and looking forwards to our next
adventure – Sudan.
Well, that’s a lie. There’s actually
about another 40 kilometres of brand
new tarmac to Sudan but it’s best not
to let that get in the way of a good
story.
We rode the 40km and went from
the best part of overlanding to the
worst – the paperwork. It took us a
solid 8 hours to negotiate our way
through the Egypt/Sudan border and
at times it looked like we’d never get
out of there. When we finally did
escape, we drove down to Wadi Halfa
with the setting sun alongside us.
We splashed out on a AU$14.00 hotel
room, threw our stuff down and went
searching for food.
In the town centre, there was no
street lighting, rather the place was
lit up with super bright LED lights
hovering over the shops and food
stalls. All of the food stalls were
identical and they were all selling
exactly the same thing – bones,
with bits of meat attached to them,
fried over hot coals in a really cool
silver pan. Served with super-hot
chili sauce and loads of bread - it
was absolute paradise. We were so
hungry that we slammed through
half a kilo each, it was exactly what
the doctor ordered.
About an hour later we were filled
with mutton, bread and regret. It
was just so greasy that it sent us over
the edge, we passed out in our dodgy
hotel room feeling pretty ghastly.
The following morning, we set
about getting some supplies to keep
us alive on our journey through the
desert. My travel diary reads that
we picked up: 1 x small jam, 2 x
yoghurts, 6 x bananas, 8 x rolls (hot
dog style) and 2 x tins of tuna – a
winning combination.
After about 20 minutes on the
road, we realised that carrying
yoghurts in 30° Celsius temperatures
wasn’t a great idea so pulled over and
tucked in. We spent the next few
hours heading down a big piece of
tarmac running parallel with the Nile
and pulled in at about 4pm to find
somewhere to camp. We pulled up
to the shores of the Nile and bumped
in to the local farmer. The meeting
broke in to a game of charades and
we tried to mime that we would like
to set up camp there. He nodded,
smiled and offered us a date by way of
a welcome.
This spot was even more incredible
than the night before. Although,
just as we had got everything set up,
another local farmer came along and
started his own game of charades.
He was acting as a crocodile and
laughing a lot. It was quite an easy
one to guess and we decided that we
wouldn’t go for a dip in the river. The
farmer also offered for us to come
and stay at his house, but we had
just set up camp so politely declined.
Instead, we lit a fire, put the kettle on
and sat down to enjoy the incredible
sunset, and then the stars above. All
TRAVERSE 122