The Blue Nile Falls and Gondar

Every time we stop, we are met by children.

 Carrying a sick person to a clinic.

 People returning from being blessed at a monastery.

 A beautiful hike to the falls.

Drs Livingstone and Stanley, I presume.

 The Blue Nile Falls.

Fording the Blue Nile.

 This is a boarding school, read below.

Plowing the fields by oxen.

 Working the fields.

 A magma incursion.

A recycling camp.

Monday, January 22^nd.

Today when we left the hotel we headed out for the Blue Nile Falls which are located 32 kilometres south of Bahir Dar. At first we drove on a good paved road, but then we turned onto a new highway that is being constructed to service the new hydro-electric dam that Ethiopia is building (despite Egypt’s protests). The road will be four lanes wide, but right now, although it is quite flat, it is incredibly dusty. When we first turned onto it, I thought we were driving into fog. As we drove we passed the out-laying slums of Dahir Bar. Eventually these gave way to farms and there was less traffic and it became less dusty. It is endless fascinating looking out the window and watching what the people are doing. The last part of the road was blocked and we had to detour around to reach the entrance to the Blue Nile Falls Park. When we exited the van we were surrounded by children wanting money or pens and people selling handicrafts. The children in particular are a problem, as they should be in school, but also because when tourists give them a handout they create a culture of beggars, which is why Intrepid and GAdventures discourage it.

We walked along a trail with lots of local people who were coming and going from a local monastery where they go to be blessed and have their problems dismissed. We climbed a couple of hills with great visas until we reached the overlook of the falls. The Blue Nile Falls measure over 400 metres wide and crash down 48 metres in full flood. These falls are known locally as Tis Isat (Smoking Water) and are a spectacular sight when the water’s high. New hydro-electrical plants and dams have greatly impacted their size, but they are still very attractive in their natural setting. We took an hour-long hike to reach the main viewpoint (1.5 kilometres. To complete the circuit we had to cross a 84 metre suspension bridge. On the other side there was a wetland and we saw a number of beautiful birds, including the red cheeked cordon bleu, the fire sparrow, weaver bird nests, herons, and starlings. After that we took a small ferry boat across the Nile River to reach our vehicle.

On the drive back, we stopped for a quick look at a ‘boarding school’, which consisted of about a dozen small thatched huts. Kaleb told us that people send their children to schools like this to prepare them for real school. The kids stay here and are housed in these small huts. They are educated by church people in the basics of math, language and religion. Sometimes there is not enough room in the huts for everyone to sleep at the same time, so they sleep and learn in shifts. Parents are responsible for sending food and clothing for their child. According to Kaleb, children who ‘graduate’ from this school do better at regular public school. They are graduated not by age, but by having learned what is required.

We had a leisurely lunch back in Bahir Dar at a fancy hotel restaurant where we ate outside on the edge of Lake Tana. Then we continued our drive to Gondar in the afternoon. We drove over a number of passes in the very hilly area. We saw an amazing magma plug that solidified before erupting from the ground years ago, but since then all the softer rock around it has eroded away, leaving it standing by itself. We drove north for about four hours around the edge of Lake Tana and headed for the regal city of Gondar, which was the 17th and 18th century capital of Ethiopia, and is famed for its medieval castles and churches.

We arrived about six at the very fancy Goha Hotel which is perched high above the city on a hill and offers great views. We got organized, and met up at seven for a good buffet dinner and then split up to do our own things before bed.