Khartoum (Car-Tomb)!

Being woken up by nature's best alarm clock was becoming commonplace, and we decided that an early start was in order. The first stop would be Dongola, and then onwards to Khartoum. We were running a little behind schedule, and were keen to get things back on track. Before we left, we saw a familiar vehicle arriving on the horizon, it was Pete and Jill, and their beautiful Red Land Rover truck. They stopped to say 'hi', and then carried on their merry way. We knew we would see them again before too long.

The road to Dongola was easy. Again we followed the new tarred road all the way along the Nile, and the Landy was eating up the miles. Soon it was time for us to test out the British built bridge, and see what Dongola had in store for us. It was another, what I can best describe as 'western' towns. Not in the developed world sense, but in the out of a cowboy movie sense. Dusty streets, with sparse development, and a sun baked feel. We parked the car under a tree for shade, and headed off to find refreshment.

On our return, we were greeted by the familiar sight of Andres, Arno, and Don (their little beast of a car), and after they grabbed some food, we decided to hit the desert road together. All was bliss, and with both yellow machines eating up the road, we were well on our way to Khartoum. We stopped occasionally to take in our surroundings, and to stock up on water, but soon the km posts counting down the distance to Khartoum were signalling our imminent arrival, and the mood was one of optimism.

That was until, out of the blue, the car began to show signs of struggle yet again. I looked at Phil, and he looked at me, and exasperated I said 'it can't be, not again'! It was, the car proceeded to deteriorate, and as soon as we saw a truck stop we realised we had to cut our losses. After much persuasion from myself and Phil, the Amsterdam duo reluctantly continued on, and we were left to once again to seek support fromm our partner charity. John Ugo answered the phone, and immediately jumped into action. It would be another night spent sleeping out in the desert, but in the morning they would send someone to tow us into Khartoum, where they would source a mechanic to do the work.

Again the sleep was lovely. Despite the constant movement of traffic in and out, there is just something so incredibly relaxing about sleeping outside in the desert. In the morning, we were given breakfast by some friendly officials, and soon after Tony, who we would soon learn is 'always the man for a difficult job', and our tow arrived. We headed off to Khartoum in the luxury of an air conditioned car, whilst the poor old landy rode in on the back of a truck. It is the fourth tow we have received so far, and certainly the longest. After an hour or so of driving, we reached civilisation is epic fashion, arriving in Ondurman, on market day, and the sights and scenes were just mind blowing. After crawling through the traffic for what seemed like an eternity, we eventually arrived in Khartoum, and at the office of St Vincent de Paul, or charity partner in Sudan.

After a quick rest and brief introduction to their work, we headed to our accommodation, which was at a local seminary, and the car was parked outside for the mechanics to fix on location the following day. We met up with John and Tony again in the evening for a quick guide around town, and an introduction to 'Tweety Juice', which blows all other juice related competition out of the water. Before long we were back at the seminary, tucked up in bed, in a room complete with air conditioning, ready to crash out in preparation for a busy day on Sunday, where Ethiopian visas, photo permits, and vehicle repair topped an ever growing list of things to do.