Known locally as Tis- Isat Falls – ‘Smoke of Fire’ – the Blue Nile Falls is the most dramatic spectacle on either the White or the Blue Nile rivers. 400 meters (1,312 feet) wide when in flood, and dropping over a sheer chasm more than 45 meters (150 feet) deep, the falls throw up a continuous spray of water, which drenches on lookers up to a kilometer away. This misty deluge produces rainbows, shimmering across the gorge, and a small perennial rainforest of lush green vegetation, to the delight of the many monkeys and multicolored birds that inhabit the area.
To reach the falls, which is about 35 kilometers (22 miles) away from Bahir Dar, drive south from Bahir Dar for about half an hour, and stop at Tis-Isat village. Here travelers will quickly find themselves surrounded by a retinue of sometimes overzealous youthful guides who, for a small fee, will show the way and point out several places of historic interest in route.
After leaving the village the footpath meanders first beside open and fertile fields, then drops into a deep rift that is spanned by an ancient, fortified bridge built in the seventeenth century by Portuguese adventurers and still in use. After a thirty-minute walk, a stiff climb up a grassy hillside is rewarded magnificent view of the falls, breaking the smooth edge of the rolling thundering cataract of foaming water.
A rewarding but longer trek is to walk along the east bank all the way to the back of the falls; crossing the river by tankwa. The site overlooking the waterfall has had many notable visitors including Queen Elizabeth II of Britiain.
