Ranks as one of the most alluring and physical challenging natural attraction in Ethiopia. Ert-Ale rises from below sea level to an altitude of 613m located in the similarly named range in the hostile Danakil depression in northeast Ethiopia.
Lake Tana, the largest lake in Ethiopia, is the source and from where the famed Blue Nile starts its long journey to Khartoum, and on to the Mediterranean. The 37 islands that are scattered about the surface of the lake shelter fascinating churches and monasteries.
The Blue Nile (Amharic: ዓባይ?; transliterated: ʿAbbai, but pronounced Abbai; Arabic: النيلالأزرق; transliterated: an-Nīl al-Āzraq) is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. With the White Nile, the river is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile. The upper reaches of the river is called the Abbay in Ethiopia, where it is considered holy by many, and is believed to be the River Gihon mentioned as flowing out of the Garden of Eden in Genesis.
Sof Omar, a tiny Muslim village in Bale, is the site of an amazing complex of natural caves, cut by the Weyb River as it found its way into the nearby mountains. The settlement, which is a religious site, is named after a local Sheikh.