Ferry to Sudan

Sudan

In Aswan we took the ferry to Sudan across lake Nasser. After a short ride in a convoy we got to the boat and loaded unexpectedly smoothly. Our finishing loading was the sign for the locals to start loading their stuff. And that was an experience!

For someone with any interest in photography or cinematography this was an overwhelming opportunity. It was an epic telling of human perseverence and endurance and struggle. It was a sequence of scenes of beauty and tenderness, of frustration and exhaustion. And for us - spoilt Western audience - of incredible entertainment and fun.
The loading of the ferry took 8 hours. Some hours during which truckloads of Twinkies were loaded onto the boat until they spilled over on the deck. But there were boxes and packages and suitcases of different sizes. There were TVs and washing machines, fridges and plants, carpets and rugs, blankets and pots and who knows what. We watched the trucks leaning dangerously on one side as the boxes were held in precarious positions by the men. We saw the boxes fall and crash. We saw the sweat running down the worn out faces of these patient men carrying load upon load of Twinkies and not just that. And the tired and sad faces of the women and men spending the day and night in the area under deck. No ventilation, little space, no air. Families with little children crammed amidst their luggage. The smell of food filling the air at times or smoke or sweat or simply the smell of poverty. Yet there was so much dignity and so much patience and friendliness.

A case for human study.

We mostly sat or stood on the deck watching this show directed by an invisible hand. More trucks coming. More boxes. More stuff. Where does all this fit? Do you think Twinkies float if the boat sinks ? Wow, look at that! Did you see that little boy? How cute! Wow, two more trucks! Look at that woman. Is it still possible to pass ?

It was still possible to go from the deck down to the inside of the boat and the cabins but it was an experience in itself as you had to follow the extremely narrow and twisted path amid boxes and people and sometimes jump over things. We had taken up all cabins and a lot of storage space on deck.

It was dark when the ferry finally departed at 8 pm. The sky was deep and full of stars. It was windy on deck and chilly but what a wonderful night. Below, in the bowels of the ship and the sticky air people were sleeping on the benches or between them on the floor and children in their mothers laps. Every single corner was taken.
The deck - an open mass grave of mummies. Lined up next to each other were bodies wrapped in sleeping bags or simply woolen blankets. Without anything to insulate them from the cold floor the locals were sleeping wrapped in their blankets with only their shoes under their head. Next to me the green mummy kept rolling against me all night. It was a young Egyptian going to Khartoum for work who insisted on me getting a picture with him "so I don't forget him!" I won't forget him, for sure.

In the morning the deck came back to life slowly. First was the Arab who unwrapped himself from his blanket, lit and smoke his cigarette quietly. Next, he redid his headscarf knots slowly, almost ritually, before he carefully folded his blanket together. Then he got up on top of 2 TV boxes and lit another cigarette. Watching him do all that I almost felt like violating his privacy. I suffered for not having my camera with me in my sleeping bag - big mistake this time! - but I also knew I could not have taken those pictures for that same reason.
As much as I'd like to I often have this feeling of violating a private space when pointing my camera to people and I simply can't take the picture. I sometimes wish I had less scruples.

Before arriving in Wadi Halfa, Sudan, there was another moment of excitement when we
passed Abu Simbel. Even from the distance the statues looked huge and the people beneath them like tiny ants.

The formalities on arrival in Sudan were incomprehensible for me but smooth otherwise and so we got to our campsite fast. Since our trucks did not make it there yet, we were going to have an unplanned rest day.