-- Log 21 --
 

05/09/02 – 07/09/02 - FOC
Wadi Halfa – Abu Hamed – Atbara – Khartoum

We confronted Kamil about the costs and discrepancies, and he said we were to take the matter up with the office – which was closed. We both felt that the whole thing was not above board and that there were far too many uncertainties (for which we did not have the budget) that we finally made the decision to call the crossing off.



The main street of Wadi Halfa – showing two of the three hotels

We joined up with the other two couples and headed back to Khartoum. Although we are both saddened by the fact that we are not going to be able to complete our original plan, we know that we did leave it open to change and we will now continue southwards and spend more time exploring East and Southern Africa.

Erling arrived having decided he could not wait any longer for the Saudi Embassy to give him a visa. He had driven up the same route as we had and the bike had had three punctures, he had run out of water (due to the delays) and was very dehydrated and not looking too good at all. He is going to take his bike on the passenger ferry and drive to Europe via Egypt. Erling we wish you well – take care mate!

We decide rather than take the road back to Khartoum via Dongola, we would try the desert run – Abu Hamed – Atbara. None of us have had any serious desert driving experience – the boys had spent a little time driving the dunes in Libya. But we figure if we stick together we should be able to make it. For us, it is fantastic to have travelling companions again.



Anneke and Jelte from The Netherlands



Jan and Carl from Germany

We took a slight detour out of Wadi Halfa before we found the railway line and telephone poles – our soon to be lifeline. We soon discovered what a station was and that with the exception of one none of them had water.
 

Station - # 3 – only Station # 6 has good water	Ready, set, GO………	One push and you’re out of here!

It was not long before MR W got bogged down in the soft sand – everybody to the rescue – the boys provided great sand ladders and in no time we were on the ‘road’ again. Throughout the day between the Landie and MR W we got stuck as the drivers gained skills at desert driving. At Station # 6 we decided to find a spot to spend the night – 10 kms out of town the girls came across a rocky outcrop and headed there to camp – much grumbling from the men folk as it was a little off track, and they did not want to get stuck in the sand going there. The Landie and MR W made it without incident – surprisingly it was the boys who got stuck – we sent the Landie to rescue them and it got stuck! At the end of the day – good fun was had by all and we were surprised at how much we had learnt through the day. It truly was a good day.