Coffee, Hippos and Monastries

9th Feb

Bahir Dar feels like a bigger and more commercial city compared to Gondar. The hotel that the tour stayed in (Bib Ambessa) was pretty cheap, it had a nice bar and fi criminal wifi. Next door, Summertime hotel, was really pleasant- a bit more pricey (675birr instead of 400birr a night - 100birr is about $3USD) but I could get a room immediately, and didnt have the same irrational concern that I would catch something by using the bathroom. (It wasn't that bad, it just wasn't as pleasant to be on as the one next door.) The town is known for the various Monastries situated on little islands and peninsula around Lake Tana.

They were built by some loosely associated monks in the 14th Century. Ethiopia, unlike Sudan and Egypt, is a predominantly Christian Orthodox country. Ryan and I took a walk to the lake front and managed to pick up a boat to take us to a few of the monastries. There were two price options depending on the horse power of the boat chartered, we took the more expensive one (40horsepower) as apparently it shorted the journey by an hour and a half! The boat was big, enough for twenty people, and we had it for just two. The lake is huge too, it feels like a sea- you can't see the shore on the other side. 

The first island we went to was called Entos. This was my favourite one. It was small (you could walk round in less than 5 minutes), and felt like a nature reserve. The boat driver pulled he boat into the dry stone jetty and we hopped out. Entry to the monastry was 100birr each, which we paid to the lady in the corrugated shelter before advancing up the steps through the forest. It was really nice to hear the birds- the pigeon coos remind me of childhood. Ryan pointed out two trees - a dark brown very old tree which has a lighter younger 'strangling fig' tree which grows up and around it. Apparently the fog tree eventually kills the tree which it is smothering. While admonishing the nature, a short man dressed in yellow robes appeared from a small hut. Turns out there was a one room museum halfway up the hill. There was a snakeskin on the wall, an old book allegedly over 700 years old (which I assume was a bible) thw writing was on charcoal, some monk clothing mademof goat skin, bed posts and wall paintings. 

The monk spoke little English but was so earnest in trying to explain it all. He lived on the island- a very peaceful but insular existence! At the top of the hill was the monastry. A round hut with a tin roof. We went in through our separate male and female entrances. The same man tried his hardest to explain the various coloured motifs around the walls. 

I was impressed by how much of the Old Testament biblical references I could identify. The colours were vibrant, and it was interesting to see some of the characters portray in majestic robes. I have now been inspired to read the bible- and have downloaded it for the Kindle. Religion is an incredible influence throughout the world. Even those who are not religious are potentially influenced by the over-riding religion of the country, just in terms f culture and social values. I wonder how much of the difference we see as we cross each border is due to religion, and how much is due to governing bodies and agricultural capacity.

There were a couple of houses on the island. It was well structured, the house had a washing area by the lake and a washing line beside it, a little path leading to the wooden stick house with the corrugated roof, a wood shed. There was a lady with a tarpaulin filled with some harvested grain which was drying in the sun, while she was weaving. The boat took us to two other monastries, similar design but less quaint and peaceful. One of them the locals didn't speak English- they handed us a piece of paper: 'Church is closed. Museum open - 100birr for men. 50 birr for women.' They had a separate museum for men and women. We gave that a miss and headed on. The last place we visited was the outlet of the Blue Nile from Lake Tana. There were four hippos lounging in the water. 

Hippos are pseudoruminants (like camels) and have three chambers to their digestive system (ruminants have four). They generally eat at night, leaving the water and travelling up to 10km for grazing. They can eat upto 68kg of grass overnight. That evening David and I were headed out for an Ethiopian Juice. These are great. Essentially puréed fruit with small amount of water to get a thick shake capacity +/- sugar. They have papaya, mango, Avo, pineapple and guava. We got intercepted by Steph... Steph had befriended a local. Again. She had been invited by a local university history teacher/personal trainer to come for a coffee ceremony and dinner. Jenna, David and I tagged along. We met him at the juice bar- very awkward initially! He was a man a few words, answering questions but no more. I wondered if he was expecting just Steph! After our juice he led us through the streets for about 15mins. Very little communication, he was about 20m ahead of us. Then he stopped, we crossed a small wooden platform over a ditch and went through a gate. His home. A big property. We crossed his garden, there were empty water bottles threaded on a rope at hip height along the path. Up a step and into the living room. The floor was tiled but there was a carpet of papyrus needles covering an area of about 1.5m2 around the door. A coffee table and theee piece suite with a Tv in the corner. Behind the door was an old lady who looked like she was asleep. He said she wasn't asleep- it was his 97year old grandmother! They must store her behind the door. She didn't rouse when we entered. The contrast on the Tv wasn't quite right, very red and orange. He did have sky Tv though. Congratulations misspelt and printed on A4 paper along the top of the wall- left over from when he finished his pHd. There were about 4 girls aged between 7 and 13 around - on his adopted daughter and the others neighboured kids. They were assigned the duty of preparing the coffee. A small frying pan over a small charcoal burner roasted the beans, then they were taken outside and ground with a pestle and mortar, then boiled, and served in little tea cups- black with sugar. Over an hour of preparation for a 5minute caffeine hit. Yes it was good, but thank god for kettles and instant Moccona! I don't thi k work would be too happy if my smoko break was over an hour due to coffee prep time! All the while the woman were preparing the coffee there was stunted conversation with our host. The girls served us roast chick peas, along with a maize liqueur. The former was nice, the latter very warming and likely to cure anything you've got!! As soon as the coffee was consumed Daniel, put Ethiopian host, kicked into animation. Starting with 'What do you think about Brexit?!'. Suddenly there was some life and interest, previously he had seemed so nonchalant and almost stoned! It was a bit difficult to discuss Brexit in depth across the langauge barrier. Interestingly he said the biggest foreign investors in Ethiopia were those without much money- like Turkey. I had thought it was China. Then investment is on a long term timeshare basis e.g50 years, and whatever is produced is exported. The export is meant to be capped at say 60%, so as Ethiopia retains some produce in return for the production . This system is open to corruption, and the government often allow these investors to expect more their limit. David and I took our leave while Steph and Jenna continued on to a restaurant for injera and shuro. Apparently Daniel continued his animated conversation for the rest of the evening- should just have fed him caffeine and alcohol earlier!