From Aswan to Sudan

Atbara, Sudan

 

The ferry to Sudan leaves from a town a few kilometers south of Aswan called High Dam. It's called High Dam because there is a huge dam there called "High Dam". All you really need to know is that the dam created an artificial lake called " Lake Nasser" and Lake Nasser is the body of water that the ferry traverses to get from High Dam, Egypt to Wadi Halfa, Sudan.

 

Mark and I arrived from Aswan via taxi and found a dozen or so other travelers already at the terminal. For travelers entering Sudan from the north, this is the only way and since the ferry only leaves once per week, you're bound to meet other people on the ride. You clear Egyptian customs and pass a bogus security scanner before heading out to the ferry. I say bogus because the metal scanner that you walk through beeps randomly, and when it does beep they just wave you through, and the guy operating the luggage scanner had to ask me what he was looking at on the screen when my bag went through. (It was my camera, but it's not all that reassuring when he asks you "Sir, what is this?" and when you reply "Uh, it's my camera." and he replies back "Ok, fine.")

 

Anyways, the ferry itself isn't all that big and to me it reassembled more of a fishing trawler then a passenger ferry. (Minus all the fishing gear of course). We boarded the ferry around 11am and watched for the next 5 hours while goods and produced got loaded on as well. The ferry was supposed to leave around 3pm, but we left at 4pm, which when you ask the locals could be considered "early", since the ferry sometimes sails much, much later then that.

 

I splurged and purchased a 1st class ticket, which gave me a bed in a two person cabin. Nothing luxurious, but since 2nd class, the only other option, was just wooden benches below deck, it seemed like money well spent. Most people, including almost all the non 1st class backpackers, just hung out on the deck of the ship.

 

There's not a ton to say about the ferry ride itself. Lake Nasser was some very strange coastlines that are dotted with tiny little mountains sticking up from under the water forming hundreds of little islands. A result of the fact that this part of Egypt used to be above water. The land itself is barren and very desert like. Lake Nasser itself is huge, though mostly in length as I'm pretty sure we could always see both sides of the lake. As you leave Aswan, you get a real sense of adventure and anticipation knowing that your next stop will be in Sudan. South of Aswan, there are few visible signs of human settlement along the shoreline and for the most part it's just you, the other passengers and the ferry.

 

I spent half my time mingling with other travelers and half my time mingling with the locals. I found it amazing how few other travelers actually engaged any of the locals in conversation. Granted, many other travelers where traveling in a group which inherently lends itself to being anti-social, but still. The highlight for me was spending a few hours below deck in 2nd class late at night playing cards and talking politics with some of the Sudanese making the voyage home. The turning point was when I realized that I was the only Westerner down there and probably the only Westerner still awake on the boat, as most of the other travelers had retired to their quarters. I realize people travel for different reasons, but it seems silly to make all this effort to get to Sudan, and yet not even spend time with the Sudanese who you are sharing a boat ride with! For me, the time spent below deck resulted in some powerful discussions about education, peace and government as well as countless mobile phone numbers and offers of places to stay in Sudan. (Seems everyone in Sudan has a mobile number they want to share with you.... /shrug).

 

The other travelers on the boat ran the gauntlet of people that I've come across. There was a group of people representing all ages who were part of an organized tour that was doing "Cairo to Cape Town" overland. There were three South African guys also heading down to Cape Town, but towing kiteboarding gear with them after having spent time in Europe. There was a Swedish couple who were riding their motorcycles all the way down to Cape Town together. About 8 British guys driving Land Lovers down to Cape Town. Some independent travelers like myself such as Maurice, a Brazilian girl heading to Cape Town by herself, Lee, a South Korean who I had met in Cairo at the Sudanese Embassy and Mark, an American from LA that I had befriended in Aswan. Finally, there were five other Swedish men who really didn't fit in with the travelers crowd. They were three "business men" and two hired hands with more technology and gear than you can imagine. They are driving three BMW motorcycles from Sweden to Cape Town in under two months, along with two Chevy pick-up trucks that look brand new, complete with chrome bumpers and running boards. On the deck of the boat, they pulled out three laptops, several mobile phones, a Blackberry, GPS gear and a satellite up link so that they could check email and what not. The engineer in me was impressed, but if you ever want to look out of place with a bunch of dirty backpackers, climb off your BMW motorcycle, pull out your Blackberry, setup a satellite up link with your laptop all on a boat crammed with Sudanese and Egyptians who are transporting goods and produce from Aswan to Wadi Halfa, Sudan...

 

 Almost everyone was heading to Cape Town, since that's the new "cool" thing to do I guess. Mark and I joked around that maybe we should tell people we were going to Cape Agulhas, the most southern tip of Africa and a few kilometers past Cape Town. Nothing like going up to someone and saying "Oh, you're only going to Cape Town?" and seeing the expression on their face... ;)

 

While I remembered few names from the dozens of people I met, I would universally becoming known as "Mr Kenny" by my fellow passengers. It was sometime around 2 in the morning, while standing alone on deck staring at the stars that I realized that the real part of my trip was just about to start. We were leaving Egypt behind, I had not seen any settlements for hours and all that lay ahead was open water and ultimately, northern Sudan...

 

Kenny