Heron on the Nile
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  Friend to Stay Up To Karima Sat 19 Mar 2005  

Sat 19 Mar

Karima by coach
Karima by coach
An early start; today we're off "up north" to Karima. In my research I found a coach company departing from Omdurman rather than Khartoum South. I phoned them the previous morning and they promised to keep two seats for us; report by 7am depart 7:30am. Well that's quite do-able; it gets light before 6:30am these days.

We walk up to "Bosta" (Post Office). No minibuses or rickshaws so we find a taxi and show my piece of paper to the driver. Everything is clear. The price is fair, but when we set off towards Khartoum South I protest. We want souq Shabbi in Omdurman not Khartoum (unfortunately there are two). Surely the piece of paper makes that clear? I am angry. We get out and help ourselves to our luggage from the boot.

Early Start
Early Start
Now 20 minutes have gone and we are further away than when we started. After what seems a painful 10 minutes we find a rickshaw that agrees to take us to souq Shabbi, and we roll-up pretty well on the dot at 7am.

The coach operator greets us like long lost friends. He offers us tea or coffee and sits us down with the resident seat-al-shai. Of course there's no coach in sight at this stage, but it doesn't pay to get too clever, something will work out.

It is about 7:30am when an enormous luxury coach arrives; seats mostly occupied. The operator waves some tickets at us and chivvies us to get on board. Of course we sit there for a further half an hour or so not going anywhere while "things" are sorted out. Evidently the coach has come from Khartoum South – our taxi driver probably had honourable intentions trying to get us to the same coach at the start of its journey.

Once we finally throw-off the shackles of greater sprawling Omdurman we find ourselves out in a rather uninspiring desert. "What colour do you call that?" I ask David. We decide the sand is grey. There's not much undulation or vegetation.

Views from desert road
Views from desert road
We stop mid-way at a kind of "service station" in the desert. We're in the middle of nowhere but none the less an established stopping point for traffic in both directions. There are cafeterias and tea places on both sides; even toilets and a mosque. There's a chance for a cooked breakfast and a cold drink although the prices – as with service stations the world over – are excessive. Already, it's midday. This excursion is beginning to look a tad tight time wise.

Back on the road we agree the desert looks more attractive; more yellowish, more undulations. It's looking more alluring, promising adventure.

We reach a major junction; left for Dongola, Wadi Halfa and Egypt, or right for Karima. Shortly after this the tarmac runs out and we roll around alongside highway construction. From here we can see a green band of vegetation – mostly palm trees (at this distance) with the higher ground of the "eastern" bank rising-up behind.

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