Whyteleafe, Surrey UK to Cape Town

Ras Mohammad National Park is one of the world's leading nature reserves encompassing a wide range of terrains on the southern tip of Sinai.
Including a mangrove swamp, desert, numerous bays and beaches, and what is claimed to be the best preserved coral in the Red Sea.

Christmas Day in Dahab turned out pretty good.
We decided to snorkel the Eel Garden reef, a recommended site north of the town.
But we found a strong-ish current heading south. It was also quite a way out to the edge of the reef, the 'Garden' in the name of the place, and an incoming swell was making swimming in the shallow water above the reef shelf less than leisurely.

The main experience in visiting the Giza pyramids has nothing to do with the pyramids themselves.

But firstly, many many years ago, I attended a lecture given by a chartered Mechanical Engineer at the Institution of Electrical Engineers in London. The speaker was a serious amateur Egyptologist and his lecture had been published in magazines of the time and carried by BBC radio. He gave an irreverent but comprehensive debunking of all the romantic folklore written about the construction of these things.

Some readers of these tales will know that I've often sung the praises of the books of Anne Mustoe and her adventures.
She rode a bicycle around the world after retiring in her late fifties, hardly having pushed a pedal before. This was followed by an inspiring book of her journey. Then, in her sixties, she did it again in the opposite direction followed by an even more impressive book.
Not satisfied, she cycled bits of the world in much more detail, followed by books on those explorations in South America, India and Europe.

Hooter - Attack - Yield
The spectre of driving on the roads of Cairo seems to have some legendary status. Not surprising, as none of the road rules of the West exist here. The most extreme example I suppose is occasional vehicles driving the wrong way on dual carriageways, at night, with no lights. (It's common during the day). We've seen this enough times to have done it ourselves, in daylight, and with a dirt verge on which we can keep out of the way. It can save a lot of extra mileage.

We arrived in Luxor yesterday (Jan 17th) after riding around the Western Desert for the two weeks since leaving Cairo.

On a different note, our route around the Western Desert took us through El Kharga and then onto the direct Luxor road, only recently opened to foreigners.

Years ago there were fatal attacks on archaeological sites in both these towns with devastating effects on the tourist industry, which still hasn't recovered. Many hotels and camp sites are pretty empty and appear to be struggling to survive.
So as we approached this general area the present security situation started to become apparent to us.

We are now just a ferry ride from Sudan, having ridden down the east bank of the Nile to Aswan and a typical (grubby) small hotel in town.

Now we are knocking on Sudan's door.
This morning we arrived at the ferry ticket office to find a couple of travellers already there who we had met previously in Cairo. A few minutes later two more couples appeared.
Mr Salah, the ticket manager, explained that the Tour D'Afrique has filled a ferry and vehicle barge, so there will now be two of each sailing for Sudan. He then dispatched us to the traffic court, followed by the police office.

We arrived here in Khartoum about four days ago, and have been pretty busy since.

Oil changes, filter changes, new rear tyre, repacking, and still no sight-seeing yet.
Except for the 'Whirling Dervishes' at the Hamed el-Nil Mosque in Omdurman. More later.

We are camped in The Blue Nile Sailing Club which is right on the south bank of the Blue Nile.

Ken's tent

Still camped in Khartoum, we were able to see the Friday prayer ceremony at the Hamed el-Nil Mosque in Omdurman.

This is preceeded for some hours by singing in the Mosque, and then for even more hours, until sunset, with an intense ceremony of drumming, chanting and trance-inducing dance by the participants on the large and dusty forecourt. This includes some of what is usually referred to as 'Whirling', but this is only a small part of the proceedings, and no one wears those classic white voluminous robes normally associated with 'the Whirling Dervishes'.

Still in Khartoum. Very nice place. And the prophesy of Beau riding his drum kit across the Sahara has come true.

About five days ago, Hiula and Eva arrived on their bicycles. Hiula is from Mexico City, and his girlfriend, Eva, is from Germany.
We camped with them in the desert on our first night out from Wadi Halfa.
Well, it seems that the 'Hiula And Beau Duo' was formed that night, in the Sudanese Sahara.

Last night's planned jam session certainly happened. The band from last week's wedding (The Bleeding Hearts), along with students from the School of Music and Drama, and Duo Hiula and Beau got together at the Blue Nile Sailing Club for a fine session of set pieces and improvisation.

Normally, as the night sweeps in over Khartoum, it cools just a little from the heat of the afternoon. Last night it cooled not at all.

The photos:

For anyone interested in close-ups, here are some photos of the bikes loaded up, in Sinai, after three months of juggling and jiggling all the luggage:

Beau's TTR250 'Open Enduro'

At the dusty Ethiopian border crossing the customs man holds my passport in his hand:
"Welcome! What country you from?"
"Britannia."
"Ahh, Paula Radcliffe!"
What a refreshing change from "Wayne Rooney," or "David Beckham."
But I couldn't for the life of me remember the name of the Ethiopian Olympic champion, even though his photo was on the wall of the immigration building in this border town of Metema. (I say 'building', actually a two-room mud-brick hut).
"Haile Gebreselassie!" my questioner rescued me.

I've had my shoes polished by shoe-shine boys in a few 'third-world' parts of the globe, but have avoided it so far on this journey.

You never know, someone may be reading this to research their own overland journey, so I'll try to remember to log GPS info of useful places hereon. I think everything up to now is logged elsewhere on the HUBB.
Sudan

Another country - another map.

And another decision - what to do with the map for the previous country?
It's been like this since Turkey.
It's a serious question.
You can't continue to carry all the maps for past countries, you'll need a travelling library for them all.
But there's something chillingly final about disposing of the map for the last country.

How will you return home??

It must be a time of life thing, leading to all those philosophical meanderings.

After Gonder we stuck our toes in the water of the Lalibela road by taking the turn-off at Werota. We expected to find a gravel road under major repairs but found new tarmac instead, and learned that it extends about two-thirds of the way.

Roadside scenes on the way to the village of Werota