Summer 2014 Ethiopian Adventure: Gondar to Bahir Dar…by Bill Zuber

Day 5: Post by Dr. Bill Zuber (photos by sj)

After breakfast at the Taye Hotel we hopped into our bus and land cruiser for our 180 km drive from Gondar to Bahir Dar. The countryside was a contrast to the landscape in the north at Lalibela. In the north the land was dry and harsh. Today we drove through a land green and lush. It is the beginning of the rainy season in Ethiopia - the time for planting. We saw farmers tilling the soil behind oxen - the freshly turned soil dark and rich. The surrounding hills were covered in green grass and trees. Pastoral beauty for our entire three hour drive!

Mama and baby.

Dark rich soil.

Tough labor for this farmer and his oxen.

Lush and green, with this fingerlike rock hurting forth from the ground.

We arrived in Bahar Dar, which is on Lake Tana, the largest lake in Ethiopia. We checked into our hotel, the Tana Hotel (pretty sure you can guess where they got the name) and had lunch with a panoramic view of the lake.

After lunch came the highlight of the day. We got into a boat on Lake Tana and took a one hour ride to one of the islands on the lake. Our excellent tour guide, Abebe, gave us the interesting history of the area. The lake has seven islands. Spread over these islands are 37 monasteries. The monasteries are run by monks of the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian faith and have been in these islands since the 13th century. The legend has it that when the northern part of the country was invaded by Muslims, the Ark of the Covenant was moved for a time from Axum to one of these monasteries.

The boat ride was very pleasant. The children had a blast, playing and running around the deck As we neared the island, a light rain began. This got Dr Randy and Isabella thinking that perhaps, with the rain, slippery decks and active children, life jackets would not be such a bad idea. When they enquired, they were told not to be concerned, the life jackets were safely locked in the bottom of the boat. It was gently suggested that the life jackets might be more practical if they were actually in use, the captain agreed to make them available on the return trip.

Kids loved it!

On the island we took a short hike to the monastery through a lush green forest. The monastery is circular in structure and dates back to the 16^th – 17^th century. The layout consists of three concentric circles. The outer circle is for the congregants to worship. The middle circle is for the priests and monks, and the inner circle is the “Holy of Holies” which contains a replica of the Ark of the Covenant – something found in almost every Ethiopian Orthodox Christian church. The walls of the church are covered by paintings in the Ethiopian style, telling stories from scripture and Ethiopian history.