Well, hello all!
So sorry for the lack of updates but there is no reliable internet connections throughout Sudan & Ethiopia.
We have now finished our 'long way down' & i am installing the last few entries individually so that you don't all die of boredom, which i think you would, if i did one long entry!
Anyway, Sudan...... Our ferry crossing across Lake Nasser was perfectly fine. We docked in Wadi Halfa around midday of 03/03.... All of a sudden it seemed that at last we were back in 'proper' Africa. Everything that i love about this continent hit me again...... the chaotic port, the smells, the absolutely searing heat, the beaten up taxi/buses (that shouldn't even be on the road!), the poor excuse of a road!, the huge smiles, the 'salaams' & of course the gorgeous kids!
Wadi Halfa is a tiny port town of friendly, welcoming people situated on the shore of Lake Nasser in the desert!- fresh catfish for dinner with the hottest chilli sauce that i've ever had - bloody fantastic!
The next day we went to off-load the car, no probs, & set off towards Dongola - tarmac for 70km & then proper desert driving, following the Nile thru' tiny Nubian villages. Bushcamped & then off again, stopping in Abri for fruit & bread for breakfast, we picked up a backpacker & dropped him to Wawa some 50km away & saw the head & full skin of the biggest Nile crocodile that had been slain there!
On we went.... miles & miles of rocky desert, then sandy desert, just about as far as you could see.
We by passed Dongola & made for Karima & then on to Atbarra, where the road literally stopped!! A detour thru a village found us at a riverbank waiting for a ferry to take us across to Atbarra & onto the Meroe pyramids.... now i have to say, these are far more acceptable than the 'giza' pyramids of Egypt, they are smaller & yes, i could see myself having one of these! ;-)
We also found the most perfect bushcamp, behind the massive red sanddunes - it was soo hot we just slept out under the stars in our birthday suits!!!
The final 200km to Khartoum was tarmac & became much busier. We crossed the blue Nile & found the campsite that has Lord Kitcheners boat in dry dock! - the heat was intense, 38degrees! We took a drive to where the 2 Niles meet & drove straight thru' the biggest demonstration alongside the presedential palace, that, to say the least , felt very uncomfortable... we then met a local guy who informed us of the stoning of the British embassy & advised us to keep a low profile..... a bit late for that one! The next day , on hearing that 13 'aid agencies' were asked to leave the country!! we decided that would be the smart move for us too!!
So, we headed off towards the border, bushcamped & then tarmac all the way - many dead camels, cattle & donkeys on the road side but also live baboons running wild - the scenery also changed, to the small mud walled, thatch roofed rondavels & the landscape was greener. We hit the border by noon on 09/03 on the edge of DINDER National Park!!!