Introduction to Sudan

Wadi Halfa

Our camp was not far from the lake and a few kms away or so from the ferry terminal. Everybody went in different directions that day. Mostly people went into town to eat and have a coffee.
I decided to go a different way. I needed my peace to come to terms with this adventure and to explore this my way. So I went to the lake.

I had spotted some white birds on the water which looked big and I wondered what they were. By looking through my long lens they seemed to be pelicans. Reaching the lake, however, turned out to be a little less straightforward than I thought as the irrigation canals were in the way. Water pumped from the lake or the Nile was being used to water the fields. And there were tomatoes growing on the fields among others. A few scarecrows were dotting the vegetable fields. The few men I encountered were all very friendly and said hello. They were never intrusive but rather shy.

When I finally got closer to the lake and I looked through my camera lens again I had a huge surprise. Yes, there were pelicans there, but there were other birds as well, and not just small dark ducks. But big beautiful flamingos.

As I was nearing the lakeshore and the birds I tried to walk as softly as possible. But there were 3 men on a sandbank walking straight towards the birds who ended up scaring them away. The flamingos took off like a pink cloud. Soon after the pelicans took off, too.
I found a spot and sat there for a good couple of hours writing in my diary and watching the nature. It was unexpected and beautiful. Sudan was a very nice surprise so far. Those flamingos were a fantastic welcoming sign for me.

Two young men came by and introduced themselves. They were geology students at the university in Wadi Halfa. But then they went and sat down at a fair distance leaving me to enjoy my privacy.

Despite the strong sun it was chilly. It was very windy. And so I eventually got up and went for a walk around the lake. I was hoping to see the flamingos return, but they never did.
I had an interesting encounter with a huge man dressed traditionally - as most men do here - in his long white gown with a white turban around his head. He came to me and stretched out his big hand. Boy, he was huge!
I said hello and he just nodded and with a hand gesture asked me what I was doing there.
I answered in English and also using hand gestures that I was cycling through Sudan to Khartoum and further to Ethiopia.
He shook his head disapproving and pointing to me and then him he continued with a gesture linking the pointing fingers of his hands together.
What does this proposal mean? I was wondering.
"No, sorry, I am going to Khartoum by bicycle" and I repeated the gestures. He shook his head again and unwrapped his headscarf so I could see his face better.
"No" he said and then he repeated the sequence of hand gestures. There was no smile whatsoever on his face.
He was dead serious and I thought for a moment he would just pick me up in his giant hands and take me away.
"Sorry, no, I am not coming with you. I am cyclcing to Khartoum. Sorry. Good bye." and I turned around and walked away fast.
He stood there for a while and then he went his own way.
That was interesting, I thought. Indecent proposals from the first day I'm here. What kind of trouble am I going to get into next ?

I just focused on the landscape and the old ruins from the houses swept away by the past floods and I took pictures.

A while later I saw a group of young men coming towards me. They were all geology students at the local university and one of them, Halal, spoke really well English. We chatted for about half an hour. He and some of his collegues were from Darfur. Tough conditions. They said that things were better now but still not good. That it is always bad during the rainy season when the conflicts pick up again. During the dry season apparently things calm down. They told me about their frustrations with the government, with the fact that women are not allowed into leading or key positions, that girls are too traditional, that they hoped to make a difference for their country. I did enjoy that conversation a lot and I encouraged them to study and help make that difference for their people.
In the end they wanted a picture with me.

I returned to camp smiling and happy. Sudan so far was full of interesting things and lovely. That I was hungry, I couldn't care less.