for generations, wandering through there lands driving their live- stock before them and carrying their spears, knives and three-legged stools.

Visit ADRIFT's Web Site for more details about
this and other river expeditions around the world!!!