Topic summary
Abay River
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Blue Nile.
In Ethiopia
The Blue Nile originates at Gish Abay at Sekela in Ethiopia (where it is called the Abay River). The river flows generally south before entering a canyon about 400 km (250 mi) long, about 30 km (19 mi) from Lake Tana, which is a tremendous obstacle for travel and communication between north and south Ethiopia. The canyon was first referred to as the "Grand Canyon" in 1968 by a British team that accomplished the first descent of the river from Lake Tana to the end of the canyon; subsequent river rafting parties called it the "Grand Canyon of the Nile". The Blue Nile Falls (Amharic: Tis Abay, literally "great smoke"), one of Ethiopia's biggest tourist attractions, is located at the start of the canyon.