Located in the wild south Omo region of the country and dominated by dense acacia scrubland and some areas of open savannah, Mago National Park is a reminder of what the famous East African parks were like before the advent of mass tourism. Travel is still difficult and although there are more than 100 species of mammals numbers are quite low.

Once the huge herds of buffalo roamed this area but numbers have dwindled dramatically. However it is still possible to elephants, Defassa waterbuck, Lelwel hartebeest, greater and lesser kudu and Guenther’s dik-dik. Mago National Park is also home to the Mursi people, one of the most distinctive tribes living in the region. Numbering around 5,000 they are famous for the lip plates worn by the women. These are inserted through a slit between her lower lip and mouth once she reaches about 20. Each year a larger clay disc is inserted to enlarge the stretch. It is thought that perhaps this custom arose from the Mursi men trying to make their married women appear as unattractive as possible to potential adulterers and slave traders.