Author archive
22 March 2014
I had breakfast with Erich and Ulla. We were going our separate ways today; their Land Cruiser had arrived and will be ready for use today. I picked their brains on various parts of Africa. They talked about Chad and how they had seen some canyons with water there; I thought for a moment that […]
21 March 2014
I woke at 0230 for a 0300 pickup for Abu Simbel. Before we left Aswan, we went through a checkpoint where the vehicles were inspected by mirror underneath. It was a 3h+ ride from Aswan and I dozed part of the way. We didn’t travel in a strict convoy in a manner that was prescribe […]
20 March 2014
I joined Erich and Ulla today to explore Aswan’s west bank. Our planned activities required a private felucca journey in one direction so it made sense to do it together. We started off in town and found a felucca for EGP50 to take us over to the west bank, getting off underneath the Aga Khan’s […]
19 March 2014
Above: On the ferry after a sleepless night. Another sleepless night I rose in the wee hours of the night and wandered around. There were people sleeping everywhere, both inside on the floors, and on the open deck. I went to the restaurant. The atmosphere there, like the rest of the boat was very friendly. […]
18 March 2014
Above: On the top deck; prayer time at sunset. Photo courtesy of Vincent Gelot. Sleepless Night There was plenty of snoring through the night, sharing a dorm with mature men. Cellphones kept going off too! It got really cold; I had three layers on my upper body, a rain coat and also longjohns under my […]
17 March 2014
Without breakfast, I took a tuktuk to Dongola’s station hoping to get a bus to Wadi Halfa. There were only minibuses and I didn’t fancy being squashed so opted to pay for an extra seat. I did keep the extra seat until close to the end of the trip when they picked up some extra […]
16 March 2014
I decided I needed a day “off” from travelling around. I had woken up around 0300 again from the cold even though I was more warmly dressed. I couldn’t sleep for a few hours then must have nodded off and woke again at 0930. I must have needed the sleep. I had thought of going […]
15 March 2014
It wasn’t a surprise that I’d feel cold in the wee hours of the morning. After all, it was cool yesterday when I arrived at 1100 yesterday. I woke to put on an extra top and longjohns. I had good intentions of getting going early to Karima, 2 hours away by van. It didn’t happen […]
14 March 2014
I set the alarm for 0300 to allow plenty of time to catch public transport to the bus departure point. The hotel receptionist said that there would be minibuses running even at that time in the morning. Off to the corner opposite the minimarket, I went, just before 0330. I waited about 10 minutes and […]
13 March 2014
After breakfast, I went to buy my bus ticket to Dongola for tomorrow. I repeated my receptionist’s instructions to the tuktuk driver. It didn’t get anywhere; he took me to somewhere else to buy the bus ticket and then another, all to no avail. I returned to the hostel and got the receptionist to write […]