We were off early in the morning to the north, climbing through very pretty countryside to Dabark, some 50 to 60 miles away. Here we booked in at the Simien Mts National Park head office for two nights stay in the park. It was mandatory to have a scout with us and we managed to persuade them that we only needed one - we could not have carried more had we wanted to. Gail and Jeremy were the only ones capable of arranging their car load to accommodate this man, somehow they seem to be traveling with so much less junk [View Full Entry]

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The morning plan was to visit the Royal Enclosure which included a 6 castles, of which Fasilidas’s dating from 1640 was the best example, together with other disused and half ruined buildings. These included a judiciary hall, a chancery, a music hall and impressive stabling. This complex had been used by the Italians during their occupation from 1936 - 41 and had suffered bombing by the British forces which, sadly, had broken up various parts. Fortunately for Gondar, the accuracy of the bombing left a little to be desired! But no grudge is felt - so they told us. We had [View Full Entry]

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It was lovely to wake up with trees and shrubs all around us and not till we had nearly finished breakfast did some youngsters herding cattle find us - they just stood and stared. Seeing us oldies getting ourselves sorted out, I suppose, must have been stare-worthy! Ian and Chris had a dilemma. Ian had lent his ball point pen, a very smart Schaeffer, to the official who filled in our forms at the border crossing. Did he drive back and get it or forget all about it? With our encouragement he drove back to the office where, much to his [View Full Entry]

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Gedaref was our last major town in Sudan so we re-fettled once again, buying vast quantities of bottled drinking water as both Ian and I were filling our internal water tanks exclusively with bottled water (to hell with the expense!) while carrying plastic containers with tap water used for washing bodies and doing the daily laundry. Our watertight tubs, filled with detergent and water and dirty clothes which are tossed about as we drive along have proved to be extremely efficient. The drill is, set it all up first thing in the morning, rinse out all the washing on arrival [View Full Entry]

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We never found any statue to General Gordon - sadly. But we were thankful to leave Khartoum and get on with our journey so were up and away by 8 o’clock. It was easy to get out of the city, shopping and fuelling up as we did so. But once away, when I was leading, we went horribly wrong and despite the helpful directions from non English speaking locals (who sent us in the totally wrong direction) we found ourselves out in the scrubby desert amongst endless hovel villages with never a moments sight of tarmac anywhere. We were totally [View Full Entry]

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3rd - 4th November The authorities in Khartoum had changed the venue of the major bus station. Result? Total traffic chaos! Ian and Jeremy took their cars off first thing to the Toyota agent who was extremely helpful. They sorted out Jeremy’s car’s electrics which have been giving endless trouble. A new battery was part of the equation. Ian’s car was put on the ramp only to find that the extra fuel tank had just about broken free. It took a little longer to fix this - two days - as the tank had be removed completely and brackets replaced and/or [View Full Entry]

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Day 50! While breaking camp we saw a flock of sand grouse fly over us - an evocative sight, really reinforcing the fact that we are in the tropics and getting nearer the equator. Off south on the toll road to Khartoum we stopped briefly to look at the pyramids of Meroe. We never stopped the cars’ engines as we were besieged by hassling touts on their camels wanting money and biros. Not really the best way to attract the tourist we feel. Our next objective was The Sixth Cataract, rapids in the Nile some 60 miles north of Khartoum. With [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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We all congratulated Ian on the start of his eighth decade. He said he was looking forward to it! So after card opening and breakfast we were off to Karima, without in fact visiting Dongola itself. This was opportune because, the road to Karima, some 175 miles, was reportedly all new tarmac. Not true! There was a section of 25 or so miles in the middle which was busily under construction, with huge earthmoving lorries and detours off the road which were just full of dust, dust and more dust. On arrival at Karima we went immediately to the pyramid site, [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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