The British influence on Khartoum, and Kitcheners boat

The last week has been very quiet and I now find myself counting the weeks until my flight back home to the UK. If interested, it is 4 weeks until the end of lessons at school, which are followed by exams. Then 5 weeks until the end of term for students, 6 weeks until the end of term for staff and 7 weeks until my flight home!

As I’ve found myself increasingly thinking of England, I thought this would be a good opportunity to blog about the British influence on Khartoum. Like many cities, Khartoum is actually divided into several districts. The main street in central Khartoum is Nile street, which follows the southern bank of the Blue Nile. North of the Blue Nile is the district of Bhari and North of the white Nile (which approaches from the south) is the city of Omdurman. My apartment is in central Khartoum, and to the south of this are the newer districts of the imaginatively named ‘Khartoum 2’ and ‘Khartoum 3’ as well Amarat and Riyad.

Historically, Khartoum was the capital of Sudan, but following the Mahdist uprising the capital was moved across the river to Omdurman. When the British reclaimed Khartoum in 1898, led by Kitchener, the capital returned to Khartoum. As I was at a loose end last Friday, I decided to walk with a friend to the banks of the Nile and it was interesting to see the British influence on the city as we walked. I’m not just referring to colonial architecture (which is actually quite difficult to find) but there are a few road junctions which have been designed in the image of the Union Jack! One such junction is pictured here, although it is difficult to appreciate the 8-way layout from this. I am sure it would look much more impressive from the air! (If wondering why so many of my pictures have quiet roads, it's because they are always taken on Friday).

From Nile street, we went into Blue Nile Sailing Club to see the infamous gunboat which Kitchener used to reclaim the city. Although I realised it would be not be a battleship, I was slightly dissapointed to see Kitcheners gunboat was simply a boat with a gun at the front! Apparently, the gunboat was rusting away on the banks of the river, but in 1987 a freak flood left the boat stuck in mud several metres inland, where it is now preserved (and surrounded by flowering plants) in the sailing club. When I say preserved, it’s not actually looked after very well (in fact it seems to be used for storing spare cardboard boxes), but at least it is no longer in danger of rusting away altogether.

Finally, some good news to end with – On Monday, I received a letter from the headteacher confirming that I had passed my 3 month probationary period. It may be just a formality, but it’s nice to have it in writing.