headingsouth

It has been an incredible few weeks.
We safely arrived in wadi Halfa, Northern Sudan 3 weeks ago now on the ferry from Aswan, Egypt, with the Rival following on a barge full of cargo a day later, thankfully in one piece.
We have spent days on end driving at 12mph down dirt tracks and deep, deep sand!! Got seriously filthy on the way and a little lost in the desert in the midst of sand storms and whirling dust devils for good measure. Even caught a few pyramids along the way ( yes, its not only egypt that has pyramids- I didnt know either before now!). The roads were awefull and a Spanish couple Javier and Amparo who we met on the ferry and were driving Spain to Sudan broke their rear axel, transmission and brakes along the way giving us a chance to test the Rival tugging them out of the sand! They made it to Khartoum though largely thanks to Javier's mechanical skills.
The Sudanese are an amazing people- the friendliest and most accommodating we have ever met. we have been taken in on numerous occasions, in towns and the remote villages, given tea and food and offered beds to sleep in with nothing expected in return despite the hosts having next to nothing themselves.
We were looked after by Ibi's uncle Asim and his family in Khartoum upon our arrival, given a proper bed for a night and much travel advice before heading north to Port Sudan and Suakin via Kassala.
Managed to do some diving in the Sudanese red sea which was awesome.
Currently back in Khartoum with Javid (from Uni) and his sister Jasmine in a house! which is a real treat so we will be fully refreshed to hit the road to Ethiopia via Gederef in a couple of days. We hope to be in Gonder (sounds like a place in Lord of the Rings) by Wednesday 3rd May.
Moreover, we have just had the locks fixed on the car so after 2 months of entering via the boot we can finally open the front doors!!