Day 83, 2011/07/23 Karima to Nile river just north of Dongola

Day 83,  2011/07/23 Karima to Nile river just north of Dongola

Day 83, 2011/07/23

Asking the farmer to let us camp turns out to be the best decision by far. We ended up camping besides his well which, in addition to giving us Locke fresh drinking water, gave us a lovely jacuzzi to! I kid you not! The well had a three phase electricity supply, to which the farmer had connected a huge water pump. The water was being pumped into a big troff, which then had separate pipes leading of it to the various water channels. This troff, turned out to be the most amazing jacuzzi ever. As a result of the high ambient temperatures, the water came out of the well at about 20 odd degrees. Just perfect! The temperature together with the sheer quantity of water being pumped, created this amazing whirlpool affect in the troff. Add to that the fact that we were in the middle of the desert, made for an amazing experience. 
Pity that we could not spend the entire day there else, we would have, trust me! After thanking the farmer, we hit the road relatively early and head to Karima city itself where, apparently some old boat steamers can be found. These boats, are relics from the days before public transport in the form formal roads existed and, the best road available was in fact the Nile river itself. We eventually find the boats, beached on the banks of the Nile just outside town. However, it is not long before some local arrives and tells us we may not take any pictures and that, we must go. Pity but he'll, I managed to get a couple of photos in before he arrived so I am happy to leave and make our way to our next destination, namely Dongola. 
The road to Dongola, is this lovely new stretch of Tarmac which, bisects the previous longer and windier route along the Nile river. The only thing is,this 190 km stretch cuts straight across some horrendous desert section with temperatures in excess of 50 degrees! The stuff a full set of biking gears was designed for. Not!!!
However, with Naomi and Dave continually supplying me with lovely cold water from their fridge, the trip is far more comfortable than it would be. Not that riding in 50 degree heat is at all a walk in the park! We arrive in Dongola before12 which, is just perfect timing to avoid the noon day sun/heat. After a lunch stop at a local restaurant, we seek out the Internet cafe as we have about 4 hours to kill before we can safely hit the road again, without dying of heat exhaustion. The internet cafe has no aircon so relief from the heat is minimal. The owner keeps on apologizing for the extreme heat, like it is his fault. Just another way the Sudanese are so hospitable. Eventually 4pm rolls by and, fen the thou the heat is unbearable, we decide to see if we can make some headway to Wadi Halfa. 
The heat is hectic but, we manage to cover approximately 120 km north, which makes the following day that little bit easier. 
We decide to once again seek out a place to stay close to farms, much like we did in Karima, and eventually find a spot right alongside the Nile river itself. The farmer is very kind and welcomes us to pitch our tent next to he land, on the banks of the river. After a quick pitching of the tent, I knead on down to the river for my first dip in the Nile.