Before we set off at 10 o'clock, Matt drank his last beer for 2 weeks (Sudan has strict laws about no alcohol in the country), while we gave the other 5 to the hotel staff. We will not risk our lives trying to smuggle a few cans of beer into Sudan. We knew this day would come at some point, and anyways, that first beer in Egypt will taste that much better. At least that's what I'm telling Matt. We will have to do with going on a Coca-cola binge for the next two weeks.
This morning we tried to find a gas station that sold diesel. There seems to be a national shortage of fuel everywhere and the only place we found some was at NOC station, just outside Gondar town. There was a long queue of trucks and minivan-taxis all waiting to get gas.
We were told by the manager that we could skip the queue and fill up at one of the pumps that wasn't allowed to be used. We wondered if this was the pump reserved for emergencies, elite politicians, family members or all of the above. When travelling in Africa, you automatically get special attention for just being slightly 'different'. Sometimes it's bad, sometimes it's good. We obviously got special treatment due to our skin colour and were able to forego the long lineup. To be honest, this was one time where we didn't mind so much; we would've had to wait for hours which would have meant not making it across the border today.
Of course, this special treatment for foreigners doesn't bode well for everyone. Trying to get Foxy into a better position for the pump, we collided with a truck that was in line on the other side and who was trying to inch ahead. Our front roll cage got wedged between the truck's and any further movement would have resulted in a very expensive 'fender bender.' In the end, Matt backed up to let the other guy through, but not before letting the truck driver get a piece of his mind.
Crossing into Sudan was a tediously long-winded affair. It was pretty straightforward, but there were a lot of forms to fill out, registrations to the police to be made which included a payment of $45 US per person (which we needed to change from US currency first on the black market), Carnet de Passage bureaucracy, passport photos to be given and authenticated, fingerprints taken and finally, a $7 US road tax to be paid and then receipted.
All our names at each office had to be translated into Arabic so a lot of time was spent repeating our names slowly and clearly to the official behind the desk.
The whole process took about 4 hours. By the time we were finished, it was already 18:30. Not wanting to camp in the police compound, we decided to keep driving for about an hour and then set up bush camp.
Coming from Ethiopia, where the people there are lighter-skinned with a more 'European-looking' face (a hint of some Italian mixing from generations ago?), Sudanese people are, in contrast, very dark. It seems the moment you cross into Sudan, the largest country of Africa with 2.5 million sq km, the green rolling hills stop abruptly, and the sandy dusty plains appear.
As uninteresting as the stretch of road was, there was a sense of peace and calm, the blazing sun setting in front of us.
We all agreed tonight was the worst bush camping experience of our lives. In several words: giant flying cockroaches, deep cracks in soft earth to make falling through them extremely easy, thorny bushes, squirmy scorpions, biting ants, bug-infested pasta meal, relentless heat and humidity, and more of the above-mentionned bugs in our tent.
To continue on that bug theme, I've got a whole varied collection of insect bites scattered all over my body. Concentrated around my waist and legs, some quite pussy, some bloody and all extremely itchy.
My guess is that a lot of these bites were contracted in Lalibela, where fleas are the predominate predator there. We had some clothes washed at the hotel, and I'm guessing that while they were being hung to dry outside, the pesky little things found their way into my socks and underwear, hence the location of my bites.
Oh, the less romantic side of African travel!
Start: Belegez Pension, Gondar, ETH. 10:30
End: In the bush at coordinates N 13 14.120' E035 51.368', SUDAN. 18:30
Distance Traveled: 241 km
Road Conditions: from horrible to bad to so-so
Average Speed: 47.7 km/hr
Max Speed: 98.9 km/hr
Temperature: cool on plateau and then once we dropped down into Sudan, HOT and sticky.
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