There are 37 islands on Lake Tana, with 21 monasteries. In the morning, we hopped on a motor boat right at our hotel and headed over to the Zege Peninsula to visit one of these monasteries...
...along the way, we saw several boats made of papyrus, hauling goods across the lake to market....it looked like the boats were completely submerged and would sink at any moment!!!
...when we docked on the other side, we ran into some young girls, gathering up water at the lakeside...
...we walked up from the boat dock to the the Ura Kidane Mihret monastery. It was founded in the 14th century, and its circular church was built in the 16th century. As in all of the Ethiopian Christian churches that are constructed in this circular fashion, there is an outer ring of the church which is for anyone, then a second inner ring that is for "the holy" and then within that is a rectangular enclosure which houses the tabot (or replica of the Ark of the Covenant) and only the most holy may enter here...
...this church is renowned for its mural paintings...
....as we wandered around, this group of deacons took up some chanting...
...with their youngest member on the drum...
After our visit, we walked back down to our boat, passing numerous vendors, all of whom had set up shop along the pathway, so some shopping was in order. Then we headed back, passing more of these precarious looking papyrus boats...
In the afternoon, we headed out to go take in the Blue Nile Falls...and speaking of precarious boats :-).we motored over in this one...
...but the locals loaded into this single dugout canoe to go across!
...after a short walk we came to the falls.....actually in the dry season, there is usually not any falls, so we were glad to see at least some waterfall at this spot...
...in the rainy season, it is supposed to be something to behold...falling at a width of one half mile...
On our way back from the falls, we took in some of the local scenes...
...stopping to watch this man tanning some ox hides. Hides are the second largest export for Ethiopia, behind their most famous coffee (Ethiopia is known as the birthplace of coffee)...
...then we stopped to watch this woman make injera....this is the pancake like bread that I have mentioned earlier, which is a staple in Ethiopia, served with various things, such as lentils, cut up meats, etc. You tear a piece of the injera off and scoop up some food into it to eat (no forks, just your right hand). They use the grain, tef, to make the injera.....they mix it with water and let it sit for several days to ferment...
...then they pour it onto this ceramic baking plate over an open fire...
...they make enough so that they have it for dinner for their family for a week or more...
The next day, we were originally scheduled to fly to Addis Ababa in the morning, but we were now instead scheduled to head out in the afternoon. So we went to a school where they train the deacons to be cantors. We met the teacher....
....as well as some of the students...
...they have to learn the ancient language of Ge'ez in order to read and sing from this old manuscript...
....they sang some songs for us while the kids also watched...
Then they showed us the huts where they live, both outside.
...and inside, where four men share each little hut...two on the bed, and two on the floor...
Boys start becoming deacons at age 12. They train to be cantors generally between 14 and 19. After that they may proceed to become a priest. Before becoming a cantor, they are not supported by the church, and must go to the farmers to beg for food (much like you see the monks doing in Asia). Once they become a cantor, and also as a priest, they are supported by the church, and can also be married.
We returned to the Ghion Hotel by the lake to eat and relax....
....before leaving the tropical-like city of Bahir Dar for Addis Ababa.....
We arrived at the Intercontinental Hotel in Addis to learn that our rooms, though paid for in advance, had been confiscated by the government, for use by attendees at the African Union Summit which was taking place in Addis. The AU is composed of the 54 nations of Africa, and is an effort to promote trade and unity amongst its members. At this year's event, they dedicated a new building, which was a "gift" from China. China....that was a word we heard often here in Ethiopia. While there are many countries investing here, China is by far the most aggressive. They are building roads everywhere, and providing other things to the government, while taking the land provided to them and building industries. Ethiopia thinks they are easy to deal with, as all they want in return is "land," while other countries such as the US want them to show a commitment to democracy. This is all a bit scary, as it feels like China is attempting to takeover the African continent, and that the government is oblivious to their intentions. This year's summit had some interesting coverage as to some to the "missing" leaders of the past...one question being posed of "who's next."
Anyway, back to our hotel dilemma....luckily, there was a new hotel around the corner, the Raddisson Blue, which had just opened the prior week, and so was not booked. It was a much nicer hotel, but also more expensive, so we all had to double up for our one night in Addis. It was a nice respite before heading towards the southern part of the country.
That night, I was lucky enough to be able to hook up with friends of friends of mine, Lucy and Bernd. They had lived and worked in Namibia for 13 years, and now are working here in Addis. They were quite an inspiration!!
Tomorrow we are off to the south...
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Location:Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
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