Sudan - The desert

Saturday, 7^th October

We drove into Sudan a couple of days ago and were immediately struck by the difference in landscape and temperature compared to Ethiopia. Sudan is the largest of the countries on our itinerary and is mostly desert. Daytime temperatures have been hitting 45 degrees at midday and there is little cooling off at night. That, combined with the fact that we have had to leave all our alcohol behind (illegal in Sudan and punishable with 40 lashes if found in possession of) makes conditions let’s just say a tat more challenging.

The landscape is beautiful in a sparse desert sort of way and of course the boys love driving through the desert. Heather and I want to get the desert part out of the way and look forward to getting to the Red Sea which hopefully should be by the middle of next week.

We spent the first couple of days and nights in Khartoum, which at first sight is like any other African capital city we have been too. What is different is that there appear to be no other tourists here and the Sudanese treated us with a mixture of curiosity and hospitality; complete strangers come up to you in the street and want to shake your hand and want to have their pictures taken. We were in a park overlooking the confluence of the Nile (where the white and the blue Nile meet) when an elderly man came up to us and not only bought us all an ice cream (saying ‘that’s we do here’) but also invited us to go on a boat trip with him and his family. 

We left Khartoum yesterday and are now on a ‘loop’ on the north western part of Sudan following the course of the Nile where there are several historically important ancient sites. Yesterday we visited Sudan’s oldest pyramids and temples and although they are not as old and impressive as the Egyptian ones, what is amazing here is that there are virtually no other tourists. Sadly, an Italian treasure hunter arrived here over nearly 200 years ago and chopped the tops of each pyramid to look for treasurers. The treasurers he found are now kept in in a museum in Germany and the Sudanese are left with decapitated pyramids.

Sudan has no camping as such but you are pretty much allowed to camp anywhere is the desert. That we did last night and I have to say it was pretty special. The night sky is incredibly clear and it is almost eerily quiet.  We camped in the vicinity of the pyramids and again this felt slightly unreal, imagining an ancient civilisation of 20,000 living here over 2000 years ago. Nowdays, the area around them is totally deserted. 

Monday, 8^th October

Yesterday we continued our quest to visit more ancient sites along the west bank of the Nile river. Again, we drove through mostly desert with the odd settlement of the ancient Nubian tribe here and there.  Due to the heat you don’t see many people outside but there is a touching tradition here of leaving water in each village for wary travellers.

On the outskirts of each village is a graveyard which is little more than a pile of rocks marked with a small metal plaque.  What a desolate sight!

This side of the river has virtually no road in places and it made our trek out of Kenya on the Marsabit road feel like a walk in the park. We drove 10 hours averaging 20 km per hour. The countryside changed from flat desert to what looked like giant rock forests. Don and Ian loved the driving and there was a distinct feel of ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ in the air. I finally understood why ‘men come from Mars…’

the 'road' through rock forest

What is incredible is that this is one of the largest rivers in the world and yet along it’s west bank in this part of Sudan we encountered some of the most remote areas so far.  I think very few tourists ever venture here.

After having spent Sunday night in a ‘hotel’ with so many creepy crawlies in our beds that we had to get the insecticide out to kill them first, we decided to bush camp in the desert again. South African friends of ours have often talked about the night sky in the desert but nothing prepares you for this. You literally don’t need a light to do your cooking etc.  It was magic!  At this point we were about 180km from Egypt and the night also marked our most northern destination having travelled 22,000 kilometres and 14 weeks to get here.
Sadly, we only had warm water to celebrate the occasion with!

our most northern point

Tuesday, 9^th October

Before crossing the Nile to its east bank we visited one last ancient site. These ruins of an ancient temple date back to 3500 BC and were built by the Egyptians. Again we were amazed by how remote and isolated this spot was. I don’t think anyone has been here for weeks.

We crossed from the west bank of the Nile to the east on a ferry and having heard stories of old decrepit  ferries sinking we were glad to reach the other side, although the ‘captain’ reassured us that there were no crocodiles in the  river so I guess it would have been alright.

Now we are making our way across Sudan towards the Red Sea where we intend to spend a few days before heading back towards Ethiopia.  Looking out of the car window it is desert again, with a few rocks here and there. Just like in the picture below. I guess there is a beauty there somewhere...