Blogs from North, Sudan, Africa - page 7

Headed out of Khartoum leaving Jack and Chris who have to leave us as they cannot change thier flight date from Cairo. We drove on heading north and late afternoon we caught a glimpse of the not so well known but very impressive Meroe Pyramids. This is our first encounter with pyramids as we have yet to be in Egypt, I was so impressed though, never did I think I will see such in Sudan, the Nubian culture descended here thousands of years ago and left these mysterious ruins. It was quite a hot day, we struggled to walk in the very hot sand to get closer to the ruins, there was an option to take a camel ride but none did it in the beginning, we are the only tourists here which is quite cool, ... read more

I start my travels on 6th September 2008 when I travel to Canada. I'll be there for a month, coming back on 4th October (arriving back in England on 5th October). I'm going with a really good friend of mine and we're hoping to hire a camper van and just go where the fancy takes us. Having said that, we're arriving in Calgary, travelling up through the Rockies - Banff, Lake Louise etc. Then we're travelling across country to Vancouver and Vancouver Island, stopping off for a few days in Whistler where my son lives. So I'll get to see him, which is a bonus. Then it's on to Vancouver Island to catch a boat to take an all day trip up the coast to Prince Rupert. After a couple of days in Prince Rupert, we'll ... read more

Upon arriving in Wadi Halfa we were immediately reminded that we were not in Egypt anymore when people stopped to greet us without trying to sell us something - how refreshing! After finishing laundry and exporing the town, there's not much else to do here in Wadi Halfa. So we climbed the hill behind the hotel and had a picnic lunch and took some photos. We are here until the Dragoman truck arrives, which ended up arriving almost 2 days after we arrived in Wadi Halfa. Interesting tidbit about this town: it was actually quite the place until its residents were told to relocate due to the flooding of Lake Nasser. Most of the original town is now under water.... read more

I would like to congratulate some of Ms Cords students for posting their thoughts on rebuilding a country that has been through a lot of conflict. Many people identified a lot of issues with the majority seeing a change in government, and an increase in education as being key to a solid foundation for a state. At close second, health care, housing, and the military were mentioned. Once again, there were some ridiculous responses, but for the most part, people had some great things to say. Speaking for myself, I had no idea how complex the issues were with re-forming a functional society that includes, education, infrastrucutre, health care, trade and commerce, security, etc could be until I arrived here and saw it for myself. For instance, with education you can improve the youth so that ... read more

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 the help of GPS navigation, verbal directions and a lot of luck we managed to find the right track to the Cataract where we found that the tourist infrastructure was in its birth pains. Lots ... read more