Near Dongola, Sudan

Wednesday 29th August 2007 Somewhere near Dongola.
We explored the desert a bit before it got too hot, as the low cloud in the east covered the sun till 8.30. The temps soon climbed to 35, then 46 at 4pm. There was evidence of a couple of small mammals, hunting birds and small rats. There were moths, caterpillars and locusts too, but NOTHING else, only the occasional heap of sun dried bones and parched skin with sand piled up. This is the Nubian desert which has a thin black layer of laval pebbles. It looked to me like in ancient times a very thin layer of very liquid lava ran into the cracks and crevices of the underlying sandstone, solidifying into strange shapes.
We arrived in Dongola (Well, what we thought was Dongola) after travelling along a new tar road for the last 60Km. The Sudanese are really developing their country and it is going ahead well.
We rested under a tree in the shade instead of investigating archeological sites and was invited to sit on the beds and given tea. Sudanese men lie on these beds in the shade from 12.00 noon til 3pm resting and drinking water and hot sweet tea (without milk) Even truck drivers take their beds along and put it up in the shade of the truck at these hot times. As we were about to leave this ramshackled town we discovered the real Dongola was across the north flowing Nile, so we took a ferry again and came across this lovely bustling town and found the two Swiss cycling friends there. We had been worried as she had been sick in Khartoum. She was still sick, diagnosed with Typhoid, but much better.
We think no internet before Egypt which we will reach on Thursday next week, and have to wait for the Landy till Saturday morning which goes on a different ferry to us,(cargo ferry) along the Aswan Dam.

Tuesday 28th August 2007 Carved Rock and Well between Karima and Dongola.
On the way again we were surprised to see flocks of ordinary white storks migrating down to SA, and drinking from the pools after the rain in the desert. There are a few camels and the odd goat. There were three mobile homes next to the road in a twisted heap from the wind and huge signs blown over. This is a real test of endurance with the heat increasing to just on 50deg, and at midnight still 36. From Karima we went on 30 Km tar then a good gravel road. At Karima we went to the 'Holey Mountain", Jebel Barkal and saw more pyramids (not demolished this time) in the heat, but couldn't get to the tombs we would have like to see at El Karru because the Nile had blocked the road. We crossed the south-flowing Nile again using another ferry, the bridge was nearing completion, and spent a lot of time trying to get our satphone to send and receive sms messages to Vodacom cell phones in SA, but discovered that Vodacom has blocked this, so have only the use of the sat to talk to SA. We drove into the desert, the true desert now and came across a huge sandstone boulder standing alone and camped nearby. Nev climbed up and found ancient carvings all over the top. The sides of the rock had been sand and wind eroded to a pedestal and not much was engraved there. We came across a circle of stones on the ground in the sand and dug around with our spade. We found it was an ancient well. It was too hot to dig much but the stones were laid beautifully lining the well. Nev is drinking 8 litres of liquid per day (I am drinking about 7 litres) We only eat supper because we don't get hungry in the heat. It is date-picking season and the fresh dates are very sweet, similar to dried dates. At night we didn't even bother to put up the tent, and slept on the ground wrapped in wet skirts. We take regular showers, the wetness cools us down in the wind.

Monday 27th August 2007 Windy Camp between Atbara and Karima
The guide book said we were in for a terrible road, but surprise surpise, we had perfect new tar all the way to Karima. The temps rose up to 46 and the worst part is, it doesn't cool down till 5am the next morning. Over 30, it is difficult to sleep. The desert is fat and sandy around here. At Atbara we had to cross the North flowing Nile just before the last tributary, the Atbara River (bigger than the Zambezi at this time of the year) joins the Nile. We crossed the Atbara River using a bridge, but had to use the ferry to cross the Nile. No matter how hot we are, and all we are looking for is a swimming pool, when we see the Nile water, we just cannot bring ourselves to jump in it because it is like liquid chocolate. It has been said that someone 'walked on water', this is nearly possible here. We found a campsite in the desert, just off the road behind a row of low hills and set up camp. We had showers every 10 minutes to keep cool. The hottest part of the day seems to be around 4:30pm. Then it doesn't cool until the next morning around 4am. At midnight we took down the tent because of the wind reminiscent of Lake Turkana, and spent the rest of the night sweating on the mattresses next to Landy on the ground.