Blogs from North, Sudan, Africa - page 6

I reach Karima from Dongola on an entirely paved road but then spend half an hour tramping around trying to find a lokonda. My first option is, unbelievably, full but they direct me towards a second. It doesn't look great - the dorm is cramped, I only need to touch the mattress for dust to rise from it, the look and smell of the loos make me want to close my eyes AND nose when using them, and two backpacks indicate the presence of other foreigners - but I'm assuming it's the second best in town so I take it. I later add cockroaches, mice and mosquitos to its list of cons, but a shower cubicle with water of a pleasant sun-warmed temperature is a large pro. The town has a couple of remarkable features. One ... read more

I convince myself that the fly infestation is Abri-specific, and head south again the next day, together with Tintin and Helen. Tintin buys me a Pepsi, a kind gesture and, as the almost-full bottle dangles from my fingers, I eventually have to explain to him that I only drink sparingly on a travel day as my bladder is fond of demanding to be emptied at the least convenient times. I pour the drink into my water container, thus creating a sugary hydrating mixture that tastes more of iced tea. This time the boksi leaves with only four passengers and soon hits paved road. The Germans are dropped at the delightfully-named Wawa, from where they will visit an old temple of Amenhotep III across the river. Wawa appears to be a ghost town, inhabited only by flies. ... read more

The ferry from Aswan to Wadi Halfa in Sudan leaves from the terminal at the High Dam, and I see a sign saying "Wlecome" (sic) as we drive along the dam's wall. My final shafting from Egypt turns out to be the hotel suggesting that I should take a taxi here as coming by train would still leave me a long way from the terminal - needless to say, the station is right next to it. A guard tells me I need to wait one hour before I go through so I sit on the edge of a disused fountain, in the middle of the rapidly-assembling crowd for the ferry. The other passengers are predominantly Egyptian and Sudanese, many with astounding quantities of luggage. I see one man with four TVs, another with a fridge/freezer. Bulging, ... read more

Well, it's been a while since my last entry, so probably just a quickie. Sudan is still extremely hot, though the air-con (blasts of cold air) do keep me a bit cool at night. I've just seen my first cockroach. It was bloody huge. It was out in the garden, but Pat informed me that there'd been an even bigger one in the living room earlier!! After a twitchy half-hour, during which I resembled someone with Tourette's, head constantly twitching to make sure it hadn't come anywhere near me, rolling up my trouser legs to stop it crawling up them, spraying my bedroom with the strongest, most lethal bug-repellent you've ever smelt, she informed me that she had zapped the living-room one stone dead. I know logically that cockroaches are clean, that they are totally harmless ... read more

Well, progress of a sort! I've known for a while that I didn't want to go back to Ahfad so have been having discussions with all and sundry, left right and centre. I let SVP know that under no circumstances did I want to return to Ahfad (this was after they had told me that if I stayed at Ahfad I would not be regarded as an SVP volunteer). Anyway, to cut a very long, circuitous and possibly boring, story short, the outcome so far is: I went to El Nielen University today to discuss the possibility of teaching there. They were really happy to have me except: hell, there's alway a get-out clause - except that I'll be teaching 'formal' classes (from a syllabus that needs marking at the end) and, as I'm leaving in ... read more