| January 2009 |
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1 January 2009 In the meantime, we heard from our Japanese motorbiking friend, Yuki, who was on the same route, not far behind us. She had sprained her knee while diving in Dahab, where we had spent Christmas, and was in a plaster cast. She wasn't having too great a new year either! We wish her a speedy recovery and hope that she'll be back on her trusty Suzuki again soon.
We had breakfast and decided to take a daytrip to Beni Hassan, about 20km on the East Bank of the Nile. This was where some tombs of a few ancient kings were located. As we did not want to take a police escort along with us in Tuah (we had no place for him anyway), Mum had to sign a declaration to say that we were going out on our own accord without the security. Along the way, we saw lots of the local folk going about their everyday lives. Being a Friday, kids were not in school and were running about everywhere. In one village, a few kids tried to jump onto Tuah's bumper to hitch a ride. One or two of them ran after Tuah banging on the sides with their hands. The older men in the village were telling the boys off, but they carried on. The last straw was when one of the boys picked up a stick and ran behind us. Mum got out of the car with a golf stick waving in the air. Needless to say, the boys ran off. That one incident aside, everyone was happy and friendly, waving as we passed. When we stopped to take a photograph, cars would stop to see if we needed any help. It's so much more refreshing than Cairo!
The walls of the tombs were decorated with ancient Egyptian hylographics. Mum says I must not draw on the walls, so how come the ancient Egyptians were allowed to? Anyway, we made our way back to the hotel for a rest before dinner on board one of the Nile dinner boats. The reastaurant owner saw me trying to make a paper plane out of tissue paper (such is life when you can't have much toys to play with) and made me a boat out tin foil. I like it!
3 January 2009 We had breakfast at the hotel, overlooking the River Nile, then packed up and took off for We past a few check points, each one asking us what our nationality was and where we were heading to. We stopped to buy lunch at a KFC along the way and Dad and Mum took turns to eat, while the other drove.
Eventually, we had to pick up our escort, 4 armed police guys in a pick up truck. Each escort drove ahead of us for a certain distance and then we were handed over to another police escort. We had 7 escorts in all, and then left to drive on our own the rest of the way, reporting at each check point along the way to It was a long day and we went off to sleep, feeling very cold. 4 January 2009 Seeing that Tony, from the campsite had called Mr. Salah, the guy in charge of the Aswan-Wadi Halfa ferry bookings and confirmed that we will be booked on the ferry departing on the 12th January, we don’t need to head down to Aswan till a couple of days before the departure, to sort out the paper work. This gave us the day off to spring clean and reorganize the truck.
The campsite was the ideal place for this, with its secured gates. A few times in the last couple of days, Dad and Mum had thought we were somewhere quiet, but within a few minutes, a small curious crowd would have assembled. I loved the space – lots of it for me to run around safely and a few other English speaking travelers to chat to. Dad and Mum worked all day unpacking the entire car, vacuuming it, then repacking it again. I just rolled around in the dirt, played with my toys and drew some pictures in my notebook, while they were at it.
After a good scrub in the shower, we headed out to town, where Mum stopped at Arkwrights, apparently the last place we will find Kellogg’s Frosties and Coco Pops, till we get to Nairobi, and we had dinner at ‘A Taste of India’, a lovely Indian restaurant nearby then retired for the night, which was again, freezing cold. Dakhla in the Western We decided to leave the campsite in It was a nice drive, on rather decent roads and we found the Bedouin Camp in Dakhla. We set up camp for the night, and Mum cooked some dinner. I was starving and ate loads! After dinner we walked up to the Bedouin’s tent, where they had a fire going and were playing some music on their drums. There were a couple of other tourists about, too, drinking tea and puffing on this water pipe thingy.
Soon I was told that it was time for bed. It was nice to sleep in the tent, and though it was cold, we had our sleeping bags and the new super warm duvet Dad had bought in El Minia a few days back. The We thought we’d have an early start, but left later than expected, as the roof tent couldn’t close with the sleeping bags and duvet in it. Eventually, the duvet came back out, and Mum said she’ll pack the sleeping bags up and move them down to the car tomorrow morning. The
We stopped at El Fafarah, the last town before the
There were several other campers in the desert tonight, mostly tourists travelling with Bedouin guides, who drive them in, set up a camp, and cook. We got a campfire going to keep us warm and had dinner under the stars. It was a very clear night and we went to sleep to the sound of the Bedouin drums beating in the distance.
7 January 2009 The When I went down for breakfast, I saw that we had a night visitor – little paw prints of a desert fox! Dad got my breakfast ready, as Mum packed the sleeping bags into their compressor bags to be kept in the car. The new duvet will now be used in the roof tent. We were all packed up and ready to go, then the trouble began – Tuah’s engine would not start. The battery indicator showed that there was nothing wrong with the battery, so it was down to the air filter or the fuel. The air filter was fine, and Dad and Mum were trying to figure out what to do next, when Rhiani, a Bedouin guide with 4 Australian tourists, who were camped further down from us had seen Tuah’s bonnet opened and came to see if we needed any help. He knew straight away that the problem was due to cold fuel – the Diesel in
We drove back to the Bedouin Camp in Dakhla, reporting back at the several check points we passed yesterday. Instead of camping tonight, we are sleeping in a domed mud hut. Ours has a bathroom attached, and the first thing Dad and Mum do is to dump me under the shower. Mum cooked some nasi lemak for dinner – what a treat! 8 January 2009 We had some cereal for breakfast, and while Mum was preparing a packed lunch of nasi goring (fried rice) for the long drive back to
We said goodbye to our Bedouin friends and on our way out, stopped to say hello to Mokshin, a 5 day old baby camel. He was pretty big for a 5 day old, and was already walking. Baby camels stand up within 2 hours of being born, and walk within 4 hours…amazing!
We spent most of the day on the road. Luckily we knew where we were headed to, as the sign boards were either in Arabic, or wrongly spelt! We arrived back at the campsite in
There was a French family in a campervan at the campsite, too, and I was happy to have Louane to play with. 9 January 2009 Soon it was time to say goodbye, as we drove off to see the Valley of the Kings before heading for
Up till a few months ago, we would have had to drive in a convoy, with armed guards, at a fixed time, but today, we were able to drive on our own, reporting at several check points on the way. We arrived at the It was 3pm by the time we were done, and headed to town for some lunch and to arrange for a taxi driver to pick us up from the port tomorrow, once we have Tuah on the barge. We spent the rest of the day making sure we had what we needed for the ferry crossing we would take on Monday, Mum catching up on the laundry and Dad taking Tuah out for a good wash. At one point, a man dug into the dustbin after Mum had thrown a bag of rubbish in, and opened up the bag to look for some food scraps. Mum saw this and gave him a pack of biscuits, which he thanked us for and sat down to eat immediately
11 January 2009 We got there and supplied copies of our passports, as requested, for entry to the Port area, and then were told to wait. So, we waited…and waited. After about an hour and a half, Mum went to ask the guards what the delay was and was told that there was a problem. What was the problem? They did not know. Eventually one of the guards called Mum and asked her to help write out all our seven names, nationalities and passport numbers on a form. The problem was none of the guards on duty could read anything but Arabic!
Next, was the Customs clearance. We were told by Mazar, the Sudanese fixer that EGP50 (about 6 Euros) Baksheesh to the officer will mean they won’t ask us to unpack the whole car and hold us back another 2 hours. On to the payment for the trucks to go on the barge, which was not too painful (apart for when Dad paid up). Then we had to get the Carnet stamped for the trucks to leave the country, before being told to drive down to the barge, which was still being loaded. After an hour, it was time for the 4 trucks leaving today to be driven onboard. They were tied down and we will be meeting them in Wadi Halfa, We took a cab back to the hotel, where I was dumped into the shower right away. Mum says that I am a dirt magnet, whatever that means.12 January 2009 Kamal, the taxi driver was waiting for us smack on time, at 8.30am, and drove us to the port, where there were hundreds of people already waiting for the gates to open, to clear immigration and customs. Gerrit, Sandra, Rene and Andrea were already there, along with Dale, a Canadian traveler, living in
Our tickets were checked soon after we arrived and we ‘foreigners’ were allowed through the port gates first. We found the departure cards and had them filled out then went to have our exit stamps put into our passports by the Immigration Chief. Next, our tickets were checked and we were then allowed on board. We had a cabin, a small cubicle with 2 single bunk beds and a small table and chair.
By 1pm, the ferry was filling up and the deck was full of people, trying to find whatever space they could claim for themselves. We were grateful to have our cabin, as small as it was to retreat to, when it got really hot. We were served some lunch in the cabin and after a short rest, went back on the deck to watch as the last trucks were loaded on the barge (there are another 5 overland trucks and 2 bikes leaving today) and the last passengers were on the ferry before it finally left the port at 5.30am, as the sun was setting. We went back to our bunks and we were asleep by 6.30pm, after some bread rolls for dinner. 13 January 2009 We were later sat around on the deck, when I heard a loud bang above my head, and the next thing I knew, Sandra, who was sat next to me, was on the floor, blood gushing from her head. The heavy metal door for the ferry’s air vent had fallen, as someone walked into it and hit Sandra on her head. She was rushed to the ferry’s medic who bandaged the wound to stop the bleeding. She was alright, aside the shock and had a big bump and a smaller wound, but spent the rest of the journey resting in our cabin.
We were told that our ferry had passed the barge on which Tuah was on, at 3am, and that it was due to arrive in Wadi Halfa several hours after us. We arrived in Wadi Halfa at noon, but it was another 2 hours before we cleared immigration on board the ferry, and were allowed to disembark. We walked down the jetty to the Customs building and to the minibus Mazar had arranged for us and the other overlanders he was helping with the vehicle and permit clearance. We were driven to the town and everyone was checked into the best hotel. The South African bikers on their way back from Mum later washed me up and we were fed a traditional meal by Aunty Badariah, Mazar’s mum. I watched TV with Uula and her little brother for a while and then went off to bed. Wadi I woke up as Dad and Mum were discussing what was happening today with Mazar. Tuah’s barge should have arrived last night or early this morning and Mazar was going to the port to check that all was ok and would send some transport for us when it was time for Tuah to be driven off the barge.
We had some breakfast and I played with Uula until the tuk-tuk arrived. At the port, we could see Tuah and the other trucks on the barge by the jetty. The 5 trucks and 2 BMW motorbikes on the barge that left a day after us had actually arrived before ours and were waiting for customs clearance. Eventually, we drove the trucks off the barge and after getting all the paperwork cleared, drove into town to say goodbye to Mazar’s mum, sisters and Uula, then met up with Gerrit, Sandra, Rene and Andrea, to drive south, down the Nile route. The other 3 groups of overlanders had gone ahead of us.The road was part tarmac, part sand and stone. We only managed to drive about 30km out of town, before it was getting dark, so we collected some firewood and found a nice spot for the night. 15 January 2009 We all slept well in our trucks. Waking up, we had breakfast, packed up and hit the road again. The tarmac only lasted another 1km. From there on, it was just a horrid bumpy surface, which Dad and Mum called corrugated. The trucks took quite a trashing, and I could not even watch a DVD on my little player! We didn’t cover many miles today, and were grateful for the company to drive with. It makes a hard day more bearable!
We passed a few villages and kids and adults came out to wave to us. The Sudanese are friendly people. Mum bought some bread and tomatoes in the village, finding it extremely expensive. There wasn’t any bottled drinking water, but we still had enough to last us a couple of days, and we had a water filter pump, in case of emergencies.
We decided to find a spot to camp for the night just outside the town of 16 January 2009 90km north of We had another hard day on the road. We had hoped for better roads today, but no such luck. We were once again driving on sand and stone and long stretches of corrugated road surface, which made poor Tuah shake, rattle and roll. Rene spotted a tap by the road in a small village and we filled our bottles of washing water from it. We passed a few small villages, stopping at one before lunchtime, when we spotted Gunnar, our Norwegian friend from the Aswan-Wadi Halfa ferry. He was on his bicycle from
The rest of the afternoon went by slowly, with bad roads and increasing heat in the We stopped for the night at a very nice spot behind some rocks, about 90km before Dongola. Rene got the campfire going and we all sat around having our dinners and talking. The last few days in the company of Gerrit, Sandra, Rene and Andrea have made the difficult road bearable and the evenings fun. 17 January 2009 We had a pretty early start today, taking off before 10am. Not long after we were on the road though, I started to have a tummy ache. It lasted for about an hour, and Mum gave me some Calpol, which made me feel much better. We arrived in Dongola, and found the market. We bought some vegetables and melon. Mum wanted to buy some eggs, but the shopkeeper was asking for 1
The road from Dongola to Karima, through the desert was as Gunnar had said, a proper asphalt surface, so we had a comfortable drive. The trucks were refueled at a Petronas Station in town-the first Petronas (Malaysian) Station Tuah has been to. Mum managed to find a shop that sold bottled drinking water, and stocked up on it. We drove on a little and saw the famous pyramids, at Jebel Berkal, which were a lot smaller than the ones in
After driving around for a couple of hours, with nobody knowing where the Blue Nile Sailing Club was, we met Gerrit and Sandra, who were Abdul Salam, a local Sudanese businessman with a passion for 4x4s, and a heart of gold. He was going to take us to another campsite in Khartoum, but somewhere down the road we got seperated, with Gerrit, Sandra and us ending up at the Blue Nile, and Rene and Andrea at International Residance. Abdul Salam came to the Blue NIle later to make sure we had settled in and invited us for lunch tomorrow.
Soon after, we met the Second Secretary, Mr Shuhada and HE Tn Hj Zainal Hamzah, the Ambassador. We were invited to have dinner tonight and were very humbled by the time and interest they had in our expedition. The embassy driver then escorted us to 16th Street, where we met us with our overlanding friends for lunch with Abdul Salam and some of his friends. His 14 year old son, Saad was there too.
After lunch, we headed back to the Blue Nile Sailing Club to inform them that we were not staying another night, and met Sulaiman, a Spanish guy and his wife, Galuh, an Indonesian, who are cycling from Tunisia to Indonesia. What an adventure!
In the afternoon, we were met in the hotel lobby by the hotel GM, Mr Hossam, the MISC (Malaysia International Shipping Corporation) guys based in Khartoum, Mr Shuhada from the Malaysian Embassy, Erwan and Siti Kay from the hotel. After some photographs of Tuah in front of the hotel, we were taken to the Petronas Headquarters to meet Mr Kadir, Mr Rahmat and several other Petronas representatives based in Sudan. There was even a really cool playground in the complex, as many of the Petronas staff living within the complex had their families with them. We were treated to a Malaysian dinner at the cafe and then headed back to the hotel for a nice hot shower and a good nights sleep!
21 January 2009 We had a really nice breakfast at the hotel. Erwan, the hotel’s Internal Auditor had complied a list of the documents we needed to provide to apply for our travel permits for the journey to the Ethiopian border. Dad’s old company, MISC sent someone over to collect the documents from us to be submitted for the permit. We will be flagged off from the Grand Holiday Villa Hotel tomorrow morning, by HE the Ambassador. What an honour! Our friends Rene, Andrea, Gerrit and Sandra will be joining us for breakfast and we will be hitting the road with them again. We had lunch with Mr Hossam. He’s such a thoughtful and generous man. He even arranged for some food supplies to be prepared for us tomorrow. We then went to the Malaysian Embassy to meet HE the Ambassador, to thank him for all the assistance and hospitality we have received from the embassy here.
22 January 2009 We have an early start. We take off today from Mum is given a huge hamper of fruits, cake, biscuits, eggs, Danish pastries and breads, plus water and fruit juices to take along with us – Mr. Hossam is really a thoughtful man! We were joined for breakfast by our fellow travelers, Rene, Andrea, Gerrit and Sandra, and our Sudanese friends, Abdul Salam and Taha, who were invited by the hotel to join us for breakfast and the flagging off. Everyone was extremely impressed at the efforts and hospitality of the Malaysian Embassy and the Grand Holiday Villa. HE the Ambassador and his wife arrived and had a chat with us and Mr. Hossam before we all sat down for a huge and yummy breakfast. Mr. Hossam even made sure I had my last vanilla ice cream after breakfast – he reckons it will be a while before I next have some. Mr. Shuhada, the Malaysian Embassy’s First Secretary, was there along with the SL-MISC managers and some of the hotel guests, for the flagging off. It was hard to say goodbye to all our new friends in We drove on to Gadaref, with Gerrit and Sandra, stopping for the night at a petrol station just outside the town. We had our dinner and were given some sweet watermelon for desert by the guys at the station. The generosity of the Sudanese will always be remembered. 23 January 2009 Border Crossing into We had a small audience this morning, as a few locals gathered around to watch us have our breakfast and brush our teeth. Everyone was very friendly. We filled up the trucks at the station and drove on to Gallabat, the border town between We saw many cattle and goats on the way to Gallabat. There were herds everywhere. The typical square Sudanese houses were changing into round mud huts with thatched roofs and the land was getting more hilly and green. At the border, we went through the formalities on either side, taking about 2 hours in total. At Metama, the border town of The road was awful. It was like Wadi Halfa-Dongola revisited! We managed to cover about 40km in 2 hours, and were relieved to see nice smooth tarmac from the town of As the sun was setting soon, we decided to ask if we could camp at a small village, between the towns of Shehendi and Aykel. The kids crowded around as we sat up camp and prepared our dinners. Some of them asked for pens and hung around for a while to see what we got up to, until one of the elders came and chased them all away.. The village had no electricity, so no lights or TV and no running water. They were happy and had food to eat, but seemed to be drinking untreated water from the river. Some of the kids went to school at a nearby town and the pens Mum had given them would come in handy. 24 January 2009 We woke up and found a herd of cows in front of the trucks. We had some breakfast and washed up, with about 20 of the villagers watching. Some of them shared our fruits and bread. Soon we were ready to take off towards Gonder. The roads were still very bad and the 100 odd kilometers took us about 5 hours. We found the usual guest house used by most overlanders, but were told that it was closed for the next 2 days, as the owner’s daughter was getting married. We were shown to another guest house not far, with parking in the courtyard for the two trucks. We settled in and Mum walked to the market in town for some fruits and veg, while Dad stayed back with me to have a rest. In the evening, just as Mum was getting me ready for a shower, the electricity went off. That meant the water pump wasn’t working, so no water. This apparently is a common occurrence in 25 January 2009 Happy Birthday, Uncle Ian! Mum was glad she managed to get a quick call through to wish Uncle Ian a Happy Birthday, as it was quite hard to get a connection on the mobile. We left Gonder, with Gerrit and Sandra, made our way towards Bahir Dar. Asphalt is Dad and Mum’s favourite word of the day. We passed many people in the villages and in the countryside. Many of them waved and even more were asking for something. Along the way, Gerrit and Sandra gave a lift to Rolando, a Swiss ‘peace walker’. He has been walking around the world for the last 6 years, visiting We arrived in Bahir Dar, and found the campsite, by the In the evening, Dad, Gerrit and Rolando got a campfire going. That was Rene’s job, usually. I miss Rene and Andrea. Mum cooked some ‘nasi lemak’ (coconut rice), which we enjoyed and then once the fire had died down, it was off to bed. 26 January 2009 We are staying a second night in Bahir Dar. It is nice to not have to drive today. We have some breakfast, watching the birds, even some eagles flying above us, and then walk out to the local market. Some kids come running towards saying ‘you, you, you, money, money, money’, but Mum and Sandra turn back to them, saying the same thing, and they get confused and leave us alone. There is always a tout, posing as a ‘guide’, claiming to be a university student, trying to follow us, wanting to show us around, but we shake them off. The market was quite big, but all the stalls sold the same things. There was not much choice of fruits and vegetables, and no meat, except on weekends. We found a bakery with nice soft bread rolls through. In the afternoon, Dad and Gerrit washed the trucks, while Mum, Sandra and I took a walk along the lake. Gerrit had some nice music on. Mum says it’s the kind of music Grandpa used to play when she was growing up. In the evening, we had a lovely campfire going and ate local fish from 27 January 2009 Bahir Dar to somewhere near After packing up, we headed off to refuel the trucks at the local gas station. Dad’s door however wouldn’t close, as the catch seemed to be stuck. Gerrit suggested we go back to the campsite, as a crowd of kids were beginning to gather around. When we got back to the campsite, however, whatever was stuck in the door catch has obviously dislodged itself and the door closed without any trouble. We drove on, towards We took a while to find a suitable spot to stop for lunch. A shady spot, would be nice, but every time we stopped, we would have about 20 kids and even older people come running up to us, chanting, ‘you, you, money, money, money’. It seemed that although many Ethiopians did not speak English, these were two English words EVERYONE knew! Some kids did gather around us at lunchtime, but they did not hassle us. Mum gave them some cookies and asked if they went to school. They said they did, and she gave them a pen each. The road became bad for quite a while, so any hope of reaching 28 January 2009 We said goodbye to our new friends and moved on towards the big city, We stopped at Debre Libanos, the site of a 13th century monastery, about 100km from Addis, and mum some eggs and pumpkin from the local market. Arriving in Addis, we managed to find the Boro Hotel, in the Piazza District. Not the nicest area in Addis, but the only reasonably priced place overlanders can securely park their trucks. The area was full of touts and hustlers. There were internet cafes nearby, but they charged by the minute, and some backpackers we met at the hotel, said it that the connection was so slow, that it was not worth trying to check emails. Dad got in touch with the Petronas office here, and being hospitable Malaysians, we were invited for dinner with Uncle Mazlan, Aunty Wani, her husband, Uncle Najib and daughters, Nadia and Natasha. Gerrit and Sandra were again amazed at how accommodating and hospitable our fellow Malaysians are! 29 January 2009 This morning, Uncle Najib came to meet us at the hotel, to take us to the supermarket to stock up on some groceries. There was a toy shop in the building, but they did not have any Ultraman toys. I was really disappointed, but settled for a set of jungle animals, many of which I hope to see over the next few weeks. We then stopped at Kaldi’s We then said goodbye to everyone – I do not like goodbyes, and drove south to the Rift Valley area, seeing lots of lakes, pelicans, eagles and for the first time in It was quite dark by the time we arrived in 30 January 2009 Somewhere 54km north of Arba Minch It was great to wake up to the sound of different birds singing. I shared some of my bread roll for breakfast with some little birds and later two white horses belonging to the campsite strolled up to us. We wished we could stay longer at the lake as it was so relaxing, but we had to make our way to Arba Minch, as we heard that the roads were extremely bad, most of the way. We bought some fruits from a small village on the way and then drove on through many villages with kids and adults begging for money, food, clothes, whatever. It was quite tiresome and by lunchtime, we were all quite fed up. Almost all villages here had piped water, compliments of aid organizations and other foreign countries. There were many projects sponsored by the EU and other countries on agriculture and education in the area, more than we had seen in the north of It was getting dark and we were still some 60km away from Arba Minch, when we came to a village with a small dingy hotel. It had a gate and place to park the trucks, so we checked if it was possible to park the night, and stay in the trucks, not a room. A price was agreed on, and with the half the village gathered around watching, we settled in and prepared our dinner. Then the trouble began. First one guy who spoke English came around and asked us to pay him some money to watch the trucks at night, as it was not safe after midnight. We said that we slept in the trucks, so did not need someone to watch them. He then went to Sandra and said to her that we have no guarantee of being safe in the hotel car park, even if they were gated, and that we should pay him some money to be sure. In the midst of this, the hotel owner’s son came to collect the payment for parking, wanting double what we had agreed upon. We decided that we would leave and go to the Police Station for the night, when one of the hotel guests who spoke English told us not to worry as the village Policeman was actually in the crowd. We settled the cost of the overnight parking, with assurance that we were safe and the guy who was trying to extort money from us was chased off and told not to come back. 31 January 2009 We had a peaceful night and took off fairly early, knowing the 60km to Arba Minch would take us 2-3 hours on the road. We arrived in Arba Minch, and were surprised to see a huge modern building, which was the University, at the entrance to the town. We found the Catholic Mission, run by an Irish Priest, Father John. He has been in Father John had some tortoise in his garden, but they were rather shy and hid in their shells. Knowing now that we would be able to drive the distance to Turmi tomorrow, we decided to spend the night in the grounds of the mission. It was nice to have a relaxing day, catching up on the laundry and picking up some bread and eggs from the market in the afternoon. Arba Minch is not a very nice town. It was full of touts and at the market, the egg seller warned Mum and Sandra to be careful of the local kids, as they tend to try and pickpocket tourists. |
