The Blue Nile Falls & Public Transit

So the next day me and Nileka (one of the Dutch volunteers) wanted to go see the Falls as they are supposed to be fairly impressive. To get there we took public transit, which was an adventure unto itself. On the way there we got on in the back of and proceeded to wait for it to leave. When we thought the bus was full because all the seats were taken we expected the bus to leave. We were definitely wrong after all the seats were full more people were crammed into seats we thought were full and then the aisle got filled up with people willing to stand during the trip.

So the bus was about as full as it could possibly be and we went on our way. The Blue Nile Falls (or Adis Abai sp?) are located 30 clicks out of Bahir Dar down a dirt road. Which you would think would be a short trip, but it's an hour and a half on an incredibly bumpy road with a bus incapable of going faster than about 20km/hr. On the way you could see rural Ethiopia, and it's Rural with a capital R. Huts made from sticks and thatch, and acres of farmland and small herds of goats, cows and sheep on the side of the road, donkeys carrying people's goods to market. We were sort of fascinated by this whole countryside, but the only thing that excited the other bus riders were us foreigners and when we saw a couple dogs killing a goat at the side of the road, which was admittedly startling.

When we got to the falls we encountered a rather helpful guy who seemed to have a part-time job saving seats for ferenji's so they were guaranteed a good seat on the way back (we took him up on his offer after that ride stuck in the back as it was fairly cheap). Then we were hassled by a lot of guides who I've decided are essentially annoying and mostly useless. It's quite easy to find your way to the falls as it's the only way people are walking. You can also tell how close you are to the falls because the guides offer you their services for less money the closer you get. It's like playing a game of hot and cold that starts around 70 birr and ends desperately when someone offers you 20 birr to show you where the final bridge is. (It was around the next corner). I guess it's a way of generating income from tourism but it tends to be people who are well off (as they could afford to go to school long enough to speak fluent English) who are making the money.

The falls themselves were amazing although not as big as they apparently used to be. Giant waterfalls 50m high spanning huge cliffs and generating a thick mist at their base. Very impressive although reportedly they were bigger before they were harnessed for electricity and apparently they'll be smaller still in a decade or so as an expansion on the hydroelectric dam will cut them even smaller.

The trip back was comparably quite pleasant on the front of the bus. The driver bought us banana's because... well I guess he was just a nice guy, and a child practiced his English with his Mom's help.