The Source of the Nile

Morning finds us on a boat pulling away from the dock in Lake Tana in order to visit an couple of island monasteries. . The Blue Nile begins in Lake Tana and flows for 875 miles to Khartoum where it joins the White NIle to form the Nile.  About 90% of the Nile water originates in Ethiopia.

The first island we visited was to a nunnery as in, “get thee to...” And it was here that we learned the basics of religious art in Ethiopia—big beautiful dark eyes in a full face equals a believer, a profile with one eye equals a nonbeliever; the holy trinity looks like (to us) three old men with white beards. St George can be found in many many churches through the country too. I love the art work, the details in the paintings, the simplicity of the stories.  The paintings are gorgeous and the older ones have been painted with true devotion. Over 50 years ago Dale Musolf recommended that I request Ethiopia for my Peace Corps experience becasue of the art work found here.

Next we motored into the junction of the White and Blue Nile and viola! Hippos, birds of all kinds and some kind of  a huge reptile very similar to a Gila Monster.  We ate it up! Oh’s and ah’s all over the place.

After another visit to another island monastery and we were off to Gondar, a drive that took the rest of the day. A day filled with gorgeous natural beauty and a slightly scary truck ride due to the steep drop-offs and to sharing the road with the usual suspects. The inclines were posted as 10% grades without any runaway truck ramps.  In the USA they are usually 4-6%. Yahoo!

On we go to Gondar...