A year’s memorable moments, Sudan

On our way from Gondar to the Matema/Quallabat border post, I developed a funny cough. We had a bad experience the previous night with bedbugs and I obviously had a allergic reaction although at that stage I did not know it. The further we drove the worse it became and at some stage I started taking Celestemine. This sort of spoiled the excitement of crossing the border into our next country. On top of this, we had a difficult border crossing on the Ethiopian side with a Customs officer who wanted a bribe….something that we NEVER did on our trip. When we finally got to the Sudan border post, it took them 3 hours to stamp our Carnet de Passage. We were tired and I ill when we finally drove into Sudan in a hot 45 degrees.

We were amazed to found that the landscape between Ethiopia and Sudan changed from green and high mountains to desert within a few kilometers after entering Sudan. It is as if there has been a line drawn on the border post…..from high to low, green to desert. My post on our trip from Qualabat to Wad Medani told you that it was an extremely difficult day with 2 cloudbursts, a desert wind storm, not finding a hotel in Gedaref in pouring rain and arriving after dark in Wad Medani in a cloudburst nearly having to overnight in the Hilux next to a flooded Nile. The first few days in Sudan were traumatic for both of us. I developed Bronchitis and we were both travel weary. Everything was very foreign, we could not sleep because of the immense heat and the Mullah’s calling for prayer every few hours. Travel fatigue set in and it was the hardest time of our whole trip. We had to stay longer in Khartoum for me to get better but when we finally drove out of the city we were excited and both looking forward to our desert experience. Sudan was at the end the part of the trip that we found we keep on talking about….it was fantastic and a life changing experience that made us find characteristics in ourselves and in each other that we did not even know we had. We are proud about our Sudan experience and proud about each other and ourselves by coming stronger out of it and being able to get back on track and enjoy our trip to the utmost! Sudan was the cherry on our Overland trip’s cake.

Ethiopia near Metema border post

Forgotten truck on the main road to Sudan near the border

Green but flat landscape when a few kilometers in Sudan

Desert under water on our way to Wad Medani

This is where I nearly broke my neck slipping on the wet tiles. This exact moment was sort of the last straw mentally and physically for us.

Camping in 45 degrees on a stage in Khartoum

Not a happy chappy…wondering why on earth we’re doing this Disappointed smile

Very ill and sorry for myself.

Khartoum version of a Tuk-Tuk

Experiencing dessert living

Thousands of tires next to the road in the desert

Resting and watering places in the Bayuda Desert

To see the desert in flood!

Camping behind a dune at Meroe

A highlight of our trip. The Pyramids of Meroe

Having a braai in the desert at Meroe

Enjoying a desert “bath” and sleeping under the stars

Camping in the Nubian Desert under the stars north of Abu Hamed

Only the 2 of us in on a 400km desert expedition without roads

A Desert sunset

Counting the deserted stations on a deserted desert railway to see where we must drive

One scared woman

The “road” to Wadi Halfa

Another deserted station

And another station….we had to pass 10 of them to get to Wadi-Halfa

We had to keep an eye on the railway line not to get lost

Was difficult at times because the railway line is long gone

The harsh beauty of the desert

Seeing the Egyptian Army patrolling across the border near Wadi Halfa

Camping in Mazar’s garden in Wadi Halfa, tired but excited about our Nubian desert adventure!

Lake Nasser where we turned finally south again. Sad that because of the unrest the ferry weren’t running to Aswan.

Having a picnic next to the Blue Nile

We drove along the Nile passing the Temples of Amara, Seddenga, Sulb, and Sesibi

Nobody to be seen in the 50 degree heat

Driving thousands of kilometers next to the river Nile

Where two deserts meet. The Libyan desert on the eastern side of the Nile is part of the Sahara desert while the Nubian desert is on the western side of the Nile. The people that inhabits borth deserts are mostly Berber.