One does not visit the outlet of the Blue Nile to say hello to the river. One visits it to say goodbye to Lake Tana’s water and wish it well on its 5223 km journey to the Mediterranean (Along the way, it connects with the White Nile in Khartoum, Sudan).

And you may even see some hippos.

Entering the Blue Nile outlet from Lake Tana:

Locals crossing the outlet in a flimsy, yet unsinkable, tankwa canoe… Made from woven papyrus, they can take huge loads – even oxen. And they are exactly the same as the papyrus boats depicted on the walls of ancient temples in Egypt:

Where Lake Tana ends and the Blue Nile begins… It’s a long way to the Mediterranean: