Substance Abuse at the Blue Nile Falls

Arriving in Gondar was like arriving at an oasis in the desert. Sudan was great, but it had a been a somewhat desperate existence: snatching a quick and secret drink or bite to eat out of sight of other people so as not to offend anyone during Ramadan, and no chance to party or to drink a beer. Ethiopia is completely different. Beer is cheap and good, there are cafes everywhere where you can find some cake and coffee or fresh juice, and the people love their music. Reggae, specifically Bob Marley and Lucky Dube, are favourites on the stereo.

After a couple of days of rediscovering some of the little pleasures of western culture, I made my way south to the town of Bahir Dar on Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile. It's a beautiful lake, with a few islands and lots of Christian monasteries to be explored. Not far away are the Blue Nile Falls. These were once one of the most famous sights in all Africa, but the diversion of a lot of water to a nearby hydroelectric powerplant has significantly reduced their impact. Nevertheless, I was pretty impressed.



I ended up staying the night in Tis Abay, a nearby village. I got a lot of hassle from the touts but two boys were particularly friendly and they ended up being my hosts for the evening. We bought some qat, a bitter-tasting leaf which you chew and keep in your cheek. It is popular throughout the region, and as far away as Kenya and Somalia. It is supposed to give you a mild buzz, but I guess I was not doing something right as I ended up bits of leaf all through my mouth and no noticeable buzz. Hmmm. At the same I took a few shots of the local brew and also 3 cups of Ethiopian coffee. As you can imagine I was pretty wired after that and had some trouble getting to sleep!

Sometime during my evening of mild substance abuse, I mentioned I was an electronics engineer. That triggered several guys to rush off and fetch their electronic appliances that weren't working, and suddenly I had a lot of work to do. I called for a multimeter, thinking that would put an end to things but it didn't: someone conjured up a multimeter and in virtual darkness before a group of about 10 men, I was expected to fix two VCD players and a TV. Under quite a bit of pressure and with a not-so-clear head, I found the problem with the first VCD player in a matter of minutes. The static suddenly changed to pictures and music everyone broke out singing and dancing. It was a great moment. Unfortunately, the other two devices had much more serious problems and with such simple tools I couldn't do much. I felt my star fading a little, but it was still a nice feeling to have been helpful.