Day 84, 2011/07/24 Nile river just north of to Wadi Halfa

Day 84,  2011/07/24  Nile river just north of  to Wadi Halfa 

Day 84, 2011/07/24

It is amazing thought to think that, only 300 odd km separate me from the border between me and Egypt. I never thought I would get this far and, it is slightly surreal. Once again, we leave early to avoid the immense heat. On the way, I require fuel which, ISA little hard to come by and, eventually I have to purchase it from guys with Jerry cans on the side of the road. No wonder I get ripped off and pay 50% more per liter. Anyway, who is going to argue when you in the middle of the desert and you desperate for fuel! 
The road is lovely tarmac with, some lovely twisty sections however, nothing like Ethiopia. There is a continues dust cloud overhead which, makes the air temperature  a little more pleasant, and we manage to arrive in Wadi Halfa by about 11 am. On arrival in town, we manage to bump in to our fixer Mazan who, invites us to stay at his house which, we except. And, after a lovely lunch with a number of frozen drinks just to cool off, we follow the GPS to his house. The sun is now burning hot, and the 4km trip to his home feels like an eternity, the heat, with all my gear on is simply unbearable! I am take serious strain! On arrival at Mazan's house, he is not home so, we are forced to take shelter from the heat in Dave and Naomi's car. Thank god for those two or else, I would have died by now! 
Mazan eventually arrives and invites us into his home. Never been into a locals house yet, and it is very interesting to see them from the inside. There are no windows or doors to speak of, and everything is open. Well guess in these kind of temperatures, you looking for maximum ventilation and hence, the best way to create it is through the elimination of doors and windows. In addition, Mazan shows us to our room. The room once again opens out onto the courtyard and, in addition, it also has a large evaporation cooling fan. Brilliant, finally some form of cold air. Needless to say it works like a charm and, regardless of the fact that, we need to fill it with two buckets of water every hour, I have found heaven in the middle of the desert at last! Since it is Sunday, and the ferry does not leave until Wednesday, we have a number of days to kill, and where better than sitting in front of this fan!