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
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.
We saw bed’s everywhere in the desert
Huge amount of water in the desert after rain that flooded Sudan
Broken bridge after the flooding
Not a usual sight in the desert
Magnificent sunset at our wild camp near Jebel Barkal in the Bayuda Desert
World Heritage Site Jebel Barkal at Karima
The Pyramids at Jebel Barkal
The city of Karima on the eastern side of the Nile
Crossing the Nile (again)
Driving through the Bayuda Desert in a sand storm
Crossing the flooded Nile (again) at Atbara
He insisted on a photo with me
Big wash day in Khartoum next to the Nile
Gunboat Melik at the Blue Nile Sail Club where we camped in Khartoum
Seeing the White and Blue Nile meet with the city of Omdurman in the background
The burst water pipe in Khartoum the day we left
While we waited for the chaos to come to an end in Khartoum because of the burst pipe, this little guy talked long stories to us in Arabic
The friendly people in Sudan
