-- Log 13 --

Ghion Hotel – Bahir Dar – N11.35.800 E037.23.126 5 906 ft amsl – 44 Birr pn – 23/07/02 – 24/07/02

Joined a tour with two teachers from England, Chris and Caroline. We took a boat trip to see two monasteries on the islands in Lake Tana. The tour did not start off too well, as the boat for some unknown reason was not able to come to the hotel jetty, we had to catch a taxi to the Tana hotel and get the boat from there. It took ages for our guide to wave down a taxi that could take all of us. Lake Tana is said to be the source of the Blue Nile.

Most of the buildings are said to date from the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century. Many have beautiful mural paintings and church crosses, house crowns and clothes of former kings. Access for the most part is closed to women, so we were restricted to which Debre’s we could visit. We went to Ura Kidane Mehret, which is located on the Zeghe peninsula. It is painted inside and out with colourful frescoes depicting scenes from biblical lore and from the history of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, including the story of St George and the dragon. St George is the patron saint of Ethiopia.





Frescos painted onto cloth which has been almost wall-papered onto the mud walls of the Debres.



Crowns and Manuscripts dating to the 16th Century


On a personal level, we found that visiting two Debre’s was enough for us. We were happy to get back to MR W before it started to rain. Next day we took a walk into the market and found all sorts of interesting things!



Blue Nile Falls – Tis Isat – 400m wide and 50m deep. As they has just had rains so the falls were most impressive. Unfortunately the area is plagued by the usual beggars, which did detract from the peace of the area. We met the local priest doing his rounds, with someone carrying his tape recording of the daily chants, while he carried his cross for all to kiss!



Bridge built by the Portuguese in the seventeenth century – still in daily use to the falls!