Expeditions in the Sudanese deserts

Meet and greet and transfer to the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel and then we start the city tour visiting the National Museum (at the present the inner part is closed for refurbishment, it may be allowed to visit the temples in the garden). We then cross the confluence between the Blue and the White Nile near the Presidential Palace where in 1885 General Gordon was beheaded by the Mahdi’s troops and we reach Omdurman, the old capital of Sudan, where we visit the Mahdi’s Tomb and the interesting Khalifa’s House (2022 the museum is closed).

Late in the morning we begin the journey northward through the Western Desert. We travel for about 200 km on asphalt road in a flat desert where the view can span 360° around. We will stop at Tam Tam a "chai house", literally tea house, a sort of very Spartan "motorway restaurant" in the desert where local truck drivers usually stop for a quick meal and some rest. Late in the afternoon we leave the road and we find a nice place to camp under the incredible African night sky.

Picnic lunch included

Night in wild camp in the desert

We drive westward in the desert and we reach Wadi El Milk, where we find many acacia trees and sometimes Bisharin nomads settlements around the few water wells. Then driving north we cross a wide area of small sand dunes where it is easy to get stuck in the sand. The help of passengers to pull out the cars from the sand is well accepted. We reach a mysterious fortress in the middle of the desert: Gala Abu Hamed has been discovered by a German archaeological expedition less then 10 years ago and it is dated to the Napatean time (700-400 B.C.). The ruins of the fortress are mainly huge boundary walls of about 100 m, now partially covered by sand. The place was probably used has a trade post for the caravans coming from Central Africa to the Nile. It remains a mystery how the place could have been inhabited since there is no water at all.

Picnic lunch included

Dinner and overnight in wild camp in the desert -

Driving northwest deep into the Western Desert, we reach a small beautiful oasis rich in palm trees among the dunes.

Picnic lunch included

Dinner and overnight in wild camp in the desert -

We reach Jebel Dosha where on a rock right on the Nile bank, we can see an Egyptian stelae of Thutmosis III and a small rock temple. We continue North crossing the Nile on a fisherman boat to reach the Island of Sai (please note that according to weather conditions the visit to Sai may be moved to another day).

Sai Island is a puzzle of ruins dated back from the Kerma necropolis to the Egyptian and Meroitic times to finish with columns of Christian churches.

Once back on the West bank, we continue north to visit the ruins of Amara West. This site is very seldom visited due to its remoteness, It was an ancient Egyptian town and the archaeologists proved that, here, there may be one of the first case of cancer, discovered in a mummy in the necropolis. We discover the desert in this far north area of Sudan

2 Picnic lunch included
2 Dinner and overnight in wild camp in the desert -

After breakfast we will visit the Temple of Soleb, the most beautiful Egyptian temple of all Sudan, testimony of the New Kingdom in Nubia, with many walls rich in hieroglyphic inscriptions, bas-relief figures and many columns. Not far we’ll see a nice stele on the rock just on the shore of the Nile. We then reach the Ruins of Sesibi. We then cross the Nile by ferry and we reach the granite boulders of the Third Cataract which used to be the third huge obstacle that the ancients Egyptians had to face when trying to sail on the Nile River. In Sebu, right on the river bank of the Nile it is possible to visit one of the richest sites of rock engraving of all Sudan with hundreds of images from prehistoric to Egyptian times. Dinner and overnight in a private Nubian house.

Picnic lunch included
Dinner and overnight in wild camp in the desert -

Alternative: Nubian house in Tombos in half board instead of Dinner and overnight in Wild camps -

This morning we then reach the village of Tombos where there are the remains of ancient granite quarries and where we can see a statue of the King Taharqa, simply left there in the desert 3000 years ago. On the Nile banks we can see some Egyptian stelae and inscriptions. This was the southern border of the ancient Egyptian kingdom for centuries.

We then drive to Kerma and the mysterious defuffa. Here we visit also the small, but interesting Museum. we spend some time at the market. We drive south across the Nubian Desert to visit some villages.

Picnic lunch included
Dinner and overnight in wild camp in the desert -

Breakfast at the camp then we continue our journey across villages. Visit the ruins of the Christian capital of the Makuria Kingdom: Old Dongola. then after the visit we cross the Nubian desert on the old track Time permitting we will visit the Necropolis of El Kurru and the tomb of the Pharaohs Tawentamani of the 25th Dynasty. IF there is no time today we shall visit it the following morning.

Picnic lunch included
Dinner and overnight in wild camp in the desert -

Today we will visit the landmark of the Nubian Desert: Jebel Barkal ("Jebel" means mountain in Arabic). At the foot of this wonderful and isolated red sandstone mountain, considered holy since the ancient times, there is a big temple, dedicated to the Pharaohs of the New Reign and to their patron, Amon. Amon's ancient "Pure Mountain", the Olympus of the Nubians, was the religious Nubian heart for more than 1000 years. Besides the ruins of the big temple there are still several sculptured granite rams that were supposed to border a long avenue that probably led to the pier on the Nile. In the mountain wall there is a big room decorated with bas-relief. Jebel Barkal archaeological site is on the World Heritage list. We then board a small motorboat for a pleasant boat ride along the Nile to enjoy the beautiful sand stretches and cultivated islands along the river. A little further northward there used to be the beautiful granite rocky formations of the 4th Cataract, which prevented the Nile from flowing slowly and formed many rapids that obstructed the navigation. In April 2008 the Dam of Merowee has been completed and the flooding of the artificial lake started. We then visit the archaeological site of Nuri where we can see many pyramids among which there is also the one of the great Taharqa. Little walk among those ancient pyramids.

Picnic lunch included

Overnight at a simple local 3* hotel
Alternative: Free upgrade - Karima Nubian Rest House

After breakfast we start our journey crossing the Nile and visiting the Nuri Pyramids. We then enter the Bayuda Desert, an area bounded by the loop formed by the Nile between the 4th and the 6th Cataract and characterized by sharp black basalt mountains, most of them volcanic and typically cone-shaped. They alternate with level pebble stretches and large valleys crossed by dry wadis, where little vegetation can be seen. It is very likely to meet isolated groups of Bisharin nomads, who live in familiar groups in small huts made of intertwined branches close to the rare water wells, with their caravans and herds of camels and cattle. Just in the center of the Bayuda Desert we reach Atrun Crater, where nomads gather salt from the edge of a green colored pool. They will then sell it to markets of the towns outside the desert.

Picnic lunch included
Dinner and overnight in wild camp in the desert -

Today we finish crossing the Bayuda desert and we cross the Nile on a local ferry-boat where we can meet friendly local people. On the other shore of the Nile we drive on a level ground area and, all of a sudden, we can glance at more than 40 pyramids, located on top of a hill, some of them perfectly preserved that belong to the Royal Necropolis of Meroe.

Picnic lunch included
Dinner and overnight in wild camp in the desert -

The Royal necropolis of Meroe is located at about 3 km away from the Nile on some hills covered by yellow sand dunes. Several pyramids stand out with their sharp shapes against the clear sky. Each one has its own funerary chapel with the walls fully decorated with bas-reliefs that show the King’s life and offers to the gods. In the afternoon we reach Mussawarat El Sufra. This settlement is located in a a beautiful valley crowned by hills. Here the ruins of a very big temple are visible; it once played an exceptional important role. Its main characteristic, the “Great Enclosure” is made by many constructions and boundary walls which surround a temple built in the 1st century A.D. The large number of elephants represented on these walls makes you think that this animal used to have an important role in this area. Beyond the big wadi there is another temple - restored by a German archaeological mission - dedicated to the god Apedemak. We then move to the beautiful site of Naga for our last camp.
Picnic lunch included
Dinner and overnight in wild camp in the desert -

We begin the day exploring the ancient site of Naga, which is located about 30 km to the east of the Nile and it is one of the two centres that developed during the Meroitic period. In Naga, in a typical Saharan environment with rocks and sand, we find a temple dedicated to Apedemak (1st century A.D.): a wonderful building with bas-relief decorations depicting the god with a lion’s head, the Pharaoh, noblemen and several ritual images. A few metres away there is a small and odd construction with arches and columns, named "kiosk", in which we can notice Egyptian, Roman and Greek styles, all at the same time. Not far away we reach another temple dedicated to Amon with many statues of rams and beautiful gates decorated with bas-reliefs. In the afternoon we reach and visit Omdurman souk. At sunset time we move near the tomb of the sufi leader Ahmed al Nil to attend the involving Whirling Dervishes Ceremony (only on Fridays).

Picnic lunch included

Overnight in Hotel in Khartoum