When in Sudan …
Sudan is
as flat as Ethiopia is mountainous and the people are more hospitable than
even the Irish. Tourists are
not seen by locals simply as a disguised Bank ATM or a source of skin tax,
the friendliness and hospitality are genuine.
Together with some amazing desert scenes this makes Sudan a country
really worth visiting, contrary to most negative travel reports.
Places
to stay along the route:
There
are no places to stay along the route.
Not easily recognisable ones anyway.
Khartoum is about the only place where it’s not convenient to bush
camp. Everywhere else bush
camping is preferable since you need to register with the police if you are
staying in a town. If you’re
not bush camping in Sudan you’ve missed the point.
The desert is big and very beautiful.
There
are three places to stay in Khartoum:
-
Isaak’s camping (N15°30’45.0”
E32°37’40.7”)
recognisable only by a sign at the gate “well come”.
$3.- pppn and $3.- for your vehicle per day.
Quite far out of town therefore quiet. The
owner is quite helpful and knowledgeable and can save you a significant
amount of time hunting down whatever you need in Khartoum.
For a fee he will also drive you into town.
Good drinking water from a borehole.
-
National camping residence (N15°31’25.5”
E32°34’11.9”)
– about 1 km off the main road into Khartoum (turn left at the street
market opposite the Gapco garage), sign posted at the entrance to the
campsite. 250.- Dinar pppn
(+-$1.-pppn). Cheapest
accommodation around with reasonable facilities.
Plenty of locals stay in the adjacent bungalows or rent rooms in the
complex. Closer to town but not
quite as quiet as Isaak’s, nor can you just leave your vehicle open for
the day. Within walking
distance of the local market. It
appears to be an old army base – camp on the parade ground under the
trees.
-
Blue Nile Sailing Club - We didn’t stay here, so no GPS
co-ordinates. It’s on the
river, close to the centre of town. $3.-
pppn, $5.- for your vehicle. Better
for cyclists and backpackers. Plagued
by mosquitoes.
Things to see
·
Temples – Sudan has many temples in varying degrees of dilapidation
along the Nile River. You require a permit (only obtainable in Khartoum) for $10.-
pp per site. You will have to
choose your sites carefully or negotiable a bulk-discount or try to make a
deal with the caretaker at each site. In
many cases you need to hire a boat to get to the opposite shore as not all
temples are on the same side of the river as the road/track.
The pyramids of Meroe (Royal City) are probably the most worthwhile.
(Not to be confused with Nuri Merowe).
Doing a tour of all the sites can take you two weeks if you have your
own vehicle.
·
Route from Khartoum to Wadi Helfa – there are two routes from
Khartoum to Wadi Helfa (or visa versa): via Dongola or via Atbara.
-
Dongola route –
finding the way out of Khartoum (Omdurman) can take several hours as there
are no street signs and you will probably be directed to a suburb called
Ongola instead. The first
section (approx 240 km) is good tar up to the Nile River.
From there to Dongola mostly never-ending villages if you follow the
river or thick sand and later gravel if you take the outside road through
the desert. Plenty of tracks to
follow either way. Once in a
while a tar road appears out of nowhere and disappears just as suddenly.
Ferry crossing at Dongola (N19º10’49.8”
E30º29’20.7”) costs 750 dinar.
From Dongola to Wadi Helfa (at least 400 km, more if you get lost
often) there is a very badly corrugated track.
For most of the distance you can choose one of several less
corrugated tracks alongside. This
part of the route is very scenic with plenty of places to stop for a swim in
the Nile and beautifully painted houses in the villages.
Petrol and diesel available up to Argo.
Food, water and cold drinks are obtainable in every village.
Budget four to six days in a car.
-
Atbara route
– from Wadi Helfa to Abu Hamed (approx 370 km) follow the railway line and
telephone poles. This section
consists almost entirely of sand. In
most places the surface is flat and hard but there are some nasty areas
where you will sink in up to your chassis.
These soft sections are almost impossible to see until you are in
them. Nothing is available
along this route except water at station # 6 (N20º45’03.0” E32º32’45.4”). Petrol,
diesel, water and groceries are available in Abu Hamed.
The section from Abu Hamed to Atbara (approx 210 km) is the classic
trans-Saharan piste recognisable only by 2.5 m high poles every several
hundred meters. In true
environmentally friendly style the markers are painted white and yellow so
they blend into the environment perfectly especially during a sand storm.
Follow the poles rather than the many tracks as some veer off into
the wild blue yonder. Make a
point of finding the hole in the rock (N18º41’31.6”
E33º48’09.7”). From Berber to Khartoum (approx 350 km): good tar road so be
prepared to pay road toll fees. Do
not camp near the oil pipeline (east of the tar road), the police get very
jumpy. This is the faster of
the two routes – budget 3-4 days (unless you left your sand ladders at
home).
-
Dongola – Karima – Atbara:
this route is an entirely unmarked alternative through the desert.
We did not travel it so have no info regarding this.
We have met people who have travelled this without undue hassle.
Do not ask the villagers for route information, ask the truck
drivers.
Other:
·
Exchange rate: 1$ = 263 Sudanese Dinar.
·
The Sudanese have an annoying habit of using Sudanese pounds (10
pounds = 1 dinar) when they talk to you.
This confuses the issue about how much things actually cost.
Sometimes they also arbitrarily drop two or three zeros off the end
of the price, so something could cost “two” “twenty” or “two
hundred” or “two thousand” depending on Allah-knows-what. To
deepen the price mystery things either have no price tag or the tag is in
Arabic script. The best way
around all of this is not to buy anything (your cheapest option), or if you
do have to buy something, always offer less by a factor of at least ten than
the quoted price – you’ll soon be told you’re not paying enough but if
you offer 1000 dinar when the price was actually 100 dinar (1000 pounds) you
may never see your change. Most
traders are actually quite honest and will help lost souls such as western
travellers without ripping them off. In
many cases traders actually lowered their prices because we were foreigners
– a unique phenomenon.
·
Alien Registration – this is bureaucratic idiocy at its worst.
For some unknown reason foreigners (aliens) need to register in
Khartoum at the Ministry of Interior. The
process is very confusing and even though we have gone through it we still
cannot say with certainty what happened.
Things are significantly speeded up if you have several photocopies
of your passport and visa as well as 2 photographs.
We paid 2,000 Dinar per person but we have met others who have paid
significantly more or even less than this.
We’ve even met one traveller who has got away without registering
at all. We have heard that the
registration process, travel and photographic permits are no longer required
but it appears that the message has not yet filtered down to all the
officials. Our travel permit
was only checked on two occasions, but at this stage travel permits can
still save significant amounts of hassle.
I think we drove through most of the roadblocks where travel permits
would have been checked.
·
Do not bring TCs. Only
one bank will change US dollar TCs for the fee of $25.- per transaction.
Cash is the only medium that can reasonably get changed to dinar.
If you get stuck in a long holiday (and there seem to be enough of
those in the Muslim calendar) or the weekend catches you napping, many fuel
stations will take cash dollars for fuel.
Currency declarations seem to be a thing of the past.
·
Fuel is quoted in pounds per gallon everywhere except in Khartoum
where it’s either pounds or dinar per litre.
Figuring out what you pay is as easy as converting fathoms per
fortnight into km/h – you need a BIG calculator.
In and around Khartoum expect to pay 90 dinar/litre (405 dinar/gallon)
for petrol with the price increasing with distance from Khartoum.
Wadi Halfa is the most expensive:
700 dinar/gallon in the market or 650/gallon in the well disguised
wholesale fuel station (Nile Petroleum: N21°48’19.7”
E31°21’01.7”).
Whichever way you look at the price, if you can convert it correctly
it’s cheaper than all other countries so far (I think).
·
Toll gates – there are lots of tollgates, some very formal-looking
while others take the form of a roadblock.
The going price is about 350 Dinar.
We only paid tolls once. In
some cases we were waved on (not having to pay because we were foreigners
from Mandela-land), in others we simply drove through either looking away
from or waving back at the cops or sometimes talking our way out of paying
the fees. Many of the roads are
good enough to warrant paying a toll but we refused to pay toll for sand
tracks.
·
Land Rover spares are aplenty in Khartoum and there are old Landies
breezing about the countryside everywhere, so someone will be able to make a
plan if they don’t have the part you need.
The Land Rover dealer in Khartoum “Nefeide Motors Service Centre”
(N15°39’44.9”
E32°33’38.4”)
is the first Land Rover dealer in Africa not to pull up their nose at the
sight of a Series III vehicle. They
also had a technician inspect the Landy and give us an opinion “as a gift
to foreigners”. For new or
used parts for older vehicles try Mohammed Awad Yacan (N15°37’49.9”
E32°32’53.7”).
He will save you a heap of time by sourcing any part you require (if
he doesn’t already have it in his shop) rather than directing you to some
other place. Mohammed Yacan
still has several oil filters for a 2.6 litre side-valve engine – get
there while stocks last. Expect
to be served lots of tea and cold drinks while you at wait (this is pretty
standard hospitality anywhere in Sudan).
·
There’s no beer in Sudan and that’s a great shame because you can
work up a real thirst in the heat and the desert.
Our vehicle was not searched at customs (in Kassala on a holiday) and
it appears that other ports of entry have also grown tired of thorough
searches, so BRING BEER and a fridge.
·
As in all Muslim countries, Friday is the weekend and Sunday is a
normal workday. Office hours
are from 08:30 to 12:00 with breakfast from 09:00 to 10:00 and in the past
work resumed from 17:00 until 19:00 but this has been deemed inconvenient,
so now lunch break now extends until the following morning.
Therefore do not expect to get too many things done in one day.
These working hours apply mainly to government institutions and
banks. Small businesses have
vested interest in remaining open until 15:00 or even later.
·
Internet – there are many e-cafes around Khartoum.
Shop around for the best price.
The fastest we found was the Internet Garden “Speedest Internet”
on the main road into town (near the airport) more expensive but very quick.
·
Sudan is best avoided in summer, it is already hot enough in winter.
Bring your own shade as there are few trees: you’ll have to travel
far to find one big enough to park under.
Lots of sun block is required here.
·
Food – take one of two approaches here, one eat the foods you would
at home and be prepared to fork out wads of dinar for that luxury (why
bother travelling north) or shop at the local souk for olives, feta,
grapefruits, watermelons, bread, fresh fruit juices and vegetables.
In Khartoum you will find reasonable pizza’s and burgers too but
rather try the delicious shawarmas. Products
imported from Egypt are cheapest in Wadi Helfa (feta cheese, olives, dates,
Nity chocolate coated cakes etc – read the packages)
·
Drinking water is available in every village.
Many houses have clay jugs in a shady place where you may help
yourself to cool water. You may
have to socialise if caught in the act though.
Other countries could learn from this type of hospitality.
·
Swimming in the Nile river is very refreshing in the heat of the day.
There are two creatures that may bite: one is the crocodile (not
named after this river for nothing) which the locals will tell you only
occurs upstream, downstream or on the opposite shore to where you are and
the second is some type of water insect that has a bite/sting that is more
painful and itchy than a mosquito sting.
Either of these can make you swim rather unpleasant.
Yours in
Africa,
Riff-raff
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