Day 82, 2011/07/22 Desert near Atabara to Karima

Day 82,  2011/07/22 Desert near  Atabara to Karima

After another evening of being sand blasted in my tent by strong hot winds, we are up early and hit the road by 8 am. All goes well until we arrive at one of the checkpoints. A security guy, with a gun in his holster pulls us over and requests to see our passports. Which,like we have done throughout Africa and Sudan, produce and show to him. He is immediately unhappy with us and once we tell him that we are on the way to Moroe and Atbara, he says we may not! He produces some photo copies of old tourist permits which he, in his very broken English, tries to explain we are missing. We know of these permits however, also know that they are no longer valid/needed. Needless to say a whole argument then insures, where he says we need to return to Khartoum and we refuse to do so! A real stalemate situation where neither side wants to budge. The security guy,who I determine is called Hasan, is adamant that,we can not proceed and need to go back. After discussing with him that our intention is actually to get to Wadi Halfa, he relaxes and his tone begins to change. He finally concedes and says we may proceed to Wadi Halfa as long as we do not visit the pyramids at Moroe. Naturally, just to get going, we agree to his demands and promise to do as he says. What a nightmare, I have been on the road now in Africa for almost 12 weeks, and this is now the real first time I have had to deal with something like this. Before leaving on this trip, people warned me of situations like this, but it has actually been the exception to the rule rather than the norm. So, encountering it for the first time is always a little unsettling and frustrating. Anyway,the outcome was a success and we are able to proceed. 
Naturally, we do not listen to his instructions and make a stop at the Moroe Pyramids,not that I am able too take advantage and actually get to see them. The wind is howling, and the amount of dust in the air makes it very unpleasant for me and my hard contact lenses so, Dave and Naomi visit them on my behalf while,i sit in the airconditioned car.Heaven! 
Hundred or so kilometers further on, we eventually arrive in the city of Arabat. It is approximately 12 noon and manage to find a local restaurant. The temperature in the sun is suicidally hot, so anything away from it is a relief. It is Friday, and what we are not aware of is that, all businesses close their doors between 1pm and 3pm. So, we request to be locked into the restaurant, as this is the only cool place we could find and wait for 3 pm. The owner agrees, and we reciprocate by making sure we frequent his cold drinks frequently! A number of the staff remain with us in the restaurant. What follows, is the most amazing flow of sheer Sudanese hospitality. They are so taken aback by our presents that,we end up chatting to them almost the entire afternoon. To say that the Sudanese are extremely friendly would be an understatement, and even coffees are served for which we are told are on the house. Amazing stuff! 
4 pm rolls by,and with the air temperature slightly more manageable, we decide to see if we can make some headway towards Karima. This stretch of road, involves crossing approximately 300 km of pure desert. Not fun,however, we have no other option. The first 50 km are hard going, not only do I have to contend with 40 degree heat, but also very strong winds, which force me to lean the bike into it.
These winds, only appear to get stronger and it is not long before the sky blackens,not with storm clouds but with a sand cloud. Yes,I am about to ride through my first sand storm. Another first! The visibility drops drastically, and hovers around about 50-80 m for large distances. That,together with the strong winds,makes for some really unpleasant riding. I manage to keep the sand out of my eyes and hence, my contact lenses do not give me any trouble. The sand storm persists for about 50 km until, it is replaced by a rain storm. Yes, rain in the middle of the desert! I am so relieved at the cooling effect of the rain that, ido nit even think of stopping to put on my sin gear. I can nit begin to describe the feeling of being cool, to the point of actually feeling cold, for the first time in two weeks. Such relief, I cannot begin to describe! However, the relief does not last long, and shortly after the last drops haven fallen on me, the hot air simply just dries them off, and the rain slowly gets replaced by hot dry air. We manage to maintain a good average speed thru the sand and rain storm that, we manage to make Karima     Just before nightfall. With no real tourist facilities to mention, we are left with no other option but to bush camp however, rather than simply camp on the side of the road, we decide that perhaps we should ask one of the gamers if we can camp align side one of his fields. This turns out to be a brilliant idea. Naomi spotted an ideal green spot, while Dave and I proceeded to do the negotiating with the farmer with our very broken Arabic and, loads of sign language. It takes awhile however,in typical Sudanese hospitality, they are more than willing for us to camp near there well. We are over the moon,nothing like some lovely green grass to pitch one's tent on! Our arrival sparks loads of interest and in no time, a number of locals arrive to see the strange new arrivals in town.