The Blue Nile
Wednesday, January 15,
2020
This morning we flew north
to Bahir Dar on a Dash 8 turboprop.
Bahir Dar is on the southern edge of Lake Tana, the largest lake in
Ethiopia. We had a lovely lunch at a
restaurant overlooking the lake:
I ordered shiro, a local stew,
served over injera, the Ethiopian bread. It was delicious:
In Ethiopia, coffee can be
a process, and our after-lunch coffee was:
We then set out for the
source of the Blue Nile, which arises from Lake Tana, and begins its course
towards Sudan over a waterfall. It was
about a 40 minute drive on a dirt road to the small village of Tis Abay:
Women carry large loads
here:
There are irrigation ditches
along the road and the land is very fertile:
Plowing is done by animal
labor:
Onions are a major crop:
We came upon a church
school, and learned more about the Ethiopian Church structure. Boys of 12-13 years old with promise are sent
to the residential school for3-4 years to study. They live four or five to each of these huts:
At the end of the course
of study they graduate as deacons, and serve the church as such until they
become of marriageable age. To become a
priest, one must marry. Those who do not marry become monks, and as the priests
serve the people, the monks may remain in monastaries and it is from the monks
that bishops and higher clertgy come.
Here’s a family carrying
dinner. Our guide was able to tell what
part of the meal was in which container from the shape of the container:
We finally arrived at the
Blue Nile headwaters where the river arises from Lake Tana:
Joyce and Carol wisely
decided not to try the climb. We began
our hike heading down to a bridge over the water, and as we did, we came across
this scene, which our guide told us was a sick person being taken to the water
which is believed to have healing properties:
On the other side of the
bridge we began our climb up to see the falls.
The trail was not easy:
It took about an hour to
get to the magnificent view:
The hike back was difficult
for me a I had run out of energy. It
took me considerably longer than the rest of our group. Ah, age.
Tomorrow we’ll visit one of the many monasteries on the lake.
Fascinating! The people seem to be very hard-working, and accustomed to a life with few frills.
ReplyDelete--Still, they have customs and traditions that are time-consuming and labor-intensive (such as the preparation of coffee). And significant numbers of young men (also women?) are involved in the work of the church--and therefore are not being productive in the usual way.
--This is all very interesting, and makes me think about our own society:
--Who among us is productive and necessary and in what ways...?
--Is life made possible by raising wheat and onions but made worth living by food rituals (elaborate coffee preparation, which for us can mean going to Starbucks) and religion and literature/the arts....?
--Glad to hear, Victor, that you made it to the end of the arduous hike! I'm beginning to learn that some things are best left to the young'ns.
Oh, also: the Nile does look blue there, from your photo of the waterfall, or is it my imagination?
ReplyDeleteVery different from the area around Addis Ababa. Amazing how the meals and even coffee have a strong ceremonial aspect.
ReplyDelete