We are proud to be helping the Endurance Rally Association as they plan and get all the paperwork in line to have a snag free race through the natural and cultural beauty of Sudan.

From the Start under Big Ben in Parliament Square, we cross Europe to Venice for an all-new ferry service to Alexandria, Egypt, crossing to Sudan, and on to Ethiopia and Kenya…with no two days the same, it’s an adventure-route brimming with potential to make for an epic rally challenge.

Our route takes in three Continents, and 13 countries, covering 13,500 kilometres, within a set time-schedule, including some off-road Time Trials on most days

We are happy to announce a partnership with the well known pan-africa tour company The Other Africa. We have been working with them informally for a long time, but now if you are based in America and want to coordinate a tour it will be easiest to call them, and they will work through us.

USA Offices:
Tel: 415-383-6245 | 415-342-9675

Email: info@theotherafrica.com

The other Africa offers custom tailored Safaris to over thirty countries throughout the African Continent.

If you are traveling on your own, with your family or a group of any size we can assist you with your Safari Plans. The majority of our Game Viewing Safaris take place in the East African and Southern African Countries.

At The other Africa we also offer cultural trips to several West African Countries, historical trips to North African Countries, including Egypt and Sudan. We organize Expeditions to the Sahara Desert Countries of Mauritania, Niger, Morocco, and Mali featuring the famous Town of Timbuktu. If the beach is your passion visit one or more of the Indian Ocean Island destinations such as The Seychelles or Mauritius.

When I have some more free time I’ll add a comprehensive list to this page, but for now I’d like to suggest the Rosa Park Hotel. They have safe, comfortable rooms but aren’t too expensive. They are located near our office so if you need transportation from the airport or anything call us up. We also work with them often and we can usually get a better deal if you call us ahead of time instead of just showing up at their desk.

Rosa Park Hotel
Sayed Abdul Rahman Ave,
Tel.: +249-155-888855 | +249-155-888866 | +249-155-888877
http://rosaparkhotelsudan.com

View Rosa Park Hotel in a larger map

Yes, you could do it all yourself, but this guy has all the contacts and knowledge and can move the paperwork thru the corridors, get the right stamps in the right place and even get decisions changed if required, like he did with us as we got told initially our vehicles couldn’t go for another week. He saved us an awful lot of hassles and frustration and is a top bloke!  -  AfricaOverland.com.au

Midhat was extremely reliable, very hospitable and most helpful. We would have struggled if we had not had him to sort out our paperwork. When you see him, please wish him our best regards. He may remember us, we gave him a photo of our white Toyota Land Cruiser. In General we found the Sudanese people to be the nicest people we met on our entire trip through Africa.    - Dreamers1.com

I am very grateful to all of them for helping out. Ditto to Mazar and Midhat Mahir who have been so helpful here in Sudan with logistics. – expedition360.com

A Sudanese is informing us that this is Sudan not Egypt, and the taxi fare is fixed: 300,00 Dinar. A man on a modern mountain bike, Midhat Mahir, arrives and gives us money for the taxi. – backwood.at

Hiring a car, with or without a driver, is astonishingly expensive. Contact Khartoum’s best tourist fixer, Midhat Mahir at globtours_sudan@yahoo.com and he can help you find the best deal for what you want to do.  - LonelyPlanet.com

The famous Midhat welcomed us from the shore, to be our chaperone through the reams of paperwork. Without him the bureaucracy would be impossible. The authorities have great trust in him and he is a breath of fresh air after Egypt. -enableafrica.net

Midhat Mahir. The only reason I mention this is because if you go anywhere near this part of the world you simply have to utilise this guy. Midhats claim to fame is that he has about 0.5% body fat, has riddden through the Nubian desert (900km) on a mountain bike in something like 5 days!! He can also organise anything. Here’s what he did for us:

• booked our super luxurious hotel in advance for us. (you should do this because everyone wants to stay there while waiting for the ferry)
• booked our train trip from Khartoum to Wadi and had his brother meet us in Khartoum and escourt us to the train station and helped us get all that stuff sorted out
• he arranged the exit from Sudan in it;s entirety, carnet, visa etc
• his other brother, Mazar, actaully went with us in the ferry into Egypt and assisted with the calamatous entry procedure into Egypt. Simply superb.

- ukGSer.com

So after unbelievable help from Wadi Halfa’s son, Midhat Mahir of Globtours, a man who surpasses legendary status for knowing the system, his helpfulness and genuine kindness, sporting a load of river stuff, I left for Ethiopia. I hope to return in a few months in a kayak with all limbs intact. -marktanner.com

One of the sad parts about leaving Sudan, was that our Sudanese guide and fellow rider Midhat Mahir wasn’t able to join us in Ethiopia as he wasn’t given an exit permit by the Sudanese. Everyone in the group was pretty bummed by the news as we thought he would ride to Addis Ababa with us, and so no-one got to say goodbye or thank him for all his help and friendship. Midhat is one of the most friendly, generous and helpful people I have ever met, and an incredibly strong rider too. He’d come blazing past us riding his cobbled together bike in flip-flops, running on 2 hours sleep and his strong coffee. I didn’t even get a photo with him so will have to get one emailed to me by one of the other hours. Anyway if you are ever in Wadi Halfa, just ask for Midhat – everyone knows him – and the guy will bend over backwards to help you. -BeijingToIstanbul.com

Midhat is an invaluable asset to our tour. He’s a great cyclist, he seems to know everyone in the whole country, he tells the most insane stories and over the past few years he has become a very good friend. Ever since he heard about the Tour d’Afrique his dream has been to been to be the first Sudanese man to cross Africa by bike. I hope that one day his dream will come true. -TourDafrique

水曜日の朝８時、何人かの欧米人ツーリストが、このMr. Mazar Mahir （マザール・マヒア氏）の事務所前に集まってくる。 そして、彼が、皆の、フェリーに乗るまでの出国手続きを案内してくれる。 基本的に、要所要所で各自が料金を払う(参照 ‘ border ‘)ので、彼がピンハネする場面はない。 また、彼はチップもせがんでこないので、どうやって飯を食っているのか、謎である。

彼は英語が話せて、しかも親切。 彼は、KhartoumハルツームのMr. Moez Mahir （モエズ・マヒア氏）の弟。 彼はWadi Halfaワジ・ハルファでは有名なので、人に聞けばすぐ見つけられる。
– SeagullJapan.info

Day One : Wadi Halfa

The Aswan-Wadi Halfa Ferry.

Arrive on the ferry in Wadi Halfa.  We welcome you at the harbor and spend the afternoon with introductions, free time in Wadfi Halfa market and one night at the Wadi Half a hotel.

Note: The Aswan, Egypt to Wadi Halfa, Sudan ferry arrives every Tuesday, so if you want to come by ferry this 11 day tourism program will start on a Tuesday and end on a Friday.

Day Two: Abri & Sai Islands

Sai Island ruins - ChrisKean

We drive in a comfortable 2007 4-wheel drive Land Cruiser through the “The belly of the rock” in Nubian dessert to Abri.  We will stop and enjoy the dessert, Nile scenes, Nubian villages.

Byzantine cross, Sai Island. http://chriskean1.smugmug.com

We take a launch to Abri, and then cross to Sai Island where we have dinner and rest  one night in the Nubian house in Sai Island.

Day Three:  Castles, Queen’s Temple of Sadenga & Temple of Ammenophese in Sulib

In the morning we visit the relics of the Pharoanic, and Ottoman era castles, the cathedral and, tombs from Kerma time.  We cross the Nile by ferry and take a short drive to visit the temple of Sadenga, the queen Tee temple Sulib, and take a launche to visit the temple of Ammenophese the third.  We have dinner and spend the night at the Nubian house in Sulib.

Day Four : Temple of Ekhnaton, Rock Drawings of Sebu and Mesida, Statue of Tohotmosis III.

In the morning we drive to Sesibi to visit the temple Ekhnaton, we take a launch across the Nile to Delgo and Drive to see the rock drawings of Sebu, drive to Mesida, see the more rock drawings and the church, drive to the unfinished statue and the inscriptions of Tohotmosis III in Tombus, this includes other Napa tan and pharoanic inscriptions. We have lunch at a restaurant in Kerma before visiting the western Duffufa.   We end the day by driving out to Kawa and sleep under the stars or in tents in a desert camp.

Day Five: Saturday. Amon temple of Taharka, Old Dongul

We start the day with a visit to the Amon temple of Taharka in Kawa then we go see the relics of the Christian period of Makoria kingdom in Old Dongula, including the palace, the cathedral and an old church.  We spend another night camping in the desert.

Day Six: Dongula . Karima . Kurru

In the morning we finish the visits in Old Dongula and drive to Karima through the Nubian dessert.  When we arrive in Karima we will visit the local market and eat lunch in the souk. In the afternoon we visit the Royal cemeteries in Kurru and overnight at a local house in Karima.

Day Seven: Karima . Nuri . Gazali .Bayoda dessert .Atbra Meroe Pyramids

In the morning climb Jebel Barkal, visit the Amon temple and the Taharka temple.  Then we drive to Nuri to see the Taharka Pyramids of Napatan kings and queens.  Drive to Gazali to see the deer then on through the Bayoda desert to Atbra where we have lunch in a resteraunt. After lunch we take a drive to Meroe to see the Amon temple, Roman bath and sauna rooms, the places for processing iron.Before nightfall we visit a few of  the pyramids of Meroe to whet the appetite and spend the evening in a tent.

Day Eight: Meroe Pyramids .Royal city . Meroe .Shendi .Musswarat .Naga .6th Cataract

Day eight starts early with a sunrise visit to the  Royal city, Shendi  town, then we make our way to the local market, and lunch in a restaurant. Then we roam around visit the Lion temple in Musswarat, the Amon temple  in Naga,and visit the roman kiosk before driving to the 6th cataract. We spend the night in a farm along the Nile, with shelters.

Day Nine: 6th Cataract . Khartoum

In the morning we take a Nile trip around the cataract area. Then we head to the capital city of Khartoum.  It’s a long drive so we have lunch at a nice little restaurant enroute.  We get you settled in your hotel and you are free to roam around the city.  We will meet up and have dinner outside in the luxurious Regency Hotel Restaurant.

Day Ten : Sight Seeing around Khartoum

We start the morning with a visit to the National Museum, Khalifa house, Mahdi tomb, and the Local market in Omdurman.  We have lunch at one of the restaurants along the way. You can rest for a bit in the hotel  before we visit the ethnography museum in Khartoum. We end the evening with a farewell dinner.

Day Eleven : Dervish dance, airport

The Hamid-El-Nil Dervishes only dance on Friday so we will end your trip with a flourish of Sufism before another farewell dinner at restaurant and we take you to the Khartoum Airport. We will say goodbye but hope to see you again.

The old Wadi Halfa hotel, before it was flooded by Lake Nassar.

Wadi Halfa is a small town on a hill with one main street and a lot of traffic once a week when the ferry comes in.  The processing for entering Sudan is usually painless but plodding.  Though it has many steps and you will probably have to ask directions a few times along the way.  Don’t worry about asking for help, the people are friendly even if they are wearing a uniform.

Even if you don’t hire him it is likely that you will meet Midhat or his brother in Wadi Halfa as they often start adventures from the little town.  For a longer description of Wadi Halfa check out this blog post that mentions Midhat.

Here, ladies wrapped in colourful cotton shawls prepare anything from hibiscus tea to mint tea to spiced coffee; the ingredients for each are nimbly plucked from the glass jars that line their tin-chest work counter. Not a drop is spilled as leaves are mixed with spices and piping hot water, which is then strained into a dainty glass presented on a similarly styled tea tray. One coffee would be followed in quick succession by another – an antidote to the cold sleeplessness of the previous night.

The sun might slow Wadi Halfa to a near standstill, but it fuels its friendliness. As we sat sipping coffee, ‘Salaam Alaikum’ rings in our ears and hands are offered to be shaken. Curiosity or small talk never ends in a sales pitch, just good wishes or an insistence to pay for our drinks.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdziedzic/

Arrival in Wadi Halfa

When the ferry docks you will disembark at the Customs and Immigration terminal.  It is a few kilometers outside of the town itself.  There are always a few Land Rovers or Tuk-Tuks to drive people into town. If you aren’t afraid of a hike and want to save a few bucks you can walk along the sand track from the terminal to Wadi Halfa.

Mashansharti's Office in Wadi Halfa

Transportation Out

There used to be only a slow train and a fast but bumpy bus between Wadi Halfa and Khartoum.  Both have been replaced by a newly paved road and a fast buses that run the evening and next day after the ferry arrives.  The latest bus price is 90 Sudanese Pounds ($39) and can be bought at the bus station on arrival.

Getting a bus from Khartoum to Wadi Halfa is a little more difficult because the bus companies are trying to operate under the government’s radar to avoid taxes and regulations, so they change their departure point regularly.

Al-Nilain ( آنلاين) is the largest mosque beside the Nile from Lake Victoria to the Mediterranean. It was built almost 30 years ago and was designed to resemble the Muslim prayer cap known as a tagia.

If traffic is good it is a scenic 10 minute taxi ride over the white nile bridge from downtown Khartoum.
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If you are in Egypt and a little lucky you can obtain a visa within a day of application.  For most nationalities it costs US $100 and requires a letter of introduction from your embassy.

In Ethiopia, getting a visa from the Sudanese Embassy in Addis Ababa is unpredictable.  If you are lucky it costs about US$60.  The embassy will send your name to Khartoum for approval, which as they say could take two weeks or two months. Once approved, the visa itself only takes a couple of days.  Expect to wait at least two weeks for approval.

In Kenya, the Sudanese Embassy in Nairobi sends your name to Khartoum for approval.  The time it takes is similarly ambiguous, although the embassy is far more professional and efficiently-run than Addis Ababa’s.

Credit: Tom Allen

It’s a right of passage into Sudan for most adventurers, the ferry ride into Sudan.  The ship keeps a plodding pace along Lake Nassar.  Early in the morning it passes the ancient settlement of Abu Simbel, which can be seen towering up from the shore.

There used to be only a slow train and a fast but bumpy bus between Wadi Halfa and Khartoum.  Both have been replaced by a newly paved road and a fast buses that run the evening and next day after the ferry arrives.  The latest bus price is 90 Sudanese Pounds ($39) and can be bought at the bus station on arrival.

Getting a bus from Khartoum to Wadi Halfa is a little more difficult because the bus companies are trying to operate under the government’s radar to avoid taxes and regulations, so they change their departure point regularly.