Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Beside me, Moez coughed. 'Lake Nubia,' he corrected.
Four hundred kilometres north, the mighty Nile entered the third largest man-made lake
in the world. Between 1958 and 1971, the Egyptian government had dedicated themselves
to damming the River Nile at their southern city of Aswan - providing electricity for great
swathes of North Africa, and creating an enormous reservoir in the process. The reservoir
now straddles the border between Egypt and Sudan - called Nasser in the north, and Lake
Nubia in the south. It was at the town of Wadi Halfa, sitting on the lake, that I planned to
cross the border.
In English, so that they would not understand, I asked Moez, 'What do they want?'
'Money, of course. What else do these Arabs want?'
We had seen so much hospitality on the Sudanese part of our trek that, for a few weeks,
I had forgotten the sullen malcontents who had sometimes accompanied me in Uganda
and further south. Boston would not have been surprised by Awad and Ahmad's sudden
request; I supposed I should not have been either.
'They've worked hard,' I said. 'They've been invaluable. Business is business. I respect
that. Why don't you ask them what they want?'
Moez chattered with them in Arabic, his face growing more confused. When he was fi-
nally done, he reverted to English and said, 'It isn't money, Lev. It's Ramadan.'
'Ramadan?'
'Ramadan begins on the 28th June,' said Awad, as Moez translated. 'We want to be done
by the 25th, so we can go to our families.'
'I have to tend my goats,' said Ahmad.
'And my wives will never let me hear the end of it if I don't get back.'
I didn't need to check my diary to know that 25 June was only ten days away. The
spectre of Ramadan had been looming over me as well; I still didn't have the requisite
permits to cross the border into Egypt, and if I turned up in Wadi Halfa at the start of the
month of Ramadan, there was a big chance I'd have to wait until it was over.
'It's impossible,' I said to Moez. 'It's like doing a marathon, every day, for ten days
straight - and in this temperature as well . . .' I did not like to say the other thing that would
hinder us: the Sudanese had been so hospitable that we had already lost endless afternoons
accepting water and
chai
and food from the overly friendly villagers we met - unable to
refuse their overtures for fear of dishonouring them.
'I don't think we have a choice, Lev. These men are going home . . .'
We set off in earnest the next morning, pounding along the highway close to the river. The
water was beautiful here. We'd reached the Nile's third cataract, the river pouring glori-
ously over boulders to form crests of perfect white. Sai Island sat in the rapids, with cro-
codiles basking on its banks - and, all along the riverbank, stood beautiful, colourful Nu-
