Blogs from North, Sudan, Africa

After leaving Khartoum, we made our way north to head to the true purpose of our trip: Meroe. We had to go through multiple checkpoints, where they checked our exit visa for leaving the city of Khartoum (expensive). Along the way, we stopped at a couple of roadside areas, and met our cooking crew who prepared all our meals from this point forward: lunch on the road and our camping meals. We had lunch at a random semi-abandoned roadside structure in an open room. I thought at first that it was some hidden restaurant, but it was our cooks. The food was pretty good, but we were a bit late and it was cold and flies were everywhere. You had to get used to that here. Our first stop along the road was a small, colorful ... read more

We flew to Khartoum following the Nile, as everyone seems to have done: Generals Gordon and Kitchener leading armies, Victorian explorers seeking its source, Bob Geldorf leading Band Aid. Bob even stayed in our hotel, the venerable Acropole. Bombed and battered since 1952, the Acropole is still the place to stay. Over breakfast journalists talk of politics, archaeologists of their exploration plans, aid workers of renewable energy. We sail down the Blue Nile, at a low ebb at this time of year, to the confluence with the White Nile. Waters from the Abyssinian mountains meeting those from Lake Victoria. Both rivers are muddy brown today. The Blue Nile should be the Black Nile, the first explorers misunderstood the local Arabic. Wandering around town we meet a small marching protest, youngsters singing and shouting on their way ... read more

Bus je krenuo kroz ne baš zanimljiv Sudanski krajolik. Dok Egipatski dio Sahare izgleda poprilično romantično sa svojim dinama i žutim pijeskom, Nubija (Sudanski dio Sahare) je jednostavno hrpa nepregledne bezlične sive prašine. Zanimljivo je bilo da usred te pustoši se zna dogoditi da netko od putnika vikne vozaču da stane, izađe, uzme stvari i krene pješke u naizgled ništavilo. Kako uopće prepozna u tom sivilu gdje treba izaći mi nije ni dan danas jasno. Isto tako svako malo se uz cestu usred pustinje nađe i poneki novi putnik. I tako smo Juan i ja sjedili na mjestu za 3 osobe ss još4 suputnika. Klima je bila na maksimumu jer da nije pitanje koliko bi nas uopće stiglo do cilja. Tu sam zapravo i prvi put imao priliku malo bolje upoznati svog suputnika i novog prijatelja. ... read more

November 22, 2012 Being a dry country, most of the alcohol that we were carrying has been consumed before crossing the border. To be honest, some do have a few good bottles of wine hidden away for Christmas and new year’s and we have no intention of drinking them in Sudan. We’ve arrived in Khartoum and after driving around looking for the right place, we’ve once again stopped a taxi and organised to follow him to the yacht club where we’ll be staying for the few nights. The gates are an issue and as it’s situated on one of the main thoroughfares, traffic is banking up behind us and not overly happy. Soon, police arrive to stop traffic and allow us the space to reverse and reverse again and eventually get through, while we hold up ... read more

Resumo: Sabia que seria difícil, mas não sabia que seria tanto; Estou bem. Desde que escutei da famosa viagem do Egito a Etiópia cruzando o Sudão eu achei uma loucura. Pensava, quem irá cruzar o Sudão?? Escutava de um ou outro backpacker que fez, mas não muitos. Bom, entendo o porquê. Não é muito fácil viajar pelo Sudão. Muita papelada, muito calor, restrições de viajar em alguns lugares, restrições para tirar fotos, poucos falam inglês, sem ATM para estrangeiros, e para agravar a minha situação, mulheres não possuem nem a liberdade de ir ao mercado sozinhas, imaginem viajar pelo mundo!! Vou resumir aqui a minha viagem, pois mesmo ficando apenas 5 dias no Sudão tudo foi bem intenso. Tive momentos de sorte e azar um atrás do outro. Queria rir e queria chorar o tempo todo ... read more