Mon 22 Nov

Back in Khartoum it was shockingly colder than the week before. The day-time high had dropped to the low 30s. The shower is chilly; too cold at bedtime. At night I have started sleeping in shorts and t-shirt, with the fan-off and windows closed. The street sellers are suddenly offering woolly hats and balaclavas – well anticipated on someone's part.

Tue 23 Nov

It is not quite so cold today but the sky has turned a worrying sandy brown. Hey! Where is our guaranteed sunshine? And the blue sky I comment on daily for fear of taking it for granted? Evidently with the change in the wind we have what Francophone West Africa calls "la poussière" (a dust haze). All colours have gone. We had been thrown into a world of black and white, or more accurately shades of sand. By mid-afternoon it is really bad; I can barely see across the Nile. When I get home, I close all the windows; never sure at what stage it might become a storm. Thankfully, by the next day, it has gone again.