Memories of Sudan

We only left Sudan a week and a half ago, and yet already it feels so distant.  Sadly it is a country of restrictions and I wasn’t able to publish any posts during our time there, so now I am playing catch up and will try to give as much of our experience in one short post.

Top memories included:

Staying with a Nubian family on the banks of the Nile.  It was only for one night, and even though we became the local attraction, it felt like all the people who stopped by to meet us became instant friends even though we didn’t speak the same language!  Our hosts where generous to a fault and will be one of our strongest memories of this trip through Africa.

Visiting JebaBerkal in Karima was like stepping back in time and exploring an Egyptian archaeology site 100 years ago.  The temples were only half excavated and the one cut in a rock needed a torch to see the paintings on the wall.  Karima itself was a lovely town with a colourful market and is where we spent our Christmas day.

Khartoum ended up being a 2 week adventure for us and included such delights as visiting a school for autism (will do a separate blog about it), staying with Hiba, the founder of said school, and her family for several days and going to a pre-wedding party that absolutely rocked

The desert wind was relentless and unfortunately not suitable for desert camping.  We did manage one night, our last night, and Sofia loved it so much she is always looking for an excuse to do it again.  The funniest thing though, was several people passed us and stopped and asked if we would prefer to stay in the local village (at least that is what I surmised) and they just couldn’t understand it when I kept saying no and walk away looking utterly baffled.

There are many things I’ve not included here that won’t be forgotten, like the USD story and the broken wheel rim, which have otherwise been faithfully recorded in Facebook.

In a nutshell though, Sudan is an interesting place that feels like a bit of a time warp.  On the one hand modernised, yet on the other hand, still some where stuck in the 70s and unable to move forward.  What was really nice was the people. So hospitable!  I have never felt so safe anywhere and leaving Sudan I was keenly aware that we would never be so safe again on our journey.