I crossed the Ethiopia-Sudan border on May 7th, and immediately I had to deal with deadlines:  first, all foreigners must register within three days in Khartoum.  Second, I had only 14 days to make my way out of the country, my visa being of the transit type.  I had been expecting something of a headache after all that really fun hoop jumping in Addis, but I wasn’t ready for the efficiency and dedication with which the local coppers went about fulfilling their roles.

 But this didn’t take away a most excellent ten days in the Sudan. 

My knowledge of the country’s current problems was sketchy coming in.  Hazy notions of the word genocide and starlets crying in the newspapers quickly crystallized through the many, many conversations I had with locals and UN-types alike.  The main problems are in the west, where (as I understand it) a brutal war between the nomadic Muslims and non-Muslim farmers is sucking the life out of the country.  To the south, secessionist rebels are also fighting the government.  The southern bit is alleged (by the many Arabic Sudanese I met) to have been created by poor British cartography and politicking.  Not an unusual analysis in Africa.  The problem in the Darfur provinces is much, much older – as one gentleman from UNICEF put it, the only solution may be two countries sometime down the road.

My traveling path took me through the east and northeast:  Gedaref, Wad Medani, Khartoum, Atbara, and finally Wadi Halfa on the Egyptian border.  This area is perfectly safe and the people extraordinarily friendly.  I don’t know whether I simply had good luck, or whether the very low number of travelers makes people more open, but I kept meeting good people. 

Many thanks go out to those people – including Ahmed whom I stayed with for four days en route to Khartoum, and John and Melissa in Khartoum, and Sammi in Atbara.  Only one night in a hotel in ten days!  That’s a new world record for me. 

Much more could be said about my social journeys, but perhaps another time.  I am now in the south of Egypt, in Aswan, where the remnants of Nubian civilization brush up against air conditioned packaged-tour groups.  A far cry from the blasted Sudanese desert, but… some airconditioning feels pretty good.  Up next, a felucca ride up the Nile for a few days.