We are at Jinka, in Ethiopia, and today is entirely dedicated to the Mursi and the Mago National Park where this tribe lives.

We leave from Jinka and head towards the entrance of the park, here is the head quarter; we pay the entrance fee for us and for our car and load a local guide who was waiting for us, we immediately notice that he is armed; this guide will remain with us for as long as we stay in the Mago National Park.

The Mago National Park is located along the Eastern shore of the Mago River, that in turn is a tributary of the Omo River; on the opposite bank is the Omo National Park.

From the point of view of habitat and territory the two parks are very similar, they are one the natural continuation of the other, but it is not possible to access from one park to the other since there are no bridges connecting the two banks of the Mago River.

Mago National Park

This is one of the few places in this area of ​​Ethiopia where the original vegetation is still found: acacias, grasslands and a river forest; here once there were many animals, but indiscriminate poaching decimated them, but, although in much smaller numbers, they are still present, but they are quite difficult to spot.

The main reason why you go to the Mago National Park is to visit the villages of the Mursi; but the park also deserves a tour for its nature.

A few years ago the road was unpaved and not in perfect condition. Furthermore, the terrain here is the infamous black cotton that, with the rain, becomes slippery and it is easy to slip with the car; now they are working on the road to improve it because they have built a sugar extraction plant, in fact we also see several trucks, fortunately the company is in the outermost part of the park.

Before going to the Mursi villageswe take a tour of the park, we want to see its nature and maybe we are also lucky enough to see some animals.

In fact we see several birds of prey, some zebras, a couple of major kudus, the mongooses, that just hearing us escape very fast, and different species of monkeys; in the park there should also be wild dogs, lions, minor kudus, giraffes, dik diks, gerenuks, hartebeests and about 300 species of birds.

Mago National Park

It is not a park suitable for those who are at the first safari experiences because it could be a bit disappointing, but it is suitable for travelers like us who have done a lot of safari and are also interested in other things besides the lion and the great classics .

We do a few laps in the park and then we stop in a shady place: it is time for lunch and we have brought the picnic lunch that our Jinka hotel, Orit Hote,  has prepared for us.

We like to stop in nature and while we have lunch we enjoy this little corner of paradise; unfortunately in Ethiopia some natural areas have been modified and transformed into cultivated fields or villages or other and therefore being in this park is very beautiful for us.

We still enjoy the nature of this place a little and then it is time to go and meet the Mursi.

Mago National Park

Data di inserimento: 
Monday, September 23, 2019