BAHAR DAR x xxxArrangements had been made in advance and I was greeted at the airport at destination number one in the north. Since I hadn't personally made the plans, I wasn't sure where I was or what I was going to see there. Well, I ended up in Bahir Dar, meaning "by the shore". The town was located along the side of Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile River. (And, I learned a little bit of Nile trivia . . . The White Nile River begins in Lake Victoria. The two rivers merge in Khartoum, Sudan, to form the Nile River.)

I wasn't even allowed to see my hotel room upon arrival. I was directly ushered to a boat trip across Lake Tana. What was my destination? Some monasteries built in stages over the 13th to 18th centuries. They were famous for the paintings on the walls depicting all kinds of events in (and not in) the Bible. I didn't really care for the artistic style, but it was still a nice trip. The first monastery was located on the opposite side of the lake on the Zege peninsula. It was round and had paintings on both the inside and outside walls. A second monastery, Kebran Gabriel, located on an island didn't allow women to visit. Fortunately, for the women, there wasn't much to see at that monastery. Most of the art had been water damaged. Could that have possibly been the wrath of Mary? or angry feminists?

The afternoon had another trip to see some waterfalls at the source of the Blue Nile River in Tis Esat. The drive was as beautiful as the destination. The Ethiopian people were so lovely. I wanted portraits of about every other one I saw.