Sudan

Wadi Halfa was great, but we had to leave eventually, so as soon as Athena was off the ‘sandbank’ (which we later found out from the captain was actually Aswan harbour) and in Sudan we headed off to a bush camp on Lake Nasser. The first of a few...

Wadi Halfa where we were based for a couple of days while waiting for Athena

Bushcamp, breaking camp in the morning

In the heat and the desert, water has been the necessity. We found a spot in the Nile to cool down and wash in which was definitely a good call. All the settlements in Sudan are dotted with clay water jars, and a cup attached, so water is available to all. We found one of these spots to fill our jerries too...

Filling water

This man helped us refill our water supplies, and was very appreciative of his new Odyssey t-shirt

While for much of our time in Sudan we have been off the beaten track in the desert, the Sudanese we have met in the small towns we’ve visited have been so friendly and welcoming – it’s a pity the language barrier prevents us from having more of a chat, but with a bit of sign language and smiles on both sides, we all manage to make ourselves understood.

Apart from amazing and changing desert landscape, we have seen a few archaeological sights too, starting with Jebel Barkal, the Holy Mountain, with a cemetery of pyramids at its base.

Pyramids at Jebel Barkal

We were blessed with some rain briefly, and how nice it was to have the temperature drop slightly for a short while!

Really rain??

We camped behind the pyramids of Meroe on Sue’s birthday and managed to find some legs of lamb for a celebratory roast (after a brief stint of sand-matting when Athena got a bit stuck in the sand!). Sudan us a dry country in more ways than one, so a delayed birthday G’n’T is in order when we get to Ethiopia!

Pyramid at Meroe

Unfortunately one of the more remote sites of the Naqa temple was just beyond our reach as recent rains had left the tracks and sand soft and muddy, but it was great to be off-road for a bit and the good news was: an earlier arrival in Khartoum which means showers sooner!

Our crossing of the desert in Sudan has been extremely hot, drinking water is more like tea and everyone has sand everywhere! So now the showers and toilets of the Blue Nile Sailing Club on the shores of the Nile in Khartoum, while hardly anything to write home about under normal circumstances, have much to offer! We have 2 nights here to regroup, do some laundry, get clean, shop, and explore the markets while we camp on the bank of the Blue Nile. Already most of us have found our way to Omdurman Souq, one of the largest markets in Africa, where everything can be found if you look for it – food, utensils, fabric, beauty products, and even ivory (+- 1500$ for 2 small tusks). And after that we found an air-conditioned shopping mall with free wifi...

This may be it from us for a while, as all being well we hit Ethiopia on Wednesday, and internet access becomes even less frequent or reliable. Don’t worry, it doesn’t mean we don’t have anything to write about! Lots planned for Ethiopia – we are looking forward to a reunion with a couple of fellow expedition members, cooler temperatures, and cold beer!