Atbara, Sudan

Atbara, Sudan

There isn't much to say about Atbara. It's bigger, noisier and orders of magnitude more dusty then Abu Hamed. Really though, the dust and dirt is just everywhere. It's also a bunch hotter then it was up in Abu Hamed and I'm feeling the heat. The hostel, or lokunda, I'm staying in is about as basic as you can get. Something that barely classifies as a bed shares a dirt court yard with about a half dozen other beds. A blue tarp provides a makeshift wall, but sadly blocks the wind which would provide some much needed ventilation in this heat.

 

I walked around a bit yesterday, but there is honestly nothing to see and the dust from the passing cars quickly gets to you. Today, I tried getting a permit to visit a site called Meroe, but after a visit to the security office, then to some secondary office, it was evident that I needed to go to the Tourist Office, which of course, was closed.

 

For the most part, I've spent most of my time in Atbara taking shelter from the heat and dust here at the internet cafe.

 

I've given up on trying to get across to Kareima as the road from Atbara to Kareima apparently takes around 10-12 hours for a boksi, and after the bus ride the other day, I don't think Kareima is worth that amount of effort. So, the plan is to head south to Meroe tomorrow, then on to Khartoum. I've heard reports that the buses to Khartoum are on hold as the African Nations conference takes place, so it might not be until Wednesday or Thursday until I can get to Khartoum and escape the desert dust.

 

While Wadi Halfa and Abu Hamed represented the adventure I was looking for, the bus ride and Atbara are probably more of what I was not looking for. Lots of effort to get somewhere with little to no reward. And unlike Abu Hamed where I could easily walk around and meet the locals, Atbara doesn't have that same sort of feel to it and other then several vegetable and fruit vendors that want to strike up a conversation in Arabic/English, there hasn't been a whole lot of social mixing going on.

 

Hopefully I can move on tomorrow and maybe spend the night camping at Meroe under the stars, before pulling into Khartoum later this week. As they say, "Inshallah".

 

And with that, I'm all caught up on my blog updates! I'm sure I've skipped some corners and left out a few stories here and there, but I think I've covered the big stuff...

 

Hope everyone is doing well back home and all the best from Atbara, Sudan

 

Kenny