Blogs from Sudan, Africa - page 10

It took us ages to get onto the right road for Atbara. The eventual route was nothing akin to that shown on our maps. In fact a spanking new highway has been recently constructed across the desert more or less in a straight line from a point some 5 miles or so below the ferry crossing. When asking directions everyone was positive in saying “The road is just down there and you turn left”. It was and we did. And it was a superb road, sometimes a little difficult to follow because of sand being blown across. But the views otherwise were great, the colours even better and we made good time to Atbara. Here we were again faced with no bridge but another, similar ferry. It was a long wait and it only took four ... read more

28th - 30th October If you look at the map of Sudan the distance between Wadi Halfa and Dongola is only 285 miles. A simple journey, one would suppose, but it took us 2 and a half days! We had met some South African travelers in Luxor who described this road as the worst they had ever been on, in fact they labeled it “The Road from Hell”. We now know why! A general description of the road will suffice for the full length. At first the road wound round desert hills strewn with small rocks and the gravel surface was badly corrugated. This corrugation got worse and worse and the option was either to drive slowly (at 15 mph) or as fast as one safely could (at about 45 mph). Either choice was wrong; the ... read more

Somedays, you just want to scream and throw something breakable... I awoke at 0645 this morning, excited and nervous beause today was the day that I was to lead a 3 man patrol to supervise the removal of over 100 rounds of unexploded ordnance. Just two days ago I had sat down face to face with the Lieutenant in charge of the engineering company, and he had whole-heartedly agreed to put a team together for Saturday and get the job done. For those of you not in the military, combat engineers in general do things like demolitions, constructions of camps and fortifications, and mine/ordnance removal. When the three UNMO's arrived at the HQ to meet with the Lieutenant an dhis team, I knew something wasn't going to work, beacuse the LT was dressed in a tracksuit ... read more

Where do we start? It feels like months since the last update and since then we have experienced everything from temples to tombs and Al-Qaeda bomb threats to robbery! We pick up in Luxor, half way south along the Nile in Egypt. After a rather eventful journey reaching here we decided to spend 4 or 5 days taking in the sites and relaxing as best one can in 50 degree heat! Whilst in Luxor we saw the magnificent Luxor and Karnak temples, stretching for what seemed miles into the desert along the river. It is incredible to think that some of these temples have been standing tall for over 35 centuries... it really does put English Heritage in the shade. One very hot day involved an early 6am start to cross the river to the West ... read more

This week was crazy-busy, so I've given up trying to write entries for every day that things happen... today is the Coles Notes version of this week. Where to start? Many of you have asked how Torit the wonderdog is. The last time anyone saw him was the night I left for Kapoeta, and that was two weeks ago. I think he had been struck or kicked by something or someone, and his neck seemed to be badly damaged or even broken. He was having trouble walking and didn't seem to be able to close his mouth, or turn/move his head. I think that he went away to die. I hope you died quickly and quietly Torit. Rest in peace. Tuesday was a bit a shocker for me. I was duty officer at the Team ... read more