Photos - Wadi Halfa to Dongola, Sudan

We are about three-quarters way from Aswan to Wadi Halfa, when I took a walk around the boat and snapped this photo. Lots of people, plus our bikes are all there. People on the boat were very friendly, as I always find in these crowded conditions. I found a few Sudanese playing cards at one point and they asked me to join - I just watched because I didn't understand the rules. But when I told them that I used to work in El Obeid, one of them said, "El Obeid! That's my home!" and then he exclaimed "Wala!" as though I were his long-lost sister.




I thought this next snap (left) was a really neat one, looking out the front of the boat, as we approach Wadi Halfa.

For those who are a bit curious how we, the cyclers, live, here it is in its glory. We have to fit our lives into those red boxes you see - sleeping bag, tent, everything. We then load our red boxes onto that big white truck you see in the back there. That other truck, the smaller one, that is the one that we see about mid-way through the day's journey and think to ourselves, "Al hamdullillah! Lunch!" This picture was taken at our first camp site in Wadi Halfa, after we got off the boat and finally got through customs.

For the next 2 days after leaving Wadi Halfa, our views were as shown here, from dawn till dusk. Sometimes the road was about like this, sometimes it was deep sand. That's my bike you see there. You can't see me as I'm taking the photo. Quite beautiful, really, the desert. But I was happy when, on day #3, we finally came to some villages, life, and people!

... And that is when I met my little friend and his brother in Abri-mu-Farka, and their mother (the school teacher) asked me to send her the photo, which I'll try to do and hope it reaches them. That door you see in the back is the one I described in that particular posting, when I wrote that, one by one, the family members kept running back through the door and excitedly yelling for others to come.

And the next two photos are the kids and women that I met when I got my ride on the donkey cart. Unfortunately, no photo of me on the cart. I tried to give the kids the camera and show them how to do it, but it didn't work out. However, if you look closely, you'll see my bike handlebars as I took the snap of the kids off the end of the cart. I was on the cart itself when I took that one.

Here is another man on a donkey. He came around and was curious at one of our lunch truck stops. He seemed to like it when I showed him his picture.

And then we passed through ... more desert. And then, to my beautiful amazement, I crested a hill at one point, and my eyes caught this stunning view of the Nile River! What made it so spectacular is that I'd seen sand, sand, nothing but sand, the whole day long. And then ... GREEN!
















Every village we passed had at least one shelter where they kept urns of community water. It was amazing, in that hot, hot weather, how cool (cold, almost) that water was! Sometimes, I'd take a half cupfull and pour it over my head. Finding these water urns was like finding glorious little oases because I knew I'd be cool for about 10 minutes, until the water evaporated.

Dongola! The best! Here is my friend, the camel, the one I found in the downtown metropolis of Dongola.

And we can't leave Dongola without showing you my good friend, Tareg. Tareg was my bike mechanic. After I came back for my bike, later that day, Tareg and I chatted and chatted and Tareg took my bike for a spin, much to the delight of the onlooking kids. When I left the shop (which was just a roadside shop), I sadly thought I wouldn't see Tareg again. But, as I was sitting having tea at the end of the day, guess who arrived? Tareg! He had arrived on his bike, a big one full of whistles and bells. I rose and said, "Tareg!" He said, "Wala!" and we gave each other big hugs, as though we'd been best buddies for years, rather than all of about 1o hours. He then sat down with me and we chatted and chatted, for about 2 hours. That's when I took this picture, which, unfortunately, isn't such a great one of him. He explained to the other customers (his mates, I guess) that I was the woman who was sleeping with a group at the empty zoo - this brought lots of laughter. Then, Ahmed the chef, who called himself "Doctor Ahmed", asked if I could come back the following night because he was serving up chicken, a real specialty. But I had to say that, alas, my group is moving on and I have no choice but to move on with them. At the end, Tareg walked me back to the empty zoo, where we were camping, and he gave me his address so that I could mail the picture. And he told me to please come back one day and visit him and his wife and family. Dongola was the greatest!