To Khartoum and the Kindness of Strangers

It was 7 days in total in good ole’ Wadi Halfa and, in the end, we felt almost sentimental about the place.  Saturday saw 5 hours spent trying to unload the cars from the barge (because of the level of the barge and the water, and all the other stuff crammed on the barge, it turned out to be less that straightforward), but still no customs official. Eventually, on Sunday morning, the man with the stamp was present and correct at his desk- resplendent with a fresh inkpad - to complete the paperwork. Finally the car was freed from Wadi Halfa port.

We set off feeling excited to be started and looking forward to some camping in the desert. However, the feeling did not last for long, nor did our initial plans, as it seemed our run of bad luck was not yet over.

To cut a long story short, and one that requires much more mechanical know how than I have to explain properly,  some bad fuel that we had taken on in Wadi Halfa saw the car lose power and then sparked a  litany of further issues resulting in it stopping all together. We were extremely lucky that Mohamed and Mahmoud- who had been working in Cairo, but had returned to Sudan with their vehicle on the same cursed barge as us- were just behind us. They basically towed us to get a quick fix that would get us to Khartoum and then shepherded us the final 400kms as we limped along at 60 km/h.  When we finally pulled into Khartoum at 2am, Mohamed then gave us a bed for the night. Seeing as they were both waiting to be reunited with their families after the painful waiting game in Wadi Halfa, and after months of being away from home, the extremely kind gesture of sticking with us, even though it delayed their return, as well as inviting us into their home, was extremely generous. The next day Mohamed then took us to the best mechanic in town and stayed with us to translate and to get us settled into a hotel. A very big thanks to the guys and their families; they really do epitomize the kindness and generosity for which the Sudanese people are renowned.

While waiting for the car to be fixed, we got our Ethiopian visas and our first taste of the fabulous Ethiopian coffee with a macchiato in the embassy grounds café. We were lucky enough to catch up with Jonathan and Marcus, the Swedish cyclists (no croc attacks- phew), as well as Anton, for a night on the town Khartoum style; cups of tea on the street, a dodgy shisha café (more sitting in rows, this time with a bolywood film blaring from the TV), and some bargaining at the night markets for flick knives! Best of luck on your journeys- keep in touch.

Car ready, we were on our way, and with not much to see in the direction south, we headed straight for the border at Metema. Even though we were not able to see much of Sudan this time, we were lucky enough to meet some fabulous people.

There is really nothing like crossing land borders. The dramatic change in geography, people or weather means that you instantly see how borders have been delineated, and the Sudan- Ethiopia border has all the ingredients for a remarkable change. In just kilometers- all of a sudden- we had gone from pancake flat desert, to green rolling hills. From very few people, there were now people everywhere (finally, women! Brightly dressed with Christian crosses, as well as smiling waving, excitable children with the first choruses of ‘you you you you you!’) . And about 200 meters into Ethiopia, after temperatures of 45 degrees in the Sudan, it rained!

We are now in the north of Ethiopia. The car is going fine, the beer is cold, the coffee is incredible, the sights are unique and the countryside is absolutely beautiful. I am writing this from a balcony in Lalibela with an amazing view. There is a rumble of thunder and I think we are in for the regular afternoon downpour- and when I say downpour, I really mean it! More on what we have been up to soon.

Postscript: A special thanks to Nick Rockingham for the downloads of BBC radio which made the long and dusty drives through the Sudan both entertaining and educational! 

Waiting in Wadi Halfa

The week waiting in Aswan for the ferry to leave was painless and we were in the zone for a little relaxation. Days were spent with a bit of wandering around the excellent Nubian Museum, relaxing on the rooftop, watching the stunning sunsets on the Nile at Sal-a-din, or nursing gin and tonics on the balcony of the Old Cataract

On Saturday night we sat on the roof top of the Keylany and popped a bottle of Aida, a final toast to Egypt. And then we got the call that the car ferry had not departed as scheduled. We had intended to make sure the car went ahead of us, knowing that Wadi Halfa is not the best of places for a protracted pause at the beginning of our journey. We downed the Aida nervously, but by the end of the bottle, a celebratory mood had taken over, and we banished our fears and enjoyed our last night in Aswan.

Assured that the car would leave on the Monday (and hey, why not, it was loaded the previous Monday and the barge looked full), we embarked on Sunday morning feeling hopeful that all would go smoothly. Watching the ferry being loaded was amusing; while there were scales weighing items as people entered the port, it was really a case of anything- that you can carry or push- goes. Three or four full size fridges- why not? A couple of hundred boxes of glassware- bring it on! As a result the whole boat, and all the deck space, was a minefield of boxes and bundles within hours.

The ferry trip itself was fine. We didn’t manage to score a cabin, but a small tip meant that we were able to climb to the front of the steering cabin where we could spend the journey in relative peace and we were able to spread out. Once the sun sets and the stars start peppering the sky, travel by boat is quite lovely. While dozing the next morning, we luckily lifted a sleeping eyelid in time to see Abu Simbel on the banks of the lake as we slid past.

We hit the port at Wadi Halfa on Monday, around mid-day, and the fun began in earnest. Firstly, before you disembark, you have to complete paperwork which enables you to ‘move freely around the country’ and your passport is stamped telling you to ‘register with the police within 3 days’. Then, you jostle with the fridges, dangled on ropes to be unloaded, avoid being bludgeoned by one, and negotiate your way off. Managing this, you then squeeze onto a small bus to take you to immigration.  Here you undergo a cursory bag check (love how many white goods people had squeezed in their luggage- ceiling fan anyone?), and pile into a beat up Landrover (mind the fridges) for the couple of kilometers into town.

We are staying at the Cangun hotel- and it looks to be the nicest hotel in town- but that is a truly, truly, truly relative description. Activities are few- but we did kill a few hours at the police station ‘registering’, which involved forking out 430 Sudanese dollars and going from small office to small office obtaining stamps, signatures and having our names written down in very small writing in very large ledgers.

As write this, it is Friday afternoon, and we are on the 5th day of waiting for the car and ourselves to be reunited. There seems to be no explanation for why it has taken so long to arrive. I am happy to report that the car is at the port as of yesterday evening (we were imagining it may have sunk, or not even left Aswan, so phew, relief), but unable to be unloaded due to something to do with the level of the barge and the lake and the fact that nothing is likely to happen at all on a Friday in Ramadan. I am not good at waiting, as James can attest. And to be honest, this really is not the place you would choose to spend 5 days.  However, in an effort to put things into perspective, I have tried to capture some of the more entertaining aspects of 5 days in Wadi Halfa in a ‘top 5’ style list.

• Meeting mad travelers- got to love crazy Swedish folk with hare-brained ideas like cycling across the Sudan in the height of summer and their concerns about being eaten by Nile crocodiles. Also, a massive respect to solo female travelers- rockstars. 

•  Cafes on the street after sunset that consist of rows of chairs filled with men watching tiny TVs playing WWF wrestling or “Battle Star Galactica” with Arabic subtitles.

• Cups of tea and shisha at said café in the cool of the evening (nothing open at all in the daylight hours) with a remarkably buzzing atmosphere. 

• Rotisserie chicken- yum yum.

• Tuk tuks which have been personalized- nothing says ‘get in and let me take you to your destination’ like a feather duster on the back and a shisha pipe stuck on the front.

So hopefully we will be off tomorrow,  otherwise another rambling post may follow sooner rather than later.

A special shout out to Jodiecmills who furnished me with a Kindle after my pre-departure Kindle disaster- I really would not have survived without it in the past 2 week- Thanks Jodes! xx

Leaving Cairo

After a frantic week of packing, partying and pacing from embassy to embassy (Sudan visa location here -easy, issued in 24 hours, no LOI needed, 100 dollars: Ethiopia visa location here no luck, embassy closed because of the current situation in Cairo this week) we left Cairo on Sunday. To all our fabulous friends who have made the past 10 years in Cairo amazing; we will miss you! We will also need a serious detox from all the farewell drinks, parties and balcony sessions. Good thing that we have Sudan ahead of us......

We made it to Aswan with no problems except having to drive the 800kms with no a/c (last minute re-gassing didn't cut it- leaky seal, but thanks for trying Wael). The journey did make us realise that, actually, we are no tougher than when we set out with a similar issue in our 2005 trip. The memories of 45 degree heat in Mauritania, coupled with the hair drying effect of windows down driving at 100kms/h, have made trying to get the issue fixed a priority- I fear our desert experiences in Egypt have not made us hardcore in the least.

Thanks to goggle maps (not to our customs escort Hani in the font seat with his healthy distrust of android technology), we were able to find the (new?) desert road from Cairo to Luxor  (James uploaded the track to Tracks for Africa) and also avoid the slow Nile route between Luxor and Aswan.

Once in Aswan,it was straight to the port for the usual multi-day crazy customs experience. By the next day (James sweating it out with officialdom and paperwork at the port and me sweating it out by the rooftop pool) the Land cruiser, with a re-gassed a/c, was loaded onto the barge, and now all that remains to be done is to wait till it leaves on Saturday (inshallah) and we follow on the passenger ferry on Sunday. Alarmingly, we have just discovered that there are no cabins left for the ferry! Last time, making the journey in the other direction, and seeing the squish and the squeeze of the 'deck', we felt smug to have obtained 'first class' cabin tickets. I am sure that it will prove interesing to write about......... retrospectively........

So for the rest of the week you will find us lolling around in the Keylany hotel, obsessively checking the news on Cairo, doing the odd touristic wander and basically unwinding into holiday mode after the year's work.