September 30-October 5 Blue Nile Source - Lake Tana 160km 

The team is now back in Bahir Dar after cycling over 160Km from the sacred source of the Blue Nile at Gishe Abay down to Lake Tana.  The water at the source begins as three sacred springs known biblically to the monks as the father, the son and the holy ghost and soon develops into a tiny stream that begins its rather circuitous journey down to the  lake.  Since the modest beginning of the mighty river is a mere trickle, it is too small to float rafts and therefore the team decided to use bicycles to travel from the headwaters of the river to the next logical put-in at the town of Wetet Abay.  

Above: Angry villagers surrounding the van on the way to the source. Right: Team sitting on the steps of one of the Monasteries at the sacred Source of the Blue Nile, Ethiopia. In order; Top left: Sarahlee Lawrence, Kelley Kelafatich, Les Jickling, Mark Tanner. Bottom left: Scott Armstrong, Rob Coffey, Ali Donald.

Plans changed however upon arriving in Dangila just before noon on the second day. The cyclists were confronted with the grim news that two team members, those that had stayed behind in Wetet Abay to make preparations for the put-in, had been up all night long with diarrhea, fever and vomiting and therefore would not be capable of putting on the river for the next few days.  As a result, the exhausted cyclists were faced with the daunting task of riding a further 82Km in order to reach the lake that afternoon.  This proved to be a grueling journey on what can only be described as nightmare bicycles. In addition to the mechanical problems, Mark was feeling extremely ill with dysentery.  Riding for two unbearable days, gaunt and pale, his health deteriorating rapidly, he only managed to finish the ride through tenacity and sheer determination. In the worst sections he had to stop nearly every hour to relieve his diarrhea. 

Although it may have been easier to just drive from the source, the ride was necessary to ensure continuity with the self-powered aspect of our journey from source to sea.  As a result of our self-imposed rules, the team had to endure 6 punctured inner tubes, 2 discarded tires, wild dogs, hail, thick fog and 2 incidents of locals hurling rocks and insults. These setbacks came on the heels of a precarious ride out to the source. A journey that in itself was riddled with mishap. Not long into the trip our hired driver hit and killed a dog and then later carelessly clipped a goat which tore its hind leg off and created a near riot with the local villagers. At one point the team was entirely surrounded by several hundred locals all screaming and shouting and displaying violent tempers. Things did not calm down until the police arrived a half an hour later and began violently thrashing the onlookers with a Eucalyptus switch - a measure needed to beat back the angry crowd. Despite the promising arrival of the authorities, the incident was not resolved until some time later when we drove to the police station and managed to settle things between the driver, the police, the owner of the goat and an old grizzled village elder.

The next day things hardly seemed to improve. Once the team started cycling, these incidents faded into unpleasant memories and were soon replaced with new problems.  Mark's illness proved to be the greatest obstacle. At one point he became absolutely demoralized after grinding up an endless hill only to have a tire loudly explode almost as though a punctuation at the crest of the hill.  As the team proceeded to attempt the repair a torrential downpour erupted, soaking everyone including Mark who was already quite ill and shivering. In uncharacteristic fashion he began muttering about walking his bicycle to the next town. Based on Les' past cycling experience with Mark he knew it must be very serious and therefore insisted on quickly attempting the repair, referring to much worse tires they had repaired in the past. After another ridiculous (African style) patch was placed on the tube - a move that revealed there was far more patch than actual tube, Mark, Kelley and Les managed to buy enough time to cycle the 3Km to the next town. Luckily this proved to be a place where it was possible to purchase another tube and tire. It was raining solidly now, Mark was feeling pretty cold and looked extremely ill so the team checked into a small hotel that had no running water in the rooms, sported walls smeared with blood (likely from killed bed bugs or mosquitoes) and had no had locks on the doors. A delirious Mark soon became embroiled in a debate over the availability of a hot shower or at least a dry towel. Finding neither, he borrowed some semi-dry clothes off of Les and Kelley and the trio went off in search of food. Finding nothing open that served anything that looked safe enough to actually eat, they purchased pasta and tomato sauce and returned to the hotel where the friendly staff prepared a delightful pasta dinner.    

That night Les covered his entire body with DEET to avoid being bitten and then put on a mosquito suit - a comical outfit that covered his entire head and cinched up over his hands and torso.  In the heat of the night he had a terrible scare as he woke up totally constricted by the straight jacket and realized his hands were trapped inside. A move that prevented him from easily tearing free. Eventually he calmed down, realized where he was and managed to much more calmly remove the suit.  Unfortunately this was sometime after completely terrifying Kelley who was sleeping in the room next door and overheard all kinds of muffled sounds and savage thrashing.  

The next morning the team took off under sunny skies thinking they had only 27Km left to cycle. Unfortunately when they met the others they were informed that two team members had been up all night vomiting, stricken with fever and diarrhea. As a result, there was nothing to do but keep riding. A day that was filled with incredible lush green scenery, a perfect climate for cycling and long rolling hills that seemed on balance to be more of a down hill gradient.

As the team passed through each town or village they experienced that town's reaction to ferengi or foreigners. The character of a village is very evident in the behaviour of its children.  Many towns were extremely friendly with the kids yelling, "Where you go?  Where you come?"  For the most part people were welcoming, however some kids barked "You, you, you...you give me money" and in the worst towns just bawled "Give me money" or resorted to throwing stones. It was the stone throwing that was really disconcerting. These were the unfortunate towns that gave the team some grief.

Les and Kelley were struck by rocks as they ran the gauntlet of kids that lined a particularly unfriendly town. Les chased down the kid and failing to catch him as he ran into a house and out the back door, turned to the kid's father and rather dramatically and intensely conveyed his anger. The resulting display was nothing short of interpretive dance that would have been quite evident in any language and looked sufficiently alarming. The father in response was so terrified that he shook all over and the vein in his neck throbbed visibly.  If this were not enough, moments later the police arrived and Les calmed down only long enough to explain everything to a very sympathetic policeman from Bahir Dar.  The policeman from the regional office said he would follow up with the local village policeman and if they caught the culprit they would bring him down to the hotel in the evening. The team never saw the kid, the policeman, or the kid's father ever again but Kelley and Les were left with large welts on their legs - indelible memories of how unfriendly some of the towns can be.

Mark and Les surrounded by locals in Wetet Abay during a brief rest stop.

After finally returning to Bahir Dar on bicycles, the team rested for a day before making preparations to get out on the river.  Barrels of food were packed and loaded, supplies purchased and dry bags sorted into piles for immediate needs and others for re-supply points along the river. Once the river requirements were ready the team took a day of leisure to visit the island monasteries. As recounted in the "Wonders" section of niletrip.com, the mysterious island monasteries hold all kinds of interesting historical artifacts.  Of particular note was the monastery of Dega Istefanos or Dek Island Monastery - home to the mummified remains of four former Ethiopian Emperors from the 14th to 17th century. The spooky remains are encased in glass in a cavernous cellar that is festooned with ornate crosses, antiquated books, ancient swords, priest's crowns and other Coptic icons. Unlike items found in western museums these relics, that in most cases date back several centuries, can be observed first hand, touched, handled and tried on.  After handling some of the swords and gowns at Dega Istefanos, the team loaded into the boat for the three and a half hour journey back to Bahir Dar; stopping at Beta Mariam and Beta Giorgis monasteries and the lake outlet along the way.

That evening the team had a farewell dinner at the hotel and got to bed early for an early rise and the exciting first leg of river running from Lake Tana down to the Blue Nile Falls. Before departing, a heartfelt thank-you was extended to everyone at the hotel. The staff at the Dib Anbessa Hotel have been exemplary in their efforts to accommodate the team and a special thank you goes out to everyone that has helped us in some small way or another.

October 6-9 Lake Tana - Blue Nile Falls 194km   >>

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© Mark Tanner and Les Jickling 2004