-- Log 22 --

The desert run ….



When the sand got too soft we headed for the railway track! Later on though we found that much of the track had washed away in the recent rains and we were not able to use this route. MR W was overheating in the soft sand and we kept having to stay close to the railway line in order to give her a chance to cool down. As the line deteriorated it became evident that we would have to find another solution to the problem.

 

Driving on the railway tracks	Time to dig – chat and have something to drink	Desert Mechanics! Taking MR W’s thermostat out, and we took the seed catcher off the front of the radiator (that made a difference).	All hands on deck!

Post of hope! Beautifully painted white and yellow in true environmentally friendly style
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Abu Hamed to Berber – typical trans Saharan piste – we kept a close eye on those posts – they were our lifeline – no railway track this time!




First desert camp together!

As the second day drew to a close, the sky started to look like it did when we experienced the storm at Meroe. We decided to stop and camp at 17.00 on a small rocky outcrop next to a post. We just had time to make supper when the wind came up. Once again it blew very hard and putting the tent up was not an option. The boys, and ‘kids’ slept in their vehicles and we made a plan and slept in MR W, but it was hot and very uncomfortable. Finally at around 1.00 am the wind stopped and we were able to get out and sleep under the stars! The next morning we were up early with the plan to try and make it through to Khartoum.

Although on the surface the people at Berber appeared friendly it soon became evident that some of the locals thought that we were from America and their comments were none to friendly! Mistakenly we had chosen the local ‘hookah’ house to have a soda and women are not welcome there! It was good to by back in the safety of our vehicles and on our way to Atbara.

Atbara is a small insignificant town, but one not too easy to get out of. The locals all know that Khartoum is South and when you ask directions they point in the general southerly direction – which could lead you up all sorts of garden paths! We knew that there was a tarred highway from Atbara to Khartoum because we had travelled on it when we went to Meroe, now they kept directing us to little tracks along the river. Eventually, we called a halt to the lunacy and cut across the desert until we found the highway!

The trip from Atbara to Khartoum was uneventful, yet pleasant – a bit of an anticlimax to the fun of the last two days! As we crossed the bridge over the Blue Nile we had many of the locals very upset because we had our headlights on – after all it was nighttime and we needed to see where we were going! Oh no, says William, when you cross the bridge you must switch your lights off, so that the Americans are not able to find the location of the bridges and attack them!