Day 63 & 64 – 7/8th December 2009 (Aswan, Egypt – Wadi Halfa, Sudan)
Finally, ferry day to Sudan has arrived! Having had our last fight with an Egyptian over the price of the taxi to the port (he even tried to pen us in with his horse and carriage so we couldn’t leave in his friend’s, significantly cheaper, car) we reported to the port at 11am as instructed, got through the exit formalities and onto the boat in about an hour … which then didn’t leave until 10pm. This happens most weeks apparently – but the team spent the next 18 hours on Lake Nasser in the relative luxury of our 1st class cabin … probably one step up from how I’d imagine a Bali prison cell to be. Still – can’t complain too much, the alternative was to spend a sleepless night on deck with about 100 other people. At about 3pm Sudan time, we arrived safely in Wadi Halfa and more importantly, we were welcomed by William still in one piece on the barge, Yay! Unfortunately, it then took about 2 hours to fight our way through Sudanese immigration and get William off the barge, by which time the Sudanese car customs had long since gone home. However, we managed to convince them to let us camp on the beach in the port – a significant improvement on Wadi Halfa by all accounts!
Miles travelled: 0 miles in William (quite a few on a 50 year
old ferry)! Highlight of the day: Arriving in Sudan and watching Life of Brian on
the beach projected onto the side of William courtesy of the Dutchies’ (aka
Emeil & Saskia) “beemer”
Comment of the day: Sudanese customs guy “yes, you can camp on the beach but please stay in your vehicles because
there are many scorpions…” (needless to say, we didn’t see one in the whole
screening of Life of Brian) Tune of the day: Always look on the bright side of life by … errr,
Brian
Day 65 – 9th December 2009 (Wadi Halfa – bush somewhere nr Wawa, Sudan)
After a rather tedious 4 hours getting William through Sudanese customs and the team properly registered, we checked out the delights of Wadi Halfa … and then left pretty quickly.
We decided to stay with the other overlanders that William had shared
the barge with (Lutz, Emeil & Saskia (the Dutchies) and Felix & Nicki
from Germany) and convoy it for the first night. Expecting a rough track along
the Nile, we were surprised to find a pristine tarmac road across the desert … and despite significant efforts on our
part to find the elusive picturesque track along the Nile, every track brought
us back to the pristine tarmac road. It seems, despite its on/off civil war in
the South and the difficulties in Darfur, Sudan has been investing in its
infrastructure therefore making all our combined GPS and sophisticated mapping
systems completely obsolete!
Miles travelled: 45 miles (total 8,470 miles) Highlight of the day: bush camping huddled around a fire under the
moonless Sudanese stars
Comment of the day: Sudanese customs captain to James “you could have combed your hair”
Day 66 – 10th December 2009 (a bush nr Wawa – a bush nr Delgo, Sudan)
A day for waking up the local villages – not content with the pristine tarmac road, our little convoy decided to visit a couple of the little villages along the Nile – causing quite a stir as the whole village would come out to watch us. Have you ever tried to eat lunch with a small village just watching you - it is a little bit disconcerting! Having said that, no-one is asking for money which is a refreshing change from Egypt and, with another night bush camping in a lovely spot next to the Nile, Sudan is turning out to be a very cheap country!
Miles travelled: 166 miles (total 8,636 miles) Highlight of the day: Lunch and dinner on the banks of the Nile Comment of the day: From the politics of Iran and press censorship
during breakfast to Princess Diana conspiracy theories around the evening camp
fire, it was a whole spectrum of debates with the convoy crew members
Day 67 – 11th December 2009 (a bush nr Delgo – a palm grove nr Kerima)
We decided to break out on our own again today to try and get to Khartoum for Ness’ birthday (in the (probably futile) hope that we may be able to get a black market beer there). We said goodbye to our Dutch and German friends and headed for Dongola, only to bump into the English boys again (brothers Matt, Tom and Ben and, their adopted brother that they picked up in Tunisia, Ollie). Stefan, a German fireman who is doing the same trip on a motorbike, has also joined them. The boys took pity on us (as our earlier mission to find cooking gas had failed miserably and we have nothing to cook with) and kindly invited us to join them. A brief visit to the Kerima pyramida (yes, Sudan has pyramids too – although not on the scale of Egypt but gloriously quiet and no touts selling tat, or not many anyway) and then off to find the desert track to Meroe… which proved elusive! A few u-turns later and a wrong turn into an army base, we found a nice camp spot behind a palm grove – although we did have to stay up pretty late as the landowner insisted on bringing more and more wood for our camp fire!
Miles travelled: 233 miles (total 8,869 miles) Highlight of the day: Tom & Matt’s vegetable curry! Tune of the day: Good riddance (I hope you’ve had the time of
your life) by Green Day
Day 68 – 12th December 2009 (a palm grove nr Kerima – Meroe pyramids)
The desert track stayed elusive so it was tarmac all the way across the Bayunda Desert to Atbara – a pretty dull drive. The monotony only broken by a spot of lunch in the desert, some car catch with custard cream biscuits and some impressive action photography skills from Ben (as the photographer out the back of Ollie’s Toyota Surf) with Ollie driving on the wrong side of the road.
Miles travelled: 255 miles (total 9,124 miles) Lowlight of the day: Ness’ cooking skills with tomato paste, tinned mushrooms
and a 5kg bag of Egyptian pasta … it didn’t turn out well Tune of the day: The World in Union (with the Team singing
along at full pelt)
Day 69 – 13th December 2009 (Meroe pyramids - Khartoum)
Not long after waking up in our impromptu campsite behind the Meroe pyramids we were surrounded by a small market of tat sellers offering us camel rides – despite an impressive sword collection, they soon realised we were not playing and left us to explore the pyramids in peace. After addressing the oft’ asked question – yes, a land rover is faster than a Sudanese pyramid ticket officer on a camel on hard/medium compacted sand – we were full throttle to Sudan’s capital city, Khartoum, and the famous Blue Nile Sailing Club … both of which turned out to be dusty sh**holes!
And (despite desperately asking everyone we came across) Sudan really is
a dry country … good job we smuggled 4 small beers across the border then!
Miles travelled: 135 miles (total 9,259 miles) Highlight of the day: After 6 days, a shower for the team (even
though it must be up there as one of the worst showers of the trip – cold, little
more than a slow trickle and smelled of wee)
Day 70 – 14th December 2009 (Khartoum, Sudan)
Yay! Birthday day for Ness … and the best husband in the world managed to find the only 5* hotel in Sudan (the Burj Al Fatah – a building which looks like a cross between a sail and an onion). A huge room overlooking the confluence of the Blue and White Niles with a big bath (and our very own western toilet!), massages, pool, jacuzzi, hamman, a club sandwich and two small cans of illegally imported Egytian beer each … birthday bliss. Only marred by the masseuse sticking his fingers in James’ ears in what we can only assume was an attempt to massage his ear drum … so very wrong!
Miles travelled: 0 miles Highlight of the day: 5* luxury for the team Comment of the day: “Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you
…” Tune of the day: Happy Birthday baby by Toni Christie
Days 71 & 72 – 15/16th
December 2009 (Khartoum, Sudan) Reluctantly leaving the 5* luxury behind (only after James had got a
free massage and reflexology session to correct yesterday’s ear poking
incident), it was back to the lows of the Blue Nile Sailing Club for the team –
the unfriendly manager was even less friendly than before (difficult but he
managed it) which we later discovered was because he thought we’d done a runner
the day before without paying! He obviously didn’t realise he was dealing with
two upstanding members of the Supreme Court … We spent most of the next two days in the Land Rover garage with William
checking out his leaks – 2 new universal joints later and a couple of other
tweaks, amazingly we were only US$80 down. Meanwhile, Team Smith ‘n’ Oli had
escaped Khartoum and were happily heading for the border and the promise of
beer when the head gasket blew on their Land Rover … morale in their camp was clearly
low as they limped back into the Blue Nile Sailing Club later that night – we
did our best at cheering them up with 5* stolen condiments and a bottle of Thai
Sweet Chilli Sauce. Miles travelled: 63 miles (total 9,322 miles) Highlight of the days: hmmm…difficult one, Khartoum is just rather
dull and dusty! Comment of the days: Ben to waiter in random restaurant “what is in Finger Ship?”, waiter to Ben “we only have Lamb Ship tonight” … African
wooden prize to anyone who can shed some light on the ingredients Tune of the day: Khartoum Khartoum by So Dull Day 73 – 17th December
2009 (Khartoum – bush nr Gallabat, Sudan) Yay! We escaped Khartoum today and headed straight for the border (via
Gloria’s Coffee House with its free wifi and awesome Café Latte … bliss). As we
got closer to the Ethiopian border, the terrain changed - it was clear we were
leaving the desert behind as the landscape slowly became more savannah like and
the corrugated roofed brick buildings were replaced with villages made up of
mud clad rondavels with thatched roofs, the temperature seemed to soar too as
we got further south … Africa, here we come! Miles travelled: 313 miles (total 9,635 miles) Highlight of the day: Eating the last of our smuggled pork products
in the last Muslim country of our trip, in a very dark but distinctly bush-like
bush camp Tune of the day: Good riddance (I hope you’ve had the time of
your life) by Green Day* *OK, I know we had this a few days ago but it seems particularly apt for
the last day in Sudan! ** Sudan – Top Tips** 1. There is absolutely no alcohol in Sudan, anywhere. Full stop. 2. The famous Blue Nile campsite is a bit of a hole and the staff
unfriendly. Unfortunately, it is the only camping option in the city but if you
don’t mind not being in the heart of Khartoum, suggest you try the other one
10km south of the city. 3. All the main roads in the north (Wadi Halfa – Dongola – Karima –
Meroe – Khartoum) are all fully sealed and in amazing condition. Generally,
there are no crap roads in the usual route through the country – we even tried
to find a crap one and failed. 4. Fairly good Land Rover garage (Awab Motors) in Khartoum and an even
better dedicated Land Rover parts shop in the same ‘hood. The garage know this
and will even drive you to the parts shop. This will literally halve your bill.
5. Don’t believe all the hype you read about Sudan being the highlight
of your trip. The locals out of town are friendly bordering on indifferent and the
people in Khartoum won’t give you a second glance (unless you want to change
money with them). Steer clear of the Police/Army as they are not helpful or
particularly friendly. It is a safe place though if you stick to the main route
from Wadi Halfa to Khartoum and exit through Gallabat. All in all, a nice place,
bit dull but a welcome change from Egypt. 6. Do not buy the Bradt Guidebook on Sudan – it’s useless - we doubt the
authors have actually stepped foot in Sudan in the last decade 7. There’s no beer …