The Rift Valley in Ethiopia runs south of Addis, providing an excellent road trip route connecting Addis with the Bale Mountains and the Omo Valley.  Driving through this part of the country gives you an insight into local way of life that you cannot get by taking a domestic flight, and there is enough to do along these roads to fill 4-5 days.

Misty highland meadows and tall escarpment forests make up much of Southern Ethiopia, but the region is also incised by the gaping kilometer-deep tectonic scar we know as the Great Rift Valley, its acacia-swathed floor dotted with beautiful lakes renowned for their diverse profusion of birds. The ethnic diversity of this astonishing region embraces modern cities such as Hawassa and Arba Minch, but also the walled hilltop warrens of the Konso Cultural Landscape, the remote tribes of South Omo, the singing wells of the desert-dwelling Borena, towering Dorze homesteads and thousand year old island monasteries.

There are a number of boutique lodges set up on the shores of the lakes, and plenty of wildlife sightings.