This River is also called Abbay and it is a main tributary of the mighty River Nile that features as one of the world’s longest Rivers. It begins from Lake Tana in Ethiopia and merges with the tinnier tributary White Nile in Khartoum Sudan to make the Mighty River Nile.
The dramatic Nile was for long not famous till Bruce, Burton and Speke’s visit in Africa that exposed its existence to the world. The White Nile originates in Lake Victoria, East Africa and the Blue Nile empties its water to Lake Tana in Ethiopia. The Blue Nile flows entirely south from Lake Tana and to west past Ethiopia and northwestern side to Sudan. At about 30 kilometers of its source at Lake Tana, the River enters a canyon at a length of approximately 400 kilometers. And this gorge is features as an obstacle when it comes to interactions from the north half of Ethiopia to the southern half.
When it plunges for over 2000 meters, within its 800 kilometers course from Ethiopia to Sudanese plains, the Blue Nile features the dramatic history of the mighty River Nile. Its power can be embraced at Tis Isat waterfalls that stretch for about 45 meters high and situated over 40 kilometers downstream of Lake Tana. This is also famous as Tis Isat “the Smoke of Fire” the Blue Nile falls are the most mysterious and stunning around the mighty Nile system.
It width extends for about 400 meters once it floods and usually drops over a sheer chasm over 45 meters deep. This amazing natural wonder is just 5 minutes’ drive from Lakeside of Bahir Dar town past the Blue Nile Bridge. This remarkable river derived its name from the vast fertile soil that it erodes from the highlands of Ethiopia hence its grey bluish color. It is a shorter of the 2 branches with about 1450 kilometers long. Along its course that passes through Ethiopia, this splendid river makes a deep canyon which is the same as that of the Grand Canyon of River Colorado. All these have a depth of over 1500 meters due to erosion of bottom rocks that occurred for more than a million years’. The Blue Nile gorge is largely a main barrier to communication between the northern and southern parts of Ethiopia and the Grand Canyon isn’t. It also offers refuge to hippos and crocodiles which have hindered transportation among visitors especially using small boats, canoes, dhows and others.
The upper course on other hand which is known as the Abay River, most people have religious beliefs attached to it given its holy water. The locals believe that the Blue Nile is that same River that is talked in the bible especially in the book of Genesis. This River features among the 4 Rivers that flow out of the Garden of Eden and they meet at one point. As well, the lesser Abay is equally believed to be a holy stream. The gigantic power of the Blue Nile is always embraced during the wet season when it expands to about 50 times as compared to its usual size. After, it washes off the top soil thus leaving it bare and infertile. This river becomes less strong at its old stage.
