Day 11 into Khartoum

Day 11 into Khartoum.

We got cracking quite early today after a decent night’s sleep. Well reasonably good. I didn’t battle, as I seldom do, but the youngsters complained of miggies etc. Mark hasn’t been to the army and Justin operated a desk in some air conditioned office at Natal Command so they found their first night at the ‘Nile Hilton’ a bit rough.
We stopped for lunch at Dongola, a small town on the Nile but an important ferry crossing and had a good meal- goat and bread. It tasted better than it sounds. There was the option to cross and ride down the other bank but we had been on such a good road that we didn’t. In reality a mistake. We did however get to Karima, where we saw some good pyramids, but had a detour to get back to the Khartoum road. At this point we had to make a decision on reaching Khartoum. There’s a 300km desert run in from the north. The temperatures were 44 degrees and we were getting tired. It was too early to stop and basically no options of camp sites so we pushed on. Any way we then broke rule no 1, for the second time, and arrived in Khartoum in the dark. This place is chaotic. To add to that Mark had the only working gps. What with the heat, traffic, mark leading etc we arrived at a hotel late and buggered.
Now this isn’t the 4 seasons, not even close. It does have basic services so we cleaned up and headed out for supper. Schwarmas and fresh orange juice did the trick.
I’ve woken this morning and it’s still as hot as last night. The proprietor last night says next month is even hotter. Scary!
I lost my glasses in a little ‘get off ‘yesterday and these spares aren’t too hot so excuse me if I can’t see.
I think we’re going to take it easy here today and then head for Ethiopia. It’s much higher and apparently cooler. After Egypt and then this place we’re looking for some respite. We’re ahead of schedule.

Jim.