Arriving at the notoriously difficult Sudanese Customs we were a little surprised to be greeted with calls of 'happy Christmas' and on attempting to explain the fact our visas had expired we were left speechless with responses of 'no problem, no problem'. Apparently there was a party in town tonight and all customs officials were eager to attend. Therefore, we were in the country with no hassles and invited to the wedding party. This turned out to be a huge street party awash with music, dancing and costumes (even Gav's dress was outshone). After the party we camped outside one of the customs official's houses for the night. Already we could feel such a contrast with Egypt and felt all the better for it (we hadn't realised it yet but he had fleeced each of us for $40 per vehicle).

We spent a few days checking out the vehicles and obtaining all necessary travel permits and other ridiculous documents necessary for travelling in Sudan. We had time for a practice desert drive with an English/Turkish guy (Raf) we met that morning, and even managed to consume some 'energy' drinks watching the desert sunset. Night entertainment, again, was different. Desperately searching for a shisha bar we found ourselves in the Sudanese equivalent of a working man's club. This was the highlight of our hardcore nights out in Wadi Haifa. The thought of entering countries with sensible drinking laws is keeping us just about sane at the moment.

The desert route to Khartoum looked pretty tough on paper and was even worse in reality. We managed 5 days of desert driving with conditions ranging from dirt tracks to seriously deep sand. We discovered on more than one occasion how easy it was to get completely and utterly lost. Literally in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but the vultures feeding off the occasional camel carcass for company, it was reassuring to have the Nile within sight at times.

The Nubian villages scattered throughout the area were spectacular. Despite our rally style driving, virtually through people's front rooms (according to Gav it was important to keep up a high speed to assure easy passage through soft sand, in reality he was just enjoying himself!), the locals appeared happy to see us. That was until a series of wrong turnings forced us to drive through a local crop field, possibly destroying a.2-month supply of melons. On the 5 day trek we made it our mission to drive over as many football pitches as was possible in the various villages we passed through, the record at present stands at 6 in one day. We also managed to fit in a bit of 'mechanical work' on the Nile river bed replacing one of Landys front shock absorbers (at one point a vital piece of the car was held together with four lumps of bubble gum until we decided on our next move).

In Khartoum we spent time obtaining further travel permits and the Ethiopian visas. After waiting 4 hours at the Embassy for the Consular to arrive we eventually gave up and will try again on Sunday. After discovering that we are now in official malaria areas we realised that our mosquito nets can't be fitted into the car (yet more great preparation). Therefore, we are both expecting to receive a nice dose of malaria within the coming weeks. Apparently the initial symptoms include strong headaches, lethargy and vomiting. How we differentiate between this and a regular hangover has yet to be resolved.

After visiting the 'Black Pyramids' in Meroe, 250km north of the capital city, we plan to return to Khartoum to pick up our visas, have landy checked over again (bit of a pattern here) and then head for the Ethiopian border. After an extremely dry Christmas and new year, we will run to the nearest pub and drink until we can't walk (probably about 2 pints).

Dan & Gav 4th January 2002 Camped near the 'Black Pyramids' Meroe, Sudan.