While visiting places like Sai Island and Soleb, we stayed as guests in the home of a Nubian family. They’re a busy family, but they’re a very friendly family… That’s right, he is on two mobile phones at the same time: Have you noticed a Sudanese investment theme yet? It isn’t just this family either. … Continue reading
The pictures below were taken in the middle of nowhere in the Bayuda Desert in Sudan. And I really mean the middle of nowhere… We drove for hours cross-country to reach this point where we set up camp for the night. While we were setting up our camp, I noticed this hill (below) in the … Continue reading
I found Sai Island to be quite remarkable – definitely one of my favorite places in Sudan. The island is one of the largest in the Nile Valley yet remains almost completely uninhabited today. This is despite the discovery of human remains that are over one hundred thousand years old and the presence of a … Continue reading
Strongly resembling the temple of Luxor, the temple of Soleb, situated on the west bank of the Nile River, is a well-preserved sandstone temple ordered by Amenhotep III (the ruler of Nubia at the time) in honor of the gods Amun-Re and Nebmaatre. Leading from a terraced temple on the Nile banks, a processional way … Continue reading
It’s hard to find somewhere much more desolate than this – except perhaps Bouvet Island. “This” is in the middle of the Sahara desert in Sudan. It wasn’t always like this though as the petrified forest pictured below proves. Hard to find a greater contrast in a “now” and “then” scenario, isn’t it? Transiency is … Continue reading
Continuing with the theme of Nubianism… I doubt Nubianism is a word, but I am not really concerned because it works. As I alluded to in the previous post, the area of the Nile valley known as Nubia that lies within present day Sudan was home to three Kushite kingdoms during antiquity: the first with … Continue reading
The proper spelling of “Meroe” is actually “Meroë” but I lack the ability to produce such a character with my keyboard and do not wish to “cut and paste” the proper spelling of the name in every time. Anyway, on to some background: Meroe served as the last capital of the Kushite Kingdom that based … Continue reading
The Velvet Rocket 