Dek Island

Dek Island (about 16 square kilometers in area) is the largest island on Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It is administratively part of the Mirab Gojjam Zone's Bahir Dar Zuria woreda. Daga Island is a much smaller island to the southeast of Dek. It is home to a number of monasteries, the most well-known of which being Narga Selassie. The ferry that sails from Bahir Dar to Gorgora stops in Dek. Hormuzd Rassam recounts visiting the island in February 1866, stating that there were four communities on the island at the time, each with a church. Rassam also recounts how Dejazmach Kassa (later Emperor Tewodros II) took Dek in a single attack, as reported to him.

The island's foundation is scoriaceous lava in cubes, known as vesicular olivine basalt, that is exposed all along the shore and washed away by the waves. A small layer of red dirt, formed from the breakdown of the basalts, sits on top. Birds and butterflies, which can fly the 5 miles, make up the fauna. Animals are few, as one might imagine, though I did catch two species of rat; huge pythons abound in the reed beds and have been known to land on tankwas as uninvited passengers. Mosquitoes were a major issue on the islands.

Location: Lake Tana, Ethiopia

Area: 16 km2