Our Ethiopian odyssey (12): Blue Nile Falls
Day 12 (Wednesday) was our penultimate day in Ethiopia.
Our morning excursion was to the Blue Nile Falls. Leaving the hotel at 8.40 am, we were soon onto yet another unmade road all the way to the falls. Although the journey was only 30 km, it took over an hour because it was so bumpy and rocky. Once again, there was all that damn dust. We pitied the drivers of the flat two-wheeled carts pulled by weary donkeys and the little children standing by the roadside looking at these white strangers.
We only stopped once just outside Bahir Dar by the side of a large rubbish tip where a dead donkey was being devoured by dogs and dozens of vultures perched in a tree or wheeled overhead waiting for the dogs to give them their share of the creature. Once we left the vicinity of town, however, the landscape was greener than anything we had seen elsewhere in Ethiopia because the locals are able to use water diverted from the nearby Nile.
The Blue Nile Falls is known locally as Tis Abay Falls or ‘the water that smokes’. Once we reached the area, we made a short boat trip downstream and over to the over side accompanied by a local guide and an armed soldier. Then it was a ten minute walk to view the falls themselves. Now these falls are at their most spectacular during and after the rainy season (from about June to January) so, this being mid February, we were not expecting much of a show – but we were in for a surprise.
The local hydro-electric power station was closed because of a technical problem with one of the turbines, so much more water than usual for this time of year was pouring over the falls just now. There are two vantage points: one about the level of the top of the falls and another about two thirds down. Although the falls is only 42 metres high and it was not the rainy season, it was still an awesome sight: about a dozen streams of water coming over the rocks and one thunderous deluge thanks to the problem with the power station.
We returned to our hotel for lunch and then at 2.30 pm went out again for a mini excursion in town. Two of the group opted out of this trip to spend time in the hotel’s swimming pool, but the rest of us – including Vee & Roger – wanted to see as much as possible.
We drove past the Martyrs Memorial Monument which is dedicated to those who died fighting the Derg. Then we went up to the Bezawit Palace which was built in 1967 for the then Emperor Haile Selassie who only spent two nights there before he was overthrown. It is not open to the public and cannot be photographed. Nearby the palace is a viewpoint over the town of Bahir Dar and down in the river between us and the town we spotted a hippopotamus. The other stop was to visit the Main Market. This is large and lively and specialises in variety of grains, herbs and spices. Some of the group bought coriander, cumin and pepper. The locals were surprised to see us there but the youngsters were happy to greet us with their little English.
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Tomorrow is the last day of our holiday. We fly to Addis Baba in the morning and then to London overnight. When we reach home, I’ll post a final piece on the trip with some general observations.