Kicking off in Khartoum

Kicking off in Khartoum

July 5^th 2013

Arab tribesmen bring their cattle from all over Sudan to Khartoum.

For many months now I have been planning this trip, grabbing ideas from people, the internet, the media, anything I could find to inform me about Sudan. What is this place? What makes it so scary to so many people?

I remember going for dinner at a friend’s place in Toronto back in January, and we sat and discussed why I was choosing to come to Sudan. She said to me, “Are you outside your mind? What could possibly make you want to go to this place? Are you not afraid?????”. To be honest with you, yes I was afraid in some ways, but part of the reason I go on these journeys is to break down barriers and open up the world I see to my friends, my colleagues, my students and many others that I do not even know.

Meeting some of these fine men from all over Sudan.

My friend, Christina, sat me down with a bottle of Peruvian dark rum and we watched, “The devil road in on horseback”, a film about the Janjaweed, the Arab Militia of Darfur. During the course of this 80 minute film of intense suspense and imagery we drank the entire bottle. I fell asleep wondering, was I making the right call to come to Sudan?

My fine hosts at the camel market.

I sit here now in my hotel room in Khartoum, pondering the thoughts about that night, and the so many conversations I have had with friends and family about this trip to East Africa.

My experience in Khartoum and its surrounding cities has been anything but like that film I watched that one winter’s night in Toronto. That does not mean that the events depicted in the film are not true, but to paint the entire nation of Sudan with a brush as so many of us do is simply inaccurate. Sipping that rum and arguing with Christina about that film and about Sudan, I kept saying to her, “This is only one piece of the puzzle, I want to hear the other side”.

Being stopped for coffee by locals constantly, just a fine bunch of folks all across Khartoum.

I went out to the desert outside Khartoum to a camel market where Arab tribesmen from all over Sudan bring their cattle and camels to sell or trade in this market. I sat down for coffee with many of these desert Arab tribesmen, and their kindness and hospitality was like none other than I have seen. These are the same Arab tribesmen we hear so much about in the media, and possibly even the same men depicted in that film I watched in Toronto. They lit a small fire of incense, wafting it throughout the room, I felt as if I was being hosted by royalty. They spiced coffee they served was among the best and the strongest I have ever had, and their curiosity and intrigue about myself and why I had come to The Sudan was fascinating and exciting to both of us.

Coptic Christian Church of Saint George. I discovered that here in Khartoum as in many parts of the Muslim world, the people are very tolerant of Christians. And when I tell them I am a Christian they embrace me. A fantastic show of Sudanese hospitality.

This meeting with the Arab tribesmen is just beginning, and only a small hint of the hospitality I have received thus far in The Sudan.

Saint Matthews Catholic Cathedral and School.

Everywhere I go, I am stopped and asked to join for coffee, lunch, a juice, or just a simple chat. Can I ever pay? NO! The people are as friendly as anything, they do not beg, harass, or pester you. They give you the right way, always wave to say “Salam” or “Hello”. 

My hotel owner George, has to be one of the nicest and most helpful people I have ever met and the operation he is running has set me up for success in Sudan. Helping me to get my travel and photo permits, along with my Ethiopian VISA, bus tickets, local information and so much more. I am truly blessed to be having such an experience.

The Blue Nile Bridge.

Sudan in many ways is a mysterious land, a place that at times feels very much like the Middle East, but also at times feels very African, yet it is neither, it is simply “The Sudan”, a place like none other and a place I intend to explore much further.

Sudanese Coffee, bringing people together.

I shall head north tomorrow to Karima, to see the sites of the pyramids of Nuri, after which I will circle back south to Shendi, and the pyramids of Meroe before returning to Khartoum and making my way to Ethiopia.

The Great Mosque of North Khartoum

This journey has kicked off far better than anyone could have ever imagined and I hope to carry this momentum into the rest trip as I strive to reach Mt Kilimanjaro by August!

God Bless all of the people of the Sudan that I have met so far and have been so incredible.

I wish all those back home and abroad reading this the very best.

Sincerely,

William Delaney

The mighty blue Nile flowing west to meet the White Nile in Khartoum.

Sunset over Tuti Island, where the two Niles meet. What spectacular view with the city of Omdurman  in the distance.