Konso - The Gateway to Lower Omo

For many one trip to South Omo is quite enough for anyone – hot, dusty, and generally uncomfortable. But times are a-changing.

Most of the road since my first foray to Lower Omo in 2011 now has asphalt from Konso to Jinka and the same is planned for the southern road too (Konso to Turmi) making it far more accessible. Schools have sprung up everywhere and in every town which is free to the 14 tribes that inhabit this remote area of South Ethiopia. Even more threatening is the completion of the Omo Dam due to be completed in May 2014. Within 10 years I am sure this place will be unrecognizable to what i see today.

Driving through Konso (the gateway to Lower Omo)  in January 2011, it didn’t take long to be greeted by bare breasted women on the road-side. Now, their nakedness is far more likely to be covered by an old t-shirt or even Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal shirt.

Konso (also know as Karat Konso) is a bit of a ramshackle hassly town and there is not much to keep you there, although the market is of vague interest. Judging by the number of pregnant women i see, there is clearly not very much for the locals here either