The Water Tower of Africa

IarriveatGibeIIIfromKoyshaafteraneight-hourjourneymostlytravellingalongdirttracks.Iswallowed dust and listened to music on the airwaves of Radio Mama Afrika the whole time. The great works of excavation and carryover for the new roads (all controlled by Chinese companies), forced us to unexpected detours that lanked remnants of rainforests or impervious mountain regions. At times the baboons would cross the road. Flocks of goats or herds of zebu would force us to take long breaks. Even in the most far-lung places, always, we would meet some indefatigable Ethiopian walker with his stick. The water basin of the dam appears all of a sudden, like a lacustrine mirage. Besides having increased the national electricity output by over 80%, the great lake has oˆered adaptive opportunities to numerous animal species: aquatic birds, resident and migratory and ish: mormyrids, tilapias, perch. Gibe III