Karati
Ethiopia · Africa
About Karati
Konso is a small town in Southern Ethiopia. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2011.
Karati travel guide
Understand
The town was named after the local tribes-people, the Konso. The tiny town was built around a roundabout and is locally important as the central market in the region.
Getting there
There are buses from Arba Minch, Yabelo and Moyale. From the Omo Valley, minibuses run from Jinka via Key Afer.
Getting around
You can walk most of the town. To get up the hill to the west (e.g. to the cultural village), take a bejaj (tuk tuk).
See
The city contains a number of cultural relics of the inhabitants, including a number of waga sculptures. Just outside the city, there are many archaeological sites where human remains and fossils from the prehistoric era have been found. Up the main road from the roundabout is the official tourist information with well trained guides. They will give you an individual tour of the surrounding villages, the tribes' chief compounds, the big canyon called sometimes "New York" and the hot springs. Go with an official guide and not with one of the random touts at the hotels.
Buy
A market is held on Mondays and Thursdays, just next to the centre of town on Jinka Road.
Sleep
Green Hotel (200m from the roundabout to Arba Minch) Best value in town, clean rooms. Edget Hotel. The overpriced expat hotel. 3000 birr singles but you can talk them down to 2500 birr usually (2025). Note that the water supply in Konso is not stable and you may need to shower with a bucket.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia, travel guide fromWikivoyage (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.