"Many of us have never heard of the Blue Nile or as it is called in Arabic the Al Bahr al-Azraq."

Many of us have never heard of the Blue Nile or as it is called in Arabic the Al Bahr al-Azraq. It is one of the two main tributaries of the Nile, the other being the White Nile that meets up with the Blue Nile in Khartoum, Sudan. The course of the Blue Nile accounts for more than 60% of the total Nile flow, and it mainly receives its volume from Lake T'ana located in the Ethiopian highlands, where it is known as the Abaai.

This mysterious and sacred river is also filled with East African Crocodiles that apparently can grow to the size of small dinosaurs and have the same temperament. Surrounding the river along its shores and up into the mountain peaks shifta (bandits) roam, who are not averse to putting a bullet in your head with no questions asked! Why would anyone in his or her right mind want to voyage down this river? Acclaimed travel writer, Virginia Morell, deals with all of above and more in a book entitled Blue Nile.

The book recounts how in 1999 Morell, with a team of adventurers on assignment from the National Geographic embarked on a venture that in one word can be described as breathtaking. Included on the team was also world renown known photographer Nevada Wier whose photographs of the voyage are spectacular.

The author's simple and conversational style of writing is very seductive. You feel as if you are sitting across from her at a table drinking tea, or perhaps something stronger, and listening to the fascinating details pertaining to the logistical organization of the trip as well as the history, politics, mores and social structure of the Ethiopians. We also are privy to some of the author's personal perceptions pertaining to various members of the team and their rapport to one another.

The objective of the voyage was to travel about 470 miles on the Blue Nile, plus a 40-to-50 mile trek on the upper section that was too dangerous to raft at the time of the year the trip was to take place. Morell is not just a traveller passing though a particular geographical location of the world. Her poignant descriptions of the various inhabitants of Ethiopia, their environment, and her rudimentary knowledge of their language, Amharic, all lend support that the author has done extensive and serious research. The author also shows how she is able to connect to people personally as well as to their environment. This is warmly illustrated in her recounting of the little orphan boy who follows the team in order to have some food to eat. It is also depicted in the understanding of the mores and customs of the Ethiopians: their superstitions and their reactions to the ferenjooch or white man, which is at times astounding. She does not have to rely on sensationalism to interest her readership; her accumulated knowledge that is conveyed to us in a succinct and interesting manner is sufficient.

We are also treated to the author's vivid descriptions of white river rafting with all of its exhilaration and excitement. In fact, certain scenes actually make you feel that you are riding in the rubber rafts, and as described by the author, "plunging up and over a series of high, peaked waves that dropped into deep troughs, where there was nothing to see but red-brown, angry water."

What was amusing, however, was to read about the author's cellular phone call to her husband back in the USA as she was white river rafting thousands of miles away in crocodile infested waters. From the sublime to the ridiculous!

Morrell has succeeded in striking a balance between telling the reader too much and too little Her research and background information are just enough to pique our curiosity and provoke us to do more research on our own. This is in essence what makes Blue Nile a joy to read.

This review was first published at: www.triplit.com

Reviewed by Norman Goldman
Courtesy Triplit
Posted June 6, 2002