Aswan to Wadi Halfa: One epic journey, to say the least

Leaving the comfort of our hotel in Aswan on Monday morning, we headed for the ferry port on Lake Nasser, went through the immigration formalities of leaving Egypt, and braced ourselves for the hours to follow.

The ferry runs only once a week and this is the only way to cross over from Egypt to Sudan, unless you are flying. You can actually almost drive the whole route but due to uncompleted roads and authorities this is not legally possible at this stage. Plus the ferry must be hugely profitable...


Vehicles go on a separate barge, so Athena had been loaded the day before (not as simple as it sounds – ask Rogan!), along with a landrover, 2 4x4s, a digger, 2 motorbikes, a merc and a camper-van, but she was still sitting in port when we arrived to board our ferry. As the day unfolded, we saw that a tractor without an engine still needed to be loaded and this provided a fair bit of entertainment – chains were eventually used to hoist it up.

Waiting to board

Manouevering through the port

Just as well Athena has heaps of ground clearance!

How to load a tractor with no engine...

We joined the masses getting on the ferry around 11am. Every man and his luggage trying to push his way onto the ferry. This was only the beginning. We were hopeful that the captain had reserved space for us on the upper deck, but it was basically a free for all. Territories had already been marked out by bags and goods and we tried to settle in what little space was left. Carlos strategized and tactically helped himself, Colleen and Neil to secure some shade under a lifeboat. (Carlos is a great negotiator, being able to throw in Arabic phrases here and there, and give us a running commentary or a story about anything we ask– we’ve even coined a phrase to be used when in doubt “what would Carlos do?”)

Every man and his luggage

Neil, always with a cup of tea

The rest of us set up make-shift shade, and took turns to visit the air-conditioned dining hall while we still could, but as the hours passed more and more luggage was loaded and by the end of the day it was virtually impossible to move between decks and even between different areas on the deck. Finally, 7pm, we departed.

Staying out of the sun

Here’s where the territorial side of human nature came out – luggage and sleeping space were being fought for and territories defended. It was said that the boat was fuller because of Sudanese returning home from Libya, but judging by the amount of goods, many of the passengers were tradesmen bringing goods from Egypt to Sudan. TVs, blenders, phones, belts, t-shirts, underwear, fridges. We did the best we could to settle down for the night, but for most it wasn’t the best night’s sleep at all. It seemed wherever mattresses were, became walkways, personal space was encroached upon, and the combination sounds of snoring, cell phones, talking, spitting, and calls to prayer were ever-present.

Early days, when there was still room to walk

Later on...

Activity started again at first light, with packing and re-packing of all the goods, selling, hiding, organizing. We passed Abu Simbel at about 10am – awesome sighting for all of us and something to look forward to as we knew we were getting closer to Sudan! We finally docked around 2pm – 19 hours of sailing, 27 hours on the boat, and a bit more time to get off.

Stunning desert scenery

Abu Simbel

But what a wonderful warm welcome we got from the Sudanese in Wadi Halfa. The customs officials seemed happy to have us, people here in Wadi are very friendly without being pushy, and there is some delicious food to be had in the local restaurants – shared platters of fish, meat stew, okra, bread, beans and salad. Wadi Halfa has a good vibe.

We have very basic hotel accommodation while we wait for the vehicle barge to arrive – pit toilets and bucket showers, but in comparison to the night on the ferry this is definitely a step up. It is baking hot so we are minimising our time in the sun, passing the day with card-playing, reading, resting, and many soft-drinks.

The latest update on the arrival of the barge, is that it got stuck on a sandbank in Lake Nasser, so has been delayed... so we will ‘hurry up and keep waiting’ in Wadi Halfa until it does come, this afternoon, tonight or tomorrow, Inshallah.

I think the ferry trip and events of the past couple of days have reminded us to remember a few things about overlanding in Africa: It’s not always ‘plain sailing’, TIA – This is Africa – things happen in their own way and own time, often beyond your control, and sometimes ‘African Time’ takes over, and all you can do is have a cup of tea go with the flow.

On that note…

Aswan

The days are getting hotter, so the swimming pools and a/c rooms in Aswan are much appreciated! For a few of us, this is a return trip to Aswan – Paul surprised to find he was staying in the same hotel as his previous visit! Just a morning’s drive from Luxor to Aswan, so there was still time for afternoon ‘activities’.

Escaping from the heat in the roof top pool

Aswan is smaller and seems more laid back than Luxor, a nice place to explore the souq or stroll on the banks of the Nile (when the day starts to cool down). A bunch of us got on a motorboat, up the first cataract, and settled on a beach on the west bank and had our first Nile swim of the trip – much needed and so refreshing. So were the Stella beers that the boat-driver produced... We then continued up the river to a colourful Nubian village. Many of the Nubian settlements had to be relocated with the building of the High Dam and Lake Nasser. Traditionally, Nubian colours are blue, green and yellow/orange. The houses are built and painted in such a way as to be able to vary the temperature of the building according to the season (vents in the roof, cool/warm colours, and open plan). We were shown how the Nubians live and told about their customs, and also had the opportunity to hear some more about the ‘revolution’ that has been happening in Egypt . The Egyptians all refer to the events of earlier this year as ‘the revolution’. We were served a delicious meal afterwards, followed by the trip back down the Nile in the dark, star-gazing (or sleeping) on the deck. So peaceful. And no, I’m not writing a brochure, it really was so!

Nubian museum

On the Nile

Colleen in the Nile

Post-swim beers

Inside a traditional Nubian house, with our host, Mohammed 

Traditional house

This morning saw a few brave ones up for another 4am start to visit Abu Simbel. You have to leave early as all vehicles have to go in a police convoy, which is at this time. Abu Simbel must be one of the most remarkable temples in Egypt, and the fact that it was moved back and pieced together when the dam was built, makes it even more remarkable (not to mention the mathematical calculations in order to align the temple).

Ramses II temple, Abu Simbel

Caolan, walking like an Egyptian

The temples of Abu Simbel

A sunset felucca trip was planned for later, swimming off the boat, around Elephantine Island, with Caolan tacking us back in to shore.

Now time to get ready for our journey up Lake Nasser, to Wadi Halfa in Sudan. Athena has already boarded the barge. Watch this space – think there will be much to write about this marathon of a boat trip!

Luxor

We have been lucky enough to spend a few days in Luxor, Egypt's biggest collective area of archaeological treasures all within easy access from our small friendly hotel down town. So after winding our way through the bustling streets overflowing with motorbikes and horse drawn carriages we were safely parked up and all looking a tad smarter shaven and freshly dressed.

Staying on the east bank gave people an opportunity to wander round Luxor Temple illuminated at night to marvel at the ancient ruins as the light plays with shadows and colours, plus you get to explore without the hassle of day time crowds. Restaurants and an array of street food made sure no one went hungry.

Night market

With so much to do on both sides of the Nile (and on it too) everyone has opted to do various different tours.  Some of us walked up to Karnak Temple and had a brilliant guided tour with Khaled who brought the inscriptions and hieroglyphics to life hopefully we'll remember even just a bit of what we learnt! You can't describe how massive and extensive the temple complex is having being built and added to for over 2000 years, with pillars and and statues dwarfing you its a great place to spend a few hours wandering around after the tour has finished. You can even imagine James Bond running round the place from "The Spy Who Loved Me".

The group at Karnak Temple

Ramses II at Karnak Temple

Karnak Temple

Incredible colours still remain... imagine what it looked like 2000 years ago?

Some of the group headed out for an early evening felucca cruise on the Nile to enjoy the views and relax from the heat of the day with a cold beer or two (stubbie for our Aussie friends). 

Sunset on a felucca on the Nile

On our last full day in Luxor nine of us braved the early hours and headed off at 4.30 am over the Nile on a boat before blasting our way to 15,000 feet over the east bank taking off from in front of Hatshepsut's (hot chicken soup) temple. A truly brilliant experience to watch the sun come up over Luxor and the Valleys of the Kings and the Queens with numerous temples to gawk at, along with a backdrop of other balloons get the cameras clicking away madly. After a smooth landing (not an English one apparently), everyone celebrated with drums and dancing with the ground crew and the pilot; don't think anyone expected that!

Early start

But stunning views, Hatshepsut Temple in the background

Karnak Temple from above

Balloons are terribly photogenic, aren't they!

Glenn, Rogan & Bruce

Sunrise over Luxor

After the great heights of the early morning activates most of the group spent the day exploring the ancient necropolis of Thebes the resting place of dead Royalty and nobles from Valley of the Kings probably the most well known after the pyramids of Giza is home to 63 tombs discovered to date with predictions of up to double that still waiting to be located. The Pharaohs had the tombs built as their resting place on the way to achieving immortality where their mummified bodies along with their worldly wealth could accompany on their journey on the sun boat. The longer the Pharaoh lived the larger and more impressive his tomb could be built. We had the chance to visit a few choice options early on avoiding the heat and hassle. Another amazing site leaving you walking out in awe that these were built so long ago yet the coloured reliefs on the walls and ceilings remain so vivid and clear today.

A visit to Hatshepsut's temple, who was the longest ruling cross-dressing female Pharaoh of Egypt disguised as a man is a massive site dominating the landscape, it has had a huge makeover by the Polish that has restored it to its former glory almost making you feel that you are walking around a Hollywood set at times. The sheer size of the place once again makes you wonder how they were all built as we'd struggle even today.

Hatshepsut's Temple

Paul and Colleen continued to explore more temples built of the ancient flood plains of the Nile whilst we popped back to Luxor where it felt like time for a beer in the sun but looking at the watch it was only 10.30 am so gave it a miss!

Luxor has been a big hit with everyone and luckily for us, but not for the locals, the revolution at the start of the year has slowed down the influx of tourists meaning that even the biggest sights like Karnak can be viewed practically all on your tod, amazing. There is always something to see and do here whether its just sitting at a cafe with a Shisha and a glass of steaming mint tea or aimlessly ambling the back streets at night and stumbling across a wedding getting into the swing of it.

Night time in the back streets of Luxor

Heading off tomorrow down the snaking road that hugs the banks of the Nile to Aswan where we will collect our visas for Sudan, inshallah and prep ourselves for crossing over Lake Nasser in the coming days.

Out of Cairo and into the desert

1 week down already! After a hectic couple of days in Cairo – pyramids, museums and visits to embassies to start our Sudanese visa application process, we left the hustle and bustle behind and boarded Athena to head for the Western Desert.

Guess where Jon, Glenn, Kaye and Claire are?

How excited is Claire to be on the trip?

Athena and the 2011 Cairo to Cape'rs

What a wonderful surprise our first night was – a magical campsite with natural springs just outside, Bedouin tents to chill in, and a naturally-heated pool for starlit swims before bed. We started our daily sundowner tradition, followed by a braai (South African style barbeque). A comfortable campsite to ease us into the camping thing.

A desert oasis

A touch of luxury

Jon, Claire, Cherie & Zoe

Continuing our journey, we explored the Oasis town of Bawiti, crossed the Black Desert and on into the White Desert. Fascinating lunar landscape, especially under near-fullmoon, and topped-off with G‘n’Ts courtesy of Sue and Bruce. We even had sightings of fennecs – desert foxes endemic to the arid regions of North Africa.

Just at the beginning of an epic expedition...

The white desert

A cheeky fennec

Bushcamping 3 days in a row? No showers? No worries – we found natural hot springs perfect for a morning bath.

Hot springs - better than a shower any day!

Al-Qasr is a charming settlement from the medieval/Ottoman times, and parts of the town have been restored to give a good impression of how it was in its day. We got lost in the cool narrow streets, saw a blacksmith at work, and found the cheapest bread on the trip so far!

Bruce behind bars...

Ancient ruins

A quick aside about the food: the tahini in Egypt is just great. Local meals of barbequed chicken, kofta, Egyptian rice, tahini, bread and salad. And if you have a sweet tooth, it’s a good place to be too – sweet black tea, hibiscus tea, pastries. And shisha water pipes throughout the day at every road-side cafe.

Living Egypt through its food

Al-Bagawat was another interesting option for some – a necropolis with over 200 mud-brick tombs dating as far back as the 4^th Century AD. Unfortunately there is much graffiti (somehow it looks different in Arabic though) and some of the murals have been defaced by other religious fundamentalists in later times, but a few still clearly depict biblical scenes.

After trying to convey to our diligent police convoy, again, that we were self-sufficient and wanted to camp out in the desert, we found an awesome spot right on the edge of the dunes. Another wonderful night, our first fullmoon of the trip, perfect for a game of night frisbee, and a very happy and enthusiastic host and campsite owner ‘Honey’.

Kaye (another second-time Odyssey-er) in the desert

Athena and some camels

Hopefully Rogan wasn't asking for guidance as to which direction to go... 

The group looked at their transport options when finding this old tractor in the desert...  but on balance decided to stick with Athena.

We're heading to Cape Town!

The Western desert was good to us and for us, but so were the showers and beds when we arrived at our hotel in Luxor! Not quite Egyptian cotton, but wifi, breakfast and laundry services – what else could we need?