The last article ended with their being in North Sudan, a country which they liked a lot, lots of space, with sand, friendly people, ancient pyramids and other ruins. They headed up the Nile, did some repairs again to Betty and arrived at Wadi Halfa where they were to take the boat to Aswan and Egypt. When the Aswan dam was built, about the time of the Suez war, the land in Sudan that was in the Nile valley was flooded and the Nubians who lived there were moved. The only access from Sudan to Egypt is now via Wadi Halfa and the regular boat service that runs on Lake Nasser. Simon, Hannah and Betty with their Swiss friends, Tom and Ellie in their land rover were transported on the barge that takes vehicles across the lake. Their journey took 3 days and the barge anchored up each night because sailing at night was too dangerous. Their accommodation was in the tents on the top of the land rovers. On arrival at Aswan, the people were unloaded at one point and the vehicles 15km away to do customs checks. This having been sorted, they then drove to the Red Sea and spent a couple of days at the coast. They then returned to the Nile and to Luxor to collect a parcel that had been sent out to them from the UK.
They had planned to travel up the Nile to Cairo to get their passports translated into Arabic, and apply for a their Visas for Libya. However, tourists in their own cars are not permitted to travel along the Nile North of Luxor and after some discussion with the police the alternative route through the Western Desert was used and a night spent wild camping in the desert. They reached Cairo on our Easter weekend (the Christian church in Cairo follows the Eastern Orthodox calendar, their Easter was 27th April this year) and I met up with them on the following Tuesday. They got their passports translated and submitted them to the Libyan Embassy, who faxed them to Tripoli for processing. They were told to come back in two weeks. This meant that we could spend time together and we visited the pyramids, Egyptian Museum and friends and contacts in Cairo. They were good company and we found a wonderful bookshop in Zamalak, near to where we were staying.
They returned to the Embassy as instructed but the transit visas were not forthcoming, so they went off to the Western Desert again, this time to see the White Desert, which has been formed by wind action on chalk, and has some impressive structures. They then returned to Cairo, to see if the visas had arrived. No joy, so some more work on Betty (tyres, this time) and a trip to El Alamein to the war memorials from the Second World War. Back to Cairo, still no Visas, so plan B - tourist visas, which cost a lot more, was brought in. Visas sorted within a few days, and a tour of 4 days through Libya was arranged. They left Cairo on 23rd April, were in Libya on 25th April, and into Tunisia on the 28th April.
They spent time in Tunisia playing in the desert sand, and getting stuck. Tom and Ellie were on hand to pull them out. They then spent 4 nights at a Hotel in Hammamet to wash off the sand and prepare for Europe. They visited the most northerly part of Africa (7 months and a few thousand km/miles ago they were at the most southerly) and spent a couple of nights in a scout camp on the sand dunes. Whilst in Tunisia their plans were to visit Carthage and other ancient sites and some of the many film sets in the country.
Tom and Ellie left for Europe on a ferry to Rome, and Simon and Hannah were treated to a 2 berth en-suite cabin with sea view by Grandi Navi Veloci who transported them and Betty safely to Genoa in the north of Italy. It took them a day to get to Switzerland and as I write they are heading for the St Gotthard pass in the Alps. We expect them back on the weekend of 17/18 May.
For further information and to make donations, see the website - www.africa2ormond.co.uk . There is also a series of articles in Land Rover Monthly starting in their May 2008 edition, well written , well illustrated. I have got my copies at Belle View and Smiths.
Liz Gray 465821