January: Ethiopia, Tissisat Falls

The Blue Nile flows south from Lake Tana and then west across Ethiopia and northwest into Sudan. Within 30 km of its source at Lake Tana the river enters a canyon, which it does not leave for 400 km. The power of the Blue Nile may best be appreciated at Tissisat Falls, which are 45 m high, located about 40 km from Lake Tana. The flow of the Blue Nile reaches maximum volume in the rainy season (from June to September), when it supplies about two thirds of the water of the Nile proper. The Blue Nile, along with that of the Atbara to the north, which also flows out of the Ethiopian highlands, were responsible the annual Nile floods that contributed to the fertility of the Nile Valley and the consequent rise of ancient Egyptian civilization and Egyptian Mythology. With the completion in 1970 of the Aswan High Dam in Egypt, the Nile floods ended.

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