There are countries you only hear bad news about. The Sudan is such a country. Genocide in Darfur, a dictatorship-like government under Omar al-Bashir, the desire of the South to split from the North (is that really going to happen peacefully?)...
After reading the news, we would probably rather not visit such a country. However, fellow travelers tell a completely different story: the people in Northern Sudan are among the most hospitable people in Africa, you only get into trouble if you refuse an invitation to enjoy a cup of tea with them... We don't have a choice anyway - so let's go to visit Sudan!
We leave Gonder early in the morning, a perfect tarmac road takes us down from the Ethiopian highlands into the Sudanese savannah. In Metema/Gallabat, a dusty little village, the road is closed. with a rope. That has to be the border. Indeed we discover the Ethiopian and Sudanese border officials in some huts on the roadside. However, our timing is bad, we have arrived during their lunch break. It takes us about three hours until we have assembled all necessary stamps - what a torture under the boiling midday sun!
In the end we will never figure out if the (very friendly!) Sudanese border officials were even able to read our papers as they communicate in Arabic only. When you consider how much of an effort it takes to keep your papers in order - and then the border officials might not even be able to read them! We are also upset that no one bothers to inspect our "Archie" - had we only taken a crate of beer with us into the desert! People had warned us that alcoholic beverages are strictly forbidden and offences are severely punished (e.g. whippings!).
So it happens that our stay in the Sudanese desert turns into an involuntar withdrawal treatment. We are, however, rewarded with a stunning starry sky and incredible silence. No one bothers us, no one asks silly questions or begs for anything. From time to time herdsmen pass by but they ignore us completely! What a nice surprise after our unnerving Ethiopian experience!
The following day we meet an old comrade - the Blue Nile - and travel on its shores until we reach the surprisingly modern capital city Karthoum. In Karthoum we have some more paper work to do - like all foreigners we need to register our passports (the office is at the airport!).
The Nile (which consists now of the joint White & Blue Niles) has become an impressive river, we follow its direction until the city of Atbara. Driving in Sudan is actually a non-event, only the frequent road blocks are a bit annoying. At all crossroads the security police (no uniforms!) checks our papers and asks all kinds of questions. To leave the main highway and to snoop around (e.g. in the Darfur region) does not seem advisable.
From Atbara a perfect tar road leads to Karima and Dongola. We just briefly visit the pyramids on the roadside at Meroe as their sight is actually a little sad. The were robbed, partly destroyed and no one subsequently cared about them. Thus they look a bit like rotten teeth as they continue to crumble under the continuously blowing desert wind.
We don't have much time anyway as we have an important meeting: On March 16 a ferry boat is waiting for us in Wadi Halfa in order to bring us to Aswan (Egypt). The boat trip from Wadi Halfa to Aswan is a costly but unavoidable odyssey. Some overlanders rather travel trough Saudi Arabia to avoid this ferry trip...
If you do not want to travel to Saudi Arabia you must take the ferry across Lake Nasser. Yes, there is a road, but foreigners are not allowed to take it. Instead you need to catch a ferry (and a separate barge for the truck) in the dusty (boring) village of Wadi Halfa. There is so much incomprehensible paper work involved that we decided to hire a "fixer". Our fixer is called Mazar and does actually not much else but helping overlanders to get across Lake Nasser.
"Come a few days earlier to Wadi Halfa", urges Mazar on the phone. "The boat crosses the Lake more frequently than usual because of the Sudanese refugees fleeing the war in Libya". We (in the end "we" are 5 trucks and 28 people) thus arrive two days earlier in Wadi Halfa. Nothing really happens. Yes, the boat has arrived but it will take another day until all 600 refugees have left the ship and are ready to leave the harbor. "Tomorrow!" There is not much to do in Wadi Halfa. We drink tea, eat Fallafel, drink tea. The next day, we continue to drink tea, until Mazar shows up: "Quick quick, jump into your trucks - the ship is ready for boarding!" Half an hour later, we are still waiting, engines running, when Mazar reappears. "They have found a drowned guy in the Lake. He disappeared a few days ago and now everyone is going to bury him and say good-bye"...
As we arrive an hour later in the harbor we wonder why we were in such a hurry to embark on that ferry...! What a trashy boat that is! A swimming dust bin actually, really disgusting! Most of us sleep on the upper deck in the sleeping bags to at least get some fresh air. Archie is going to cross the lake on a separate barge and will arrive in Aswan a few days after us - Inch'Allah...!
The continuation of our journey in Egypt is of course an entirely new story....
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