Lake Nasser Ferry

Wow! Getting to Sudan was an experience. We arrived at the port around 9.45am. With the help of our local "fixer", we managed to get through immigration and on board the ferry by around 11am. Africans don't queue so it is a case of pushing and shoving to get anywhere! Once on board, there is no fixed seating arrangement. You just find your spot and then hang on to it. We decided outside on the top deck would be the best option, but as the ferry was not due to leave until 4pm, this meant sitting in the blazing heat all day. With creative use of sarongs, towels, washing lines, hair bands and safety pins, we managed to erect some sort of shade. The loading of the ferry continued all day long. There were around 700 passengers but many of them were clearly traders who had entered Egypt purely to purchase white goods to import into Sudan. The boat was piled higher and higher with boxes which seemed to contain mainly TVs and food processors. There is no organisation or loading system - it is every man for himself. Stuff would be loaded through the toilet windows, the restaurant windows - basically any entry point that could be found! By the end of the day, it was like embarking on an assault course to get below deck to use the toilet as you would have to clamber over boxes and sleeping bodies. As this is Africa and nothing operates on time, we finally left the dock at 7pm!

Your ferry ticket entitles you to one meal whilst on board. Fortunately, we had also bought plenty of food with us because the meal on board was probably worse than prison food. And the toilets....well, as one of my travel companions commented "these are worse than the toilets on Indian trains". Sleeping on deck was the right choice though. Whilst not exactly roomy, at least you got a decent breeze and could enjoy the starry night skies. We also got a good view of Abu Simbel (one of Egypt's most famous monuments) the following morning.

Almost 28 hours after boarding the ferry, we finally arrived in Sudan. Considering the amount of people and stuff on board, you can imagine that disembarking was also something of a challenge! And yet more forms needed to be filled in before we were allowed off the boat. This was probably our fifth form since leaving Egypt. I'm not sure why the authorities require quite so many forms, especially considering they also ask for the same information every time. But finally - hot, sweaty and tired - we made it off the ferry and on to Sudanese soil. Despite all the discomfort we've had to endure to get here, I think it was worth it. Not many people get the opportunity to visit Sudan so I feel quite privileged to have made it here.

Once off the boat, our fixer in Sudan made sure we got through customs very quickly and with the minimum of hassle. In fact, the people were all incredibly welcoming and friendly. To quote one officer, "Welcome to Sudan. It is very hot and there are lots of scorpions"!! Haven't seen any scorpions yet, but it is bloody hot. We are staying in a settlement just by the port called Wadi Halfa. Our accommodation is a very simple mud brick house (can't really call it a hotel). We sleep three to a room. The "shower" is a bucket and the water is always hot. Whilst there is an internet cafe in town, I would happily sacrifice that for a cold shower right now!! Average day time temperatures in Sudan are 40 degrees, but April to July is the hot season so we are experiencing temperatures in the high 40s. I have never experienced heat like it. It does not even cool down at night so you are constantly sweating.

So today we are waiting for the truck to arrive. Until she arrives, we are stuck in Wadi Halfa with nothing to do. She was on a barge at the dock when we left Egypt. Let's hope she is now on the water! Our fixer seems to think she will arrive today but I suspect that will be much later on which means spending another night here before we can head off into the desert and get back to camping and truck life...