Date of entry: 8 December 2009 (Day 56) Place of Entry: Wadi Halfa, Northern Border
Date of Exit: 2 February 2010 (Day 112) Place of Exit: Gallabat, South Eastern Border
Place: Tuti Island, Khartoum, Sudan
A great poet once said, “Tuti too beauty.”
Okay, so it was a farmer in Sudan, but his words ring truer than any poem that I’ve ever heard. Let me explain. The Nile River has 2 tributaries; the Blue Nile flows north from Lake Tana in Ethiopia and the White Nile flows north from the Great Lakes area of central Africa. They come together and merge in the capital of Sudan, Khartoum, forming an upside-down Y. At the centre of this upside-down Y is a small island rich with fertile farmlands, beaches and an interesting community. It became like a home to us.
We camped on a wonderful Tuti Island farm for four weeks, in between venturing out to explore other areas of Sudan. The deep brown earth of the farmland was cut by gushing irrigation canals that ran through the fields of lime trees, wheat and herbs towards the Nile. Goats and cows grazed under the watchful eye of Abas the farmer, a seriously cool character, the self-assuming king of Tuti Island. He claims to have never left the island. I can understand why.
To have such a village atmosphere and picture of tranquility in the middle of a capital city is quite something. It was full of the simple and true pleasures of life. Our daily ritual included wandering through the fields to the Blue Nile to have a refreshing morning swim, using the current as a ‘treadmill’. I would paddle as fast as I could, but stayed in one spot, eventually making my way over to a neighboring small sandy island to bask in the sun. On our way back we would be summoned over by Abas, or another interesting character, who would insist that we have breakfast and tea with them.
So how did this privilege come about? Because of the legendary hospitality and friendliness of the Sudanese people. As we arrived in Khartoum, we met up with a friend of a friend of a friend, called Amal. Expecting a few tips about the city, we were instead thrown into a whirlwind of cousins, uncles, aunts and friends and shown around Khartoum and Sudan in spectacular fashion. Everyone made us feel fantastically comfortable and immediately treated us like family after we had just met.
After tea with Abas, Amal would arrive to whisk us off on a day of activities and exploring. A bridge onto Tuti Island has only recently been built, but one fun day, we were taken on a motorbike rickshaw ride around the narrow alleys of Tuti Island to get the old ferry across onto mainland. The confluence of the Nile around Tuti Island essentially splits the city into three parts: the traditional, Omdurman, the commercial, Khartoum and the industrial, Bahri. It is a place in need of bridges and there are seven connecting the different parts.
We explored the variety of markets, including the camel market, where camels and other livestock are traded; watched entertaining Sudanese bands, ate delicious local foods and learned about the local culture.
One memorable morning as I was strolling towards the Nile for my morning swim when I thought I would try my hand at milking a goat that was tethered to the ground. I chased it round and round before just falling down and laughing, with the goat smirking at me. It was at this point that I came across our poet. After the standard enthusiastic greetings in Arabic of:” May God give you peace.””And may God give you peace.””How are you?” “Fine” “Fine?” “Great.” “Great?” “100%” “Thanks be to God”, I thought I would impress him by using one of my handful of Arabic words and saying, “Tuti gamila” – “Tuti Beautiful.” To which he replied in coarse English, “Yes, Tuti too Beauty.”
