A day in Omderman

My final full week in Khartoum has been a chance to unwind after a busy term and visit some more places of interest in the city. On Saturday, I got the chance to see some historic sights in Omderman, with a friend who has access to a car. Omderman was previously the capital of Sudan, but is now just a district of Khartoum on the other side of the Nile – albeit the oldest and most interesting district.

The first sight I saw was the old gate to the capital city, called the ‘Abdul Kayoum Gate’ which is now in the centre of a roundabout. Apparently it was built in 1890 and named after a famous guard in the time of the Mahdi, who led the men who tried to repel Kitchener’s forces in 1898.

After this, we drove on to the Khalifa’s house, which was an old mud building and actually not particularly impressive from the outside. The Khalifa was the Mahdi’s second in command and eventual successor, and the house is supposed to have several interesting artefacts inside. Unfortunately, the inside of the house is only open in the mornings and I was there in the afternoon, in an attempt to avoid the heat of the day. However, I will perhaps visit again next year.

Opposite the Khalifa’s house is the tomb of the Mahdi, with a very impressive silver dome for a roof. Unfortunately, this was also closed so I could not actually see the burial chamber which is supposed to contain the remains of the Mahdi. A bit further along the road (and quite difficult to spot) is the house of Governor Bramel, who was the British governor of Omderman in the 1920’s. The house is located behind a large wall and if it wasn’t for the blue tourist sign, which explains the significance of the building in both Arabic and English, I would not have stopped to look.

We then drove on to see some of the original fortifications built by the Mahdi in the 1890’s made of dried mud and mixed with straw, with gaps which were presumably for lookout and throwing spears etc. The fortifications are dwarfed by the nearby enormous metal shell of one of Kitchener’s steamboats, which was only put on display for tourists last year.

Finally, on the way back, we stopped on the side of the road to see the last traditional boat builder in Khartoum. There was no work actually being done at the time, and the people who were there did not want to be photographed. However, I think this is a good picture of the workshop and the boat currently under construction.

This time next week I will be back home in England, so this will be the last blog entry for a while. However, I do expect to be back in Khartoum at the end of the July, when I will continue to write about my experiences in Sudan.   

Climate, Mosquitoes and Malaria

Students have been sitting their end of year exams throughout the last week, and so most of my week has been spent either invigilating, marking exams or writing reports. In short, it has been a very boring and tedious week - but at least everything is now complete and I can forget about teaching and just enjoy the long summer holidays!!

Now the weather is becoming almost absurdly hot in Khartoum, I am actually looking forward to a mild and wet English summer. Temperatures today have been up to 43 degrees and readers from England may be amazed to learn that since I arrived on 9^th January, there has not been a single drop of rain anywhere in Khartoum. However, both the temperature and lack of rain is quite normal, as illustrated on the climate graph which I have included as a change from the usual photographs. I should point out this graph was found online and is not my own creation.

I included a climate graph in the recent year 9 exam (but not this one), and was slightly disappointed that so few students were able to interpret the diagram, despite the amount of time we spent on the subject in class. However, I am sure most follows of this blog can see the average maximum temperature is above 30 degrees all year round and above 40 degrees throughout May and June. Of course maximum temperatures can get much closer to 50 on occasions. Average temperatures are also at their highest in May and June, suggesting this is usually the hottest time of the year. (Technically, this is the average average - if that makes sense!)

This may sound strange, but when above about 38 degrees it actually becomes quite difficult to assess the temperature. In other words, the heat feels exactly the same at 45 degrees, and it drains all your energy. One of the few benefits of such extreme heat is the lack of mosquitoes, which were such a nuisance when I first arrived. Now, there seem to be very few mosquitoes, even at dusk and dawn when they are normally most active. This is quite fortunate for me, as I recently ran out of the anti-malaria tablets which I brought from England. Of course, it is possible to purchase anti-malaria tablets in Khartoum, but the risk at this time of year seems to be so low that I will just hope for the best from now on – but obviously I will still apply insect repellent if out at dusk (especially if I am near the Nile).

If interested, the malaria tablets I have been taking are ‘doxycycline’, which do not have any nasty side effects. As they contain antibiotics, they can also offer some protection against other illnesses. However, the only drawback is you have to remember to take one every day, or the treatment is useless.

The climate graph suggests there may be some rain in July and August (around 50mm), and unsurprisingly, this coincides with a drop in temperatures. So I am hoping that when I return to Khartoum at the end of July, the temperatures may be slightly more bearable (but perhaps that is just wishful thinking).