The half term week was my first opportunity to travel outside of Khartoum and so I decided to visit Port Sudan, on the red sea, for five days. It is worth noting that travel outside of the capital is not as straightforward as you may expect. Desert roads contain numerous police and military checkpoints, who may insist on seeing permits and passports. It is therefore essential to have the correct paperwork before leaving. Luckily, Unity High School is willing and able to obtain permits for travel, which was a great help.
There are no motorways between the two cities, and yet for most of the journey the driver seemed to be attempting a new land speed record. It should therefore come as no surprise that within a short while there was a rather unpleasant engine smell inside the coach. However, the drivers solution to the problem may come as more of a surprise. A coach in England may call the AA, or stop at a garage, or maybe even phone the depot for a replacement coach. Not in Sudan. No, the driver thought the best solution was a can of air freshener, because obviously if you can’t smell a problem – there is no problem! Two hours and one aborted overtaking manoeuvre later, and we had a shattered windscreen. I had visions of the driver unrolling some sellotape, but instead he just lowered the sun blind. Incident number three (pictured) was a just a routine puncture, and for some reason changing the wheel in the middle of the desert seemed quite mundane after the earlier experiences.
However, it not take long for us to realise there is not actually a great deal to do in Port Sudan. There are very few expats in the city and most tourists just use it as a base for snorkelling or scuba diving. From the very first evening, I got the impression locals were not used to seeing white people when a pick-up truck sped past us in the street with locals leaning out shouting “Welcome to Port Sudan. How… are… you….?” The ‘you’ was trailing off as the truck passed, but I would not have been surprised if they had continued along the lines of Manuel from Fawlty Towers “I speak English well, I learn it from a book”. The highlight in the city itself is unsurprisingly the promenade (or corniche) where you can sit with a coffee or fresh fruit juice playing cards and watching the enormous container ships unload their cargo. It may sound dull, but it is actually quite pleasant and relaxing. The sea breeze is especially welcome when used to the dust and sand of Khartoum. There were even a couple of snooker tables on the corniche, although I did not play.
The first full day in Port Sudan was an opportunity to go snorkelling from a beach on a small peninsula, which was about an hours drive north of the city. The road north ends on the border with Egypt, and so is very quiet. It was therefore not surprising to see several camels, some of which were standing aimlessly in the centre of the road. The beach itself involved driving off road for about 20 minutes then walking for about 10. So, more surprising than seeing a camel on the road, was seeing a rickshaw arrive on the beach. The driver seemed quite impressed with his accomplishment, although I can not understand how he managed to get the rickshaw here.
Sampling the local fish is also essential in Port Sudan, and it sometimes seems as though all life in Port Sudan has a diet of just fish. I’m not just referring to the food found in local cafes and restaurants. The street cats eat fish, the dogs who live in the gutters also eat fish. In the town of Suakin, which we visited on the second full day, there is even a fish-eating donkey!
Suakin is just 50km south of Port Sudan and prior to 1905, when Port Sudan was founded, Suakin was the only port in the Sudan and became wealthy from the slave trade. The port was also used by British forces when trying to repel the Mahdist uprising at the end of the 19th century. Originally an island, the British built a causeway which still connects Suakin island to the mainland. I am currently reading a book on this subject, and so may include more details in a future blog. Unfortunately, most of the buildings on the island now lie on ruins, but it was fascinating exploring these ruins and imagining what it may have been like more than a century ago.
Despite its fascinating history, Suakin is perhaps best known for its ‘demonic’ cats, which the locals believe are possessed by evil spirits. The cats are abnormally large due to the large amounts of fish which they consume and they soon surrounded us whilst we ate lunch at a local fish restaurant. As it was quiet, the owner sat next to us with a large stick, which he used to keep them away. The picture shows some demonic cats fighting over the leftover fish on a neighbouring table.
I was travelling with two colleagues from school, and we decided to travel by coach to save money. This did mean that two of the five days holiday would be spent on the road, but the tickets were only 73SDG each, which is much cheaper than flying. The only hidden cost is the 1.50SDG just to enter the central bus station. (I hope Ryan Air doesn’t hear of this, or they may introduce a departure lounge admission fee!) Never mind, we caught the coach with no difficulty at 6.30am Monday morning - but it soon became very clear to me why they advertised a 1777km journey as taking just 9 hours.
There are no motorways between the two cities, and yet for most of the journey the driver seemed to be attempting a new land speed record. It should therefore come as no surprise that within a short while there was a rather unpleasant engine smell inside the coach. However, the drivers solution to the problem may come as more of a surprise. A coach in England may call the AA, or stop at a garage, or maybe even phone the depot for a replacement coach. Not in Sudan. No, the driver thought the best solution was a can of air freshener, because obviously if you can’t smell a problem – there is no problem! Two hours and one aborted overtaking manoeuvre later, and we had a shattered windscreen. I had visions of the driver unrolling some sellotape, but instead he just lowered the sun blind. Incident number three (pictured) was a just a routine puncture, and for some reason changing the wheel in the middle of the desert seemed quite mundane after the earlier experiences.
In total the 9 hour journey took 11 hours and 45 minutes, but on the plus side, it was still daylight on arrival! Port Sudan has several high quality western hotels, including a Hilton, but we were lucky to be staying for free in an apartment which belonged to a friend of a friend.
However, it not take long for us to realise there is not actually a great deal to do in Port Sudan. There are very few expats in the city and most tourists just use it as a base for snorkelling or scuba diving. From the very first evening, I got the impression locals were not used to seeing white people when a pick-up truck sped past us in the street with locals leaning out shouting “Welcome to Port Sudan. How… are… you….?” The ‘you’ was trailing off as the truck passed, but I would not have been surprised if they had continued along the lines of Manuel from Fawlty Towers “I speak English well, I learn it from a book”. The highlight in the city itself is unsurprisingly the promenade (or corniche) where you can sit with a coffee or fresh fruit juice playing cards and watching the enormous container ships unload their cargo. It may sound dull, but it is actually quite pleasant and relaxing. The sea breeze is especially welcome when used to the dust and sand of Khartoum. There were even a couple of snooker tables on the corniche, although I did not play.
The first full day in Port Sudan was an opportunity to go snorkelling from a beach on a small peninsula, which was about an hours drive north of the city. The road north ends on the border with Egypt, and so is very quiet. It was therefore not surprising to see several camels, some of which were standing aimlessly in the centre of the road. The beach itself involved driving off road for about 20 minutes then walking for about 10. So, more surprising than seeing a camel on the road, was seeing a rickshaw arrive on the beach. The driver seemed quite impressed with his accomplishment, although I can not understand how he managed to get the rickshaw here.
The advantage with driving to this peninsula is the coral is right next to the beach, and within easy wading distance. You can then choose to swim as far out as you like, following the coral reef, and seeing all the brightly coloured tropical fish that you would expect to see. Unfortunately I am not a fish expert, but I did see a stingray and a turtle! There were also a lot of small jellyfish. Despite being harmless, it was unpleasant in some stretches of water where there were so many jellyfish it felt like swimming through soup!!
Sampling the local fish is also essential in Port Sudan, and it sometimes seems as though all life in Port Sudan has a diet of just fish. I’m not just referring to the food found in local cafes and restaurants. The street cats eat fish, the dogs who live in the gutters also eat fish. In the town of Suakin, which we visited on the second full day, there is even a fish-eating donkey!
Suakin is just 50km south of Port Sudan and prior to 1905, when Port Sudan was founded, Suakin was the only port in the Sudan and became wealthy from the slave trade. The port was also used by British forces when trying to repel the Mahdist uprising at the end of the 19th century. Originally an island, the British built a causeway which still connects Suakin island to the mainland. I am currently reading a book on this subject, and so may include more details in a future blog. Unfortunately, most of the buildings on the island now lie on ruins, but it was fascinating exploring these ruins and imagining what it may have been like more than a century ago. 
Despite its fascinating history, Suakin is perhaps best known for its ‘demonic’ cats, which the locals believe are possessed by evil spirits. The cats are abnormally large due to the large amounts of fish which they consume and they soon surrounded us whilst we ate lunch at a local fish restaurant. As it was quiet, the owner sat next to us with a large stick, which he used to keep them away. The picture shows some demonic cats fighting over the leftover fish on a neighbouring table.
After two busy days travelling out of the city, Thursday was the third and final day in Port Sudan. I therefore spent most of the day relaxing on the corniche, and took the opportunity to explore more of the city centre with a friendly rickshaw driver.
Friday morning was an early start, as the coach for Khartoum was due to leave at 6.15am Sudanese time. Of course, that means it was nearer to 7am when the coach finally departed. Apart from being almost forced of the road by an oversized lorry, the journey hone was fairly uneventful - but very tedious! Term re-starts on Monday, so the weekend will now be spent preparing myself for the week ahead.
No comments:
Post a Comment