5 April

5 April 2011 – Wadi Halfa

We are now in a small local hotel, in Wadi Halfa.  Everybody said it would be terrible, but then, they were going South!!!  So far, not bad!!  Amazing how your standards change!

Khartoum to Atbara, en route we stopped off at the pyramids at Merowe, huge and most of them in amazingly good condition.  Some of the entrance tombs have been restored and it was fascinating to walk around that area, it was unbelievably hot and we managed to get under a reed carport and have our lunch which was a roll and a cooldrink, within minutes the roll was dried out almost like a rusk!  In Atbara we again stayed in a local hotel, the Nile Hotel basic but clean for a change with hot water!!  We were also served a local meal which was a quarter roasted chicken each, omelet, with a salad, rice and noodles in a oily sauce and chick pea soup and bread, with an orange for dessert.  Yves who is still travelling with us decided that he could not afford the hotel so he went to the local filling station and spent the night on the petrol attendants bed! 

The next morning we met up with Yves at the filling station and set off for Merowe and Karima, Yves ran out of petrol about 3km from the filling station and we had to siphon some from Larry’s bike.  The temperature was already at about 45 degrees and getting hotter, we had decided to see Jebel Baikal, lots of pyramids but the condition was not great.  We went back into town and found the one and only supermarket and bought lots of frozen water, cooldrinks, chocolates and some bread and after hanging around the shop for a few minutes Yves got us all invited the owners home to have a rest and get out of the heat.  They could not have been kinder, we were given their beds to lie down on and offered tea or coffee and Yves managed to have a bucket shower.  At 5pm we left the house and went back to the shop to say goodbye to our new friends and stock up on some more water.  We had decided to camp wild in the desert and so we drove for about 50km into the desert and found a spot to get off the road and not tackle too much sand.  Along this stretch of road there were a few abandoned villages and some very recently built houses and we found one of these buildings to spend the night.  By this stage the wind was blowing and we had to cook our supper in the building – we had spaghetti and meatballs and sweet corn all mixed in one pot with lots of bread and a tin of peaches for pud!

After a very pleasant night in the desert we packed and got ready to leave, we were ready and waiting for Yves when the wind started to blow really strongly and we got a glimpse of the desert’s moods, one minute fairly calm and the next wild.  We rode for about 20 minutes in a very strong sand storm and suddenly come out of that into the bright sunlight, when you are in the storm the sun is completely blocked out and there appears to be a huge black cloud over the whole world!  We rode in and out of the sand storms for the next 120km until we reached Dongola. After breakfast at the local supermarket we set off for Abri. While sitting on the veranda eating, we saw 3 trucks piled very high, with baggage and about 100 people on each. Refugees from Libya!!! Once we got there we had a look at the hotel there and standards have dropped but not that low!  So we decided to spend another night camping in the desert, the only problem is the desert is not sand but jagged black rock, not inflatable mattress friendly and so Larry picked a spot alongside the Nile where there is a drop off point for fish.  We camped under the palm trees and this was much better than camping in the open and the howling gale!  Next morning we were up before any of the locals had surfaced and heading for Wadi Halfa and the ferry.  The weather was cool and pleasant for riding, with a slight headwind, nothing like the heat that had been predicted, very lucky!!

5 April Wadi Halfa

Within minutes of arriving in Wadi Halfa our tout, Mazaar found us looking for the ferry booking office.  We went and had a small glass of tea with him and discussed the procedure for getting onto the ferry, not a simple task.  We had been warned about Mazaar and Larry was determined not to be ripped off by him and told him so in no uncertain terms.  We seem to have everything straightened out in that regard.  We eventually booked into the Kiloprata Hotel in town at a cost of SP15 (about R30), just two beds in a bare room and two shower/toilets for the ladies and same for the gents, no water in the basins so very basic!  But better than other places we have had to stay.

Yesterday afternoon at 15.30 Mazaar’s uncle Magda arrived at the hotel to tell us that the three motorbikes and us could get onto the ferry that same afternoon, we had 30 minutes to get ready, after rushing around like blue tailed flies we were packed and ready to go and we set off for the ferry in convoy with Madzar leading the way and smoothing the path in front for us.  We arrived at the ferry terminal and there were lots of people milling about and we were shuffled from pillar to post getting carnet stamped and waiting for the immigration official to stamp our passports when a very loud announcement came over the PA system and people started existing the building.  Magdi came over and told us sorry the ferry is not sailing with passengers!!  So back to the hotel, we were in luck and our bedroom was still available but other bedrooms  had already been hired out to other people!!  There is a large group of Europeans all hanging around the hotel waiting to get onto the ferry, also a few overlanders heading South, waiting for their vehicles to be off loaded.   I can’t wait for the chaos again in the ferry terminal!! 

We have just received the very sad news that our friend, Jack Pearson, passed away last night, our thoughts are with his family.

So, with a bit of luck, we will leave Sudan this pm, and head for Aswan, Egypt, and a break on the Red Sea.  We will try to catch the Ferry from Egypt to Venice on the 24 April, a 3 day trip.  In time for some late season Ski-ing in Italy????