• Khartoum as seen by Simba

August 29, 2004

The morning started with a briefing session whereby the management team updated team members on the entire route as well as highlighted a few hiccups that they had been facing. The management team has been forced to change the route in Sudan as some of the permits were not obtained. However, the shortcomings have not dampened the spirits of the adventurers. On the contrary, the members are more geared towards facing these challenges.

The cars finally arrived at 6:30 p.m. It was definitely a welcome change to have a fresh set of clothing after recycling the same T-shirt for three days. I finally understood the advantage of having uniforms for no one would actually know how long the same T-shirt had been recycled. I supposed as long as the T-shirt passed the ‘scent test’, it could be recycled.

Khartoum is a strange city of sorts. The prominent feature that catches one’s eye is the sight of countless uncompleted construction scattered all over the place. It is really odd to see buildings occupied on the first level while the second and third levels are left with bricks and beams.

The city sort of comes alive at night, perhaps because the weather is cooler at this time. People fill the town to the brim and pedestrians clearly outnumber the vehicles on the road. The roundabouts serve as the city park whereby the people sit in the middle and enjoy their surroundings, completely oblivious to the almost non-existent traffic.