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Borana: Wells, Salt & Bushcrows

Cultural · Wildlife · Private

Borana: Wells, Salt & Bushcrows

Deep into the far south for the singing wells, the salt crater of El Sod, and a bird that lives nowhere else.

The Journey

4 nights, designed around the hours that matter

A journey to Borana country around Yabelo, some 566 kilometres south of Addis Ababa. We break the drive in the Rift Valley, then spend two full days with the Borana — at a working singing well, on the rim and floor of the El Sod salt crater — and among the acacia where the Ethiopian bushcrow lives.

Places

  • Borana & Yabelo
  • El Sod
  • Yabelo Wildlife Sanctuary

Tailor-made journey

Priced to your plans

Quoted individually once we know your dates, lodges and group size.

Duration
5 Days · 4 nights
Best season
Oct – Mar
Group size
2 – 6 guests
Style
Cultural · Wildlife · Private
Enquire now

Final pricing depends on season, room category and group size. No deposit is taken until the itinerary is right.

Day by Day

The itinerary, as it usually runs

A working draft rather than a fixed schedule — we move days around for weather, festivals and how you are feeling.

  1. Day 1

    Down the Rift Valley

    South from Addis Ababa past the Rift Valley lakes, breaking the long drive with a night on the way.

  2. Day 2

    On to Yabelo

    Further south into Borana cattle country, arriving in Yabelo in the afternoon and meeting our local guide.

  3. Day 3

    A singing well & El Sod

    A working well where herders pass water up a human chain, singing as they go, then El Sod — the salt lake on the floor of a volcanic crater 1.8 kilometres across.

  4. Day 4

    Bushcrows & the road north

    An early search in the acacia around Yabelo for the Ethiopian bushcrow, then north again to break the journey.

  5. Day 5

    Back to Addis Ababa

    The drive back up the Rift Valley to the capital by evening.

What Is Included

  • A private 4x4 and senior driver-guide throughout
  • A local Borana guide around Yabelo
  • Community fees for well and village visits
  • Four nights at the best lodges available en route
  • Full board in Borana

Not Included

  • Travel insurance (required)
  • Drinks and gratuities

Enquire

Make Borana: Wells, Salt & Bushcrows yours

Send us your dates and we will confirm availability, quote precisely, and suggest the two or three changes we would make if it were our own trip.

Runs Oct – Mar · 2 – 6 guests · priced to your plans

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Selam! I'm the Simien Ethiopia Tours travel assistant. Ask me about any destination, tour or logistics question, and I'll help you shape a private itinerary.