We’re in Sudan! Both a boring and an eventful day today. We started in the ferry where I had a good sleep in the cabin. Just as I was awakening, Kevin noticed Abu Simbel on the starboard side. Excellent!
Soon we were in Sudanese waters and our closed adjust one our forward. It still took until noon local time before the ship docked and another five hours after that before we had cleared all the customs and disembarkation checks. These included:
- Waiting initially until others got off (pretty quick)
- All our group being asked to congregate into the dining area. Discovering the area was too cramped so everyone but first 10 sent outside
- As my turn was called, receiving two forms to carefully complete. Having them checked by immigration and receiving a yellow disembarkation receipt, a copy of my original form and a form to affix my photo
- Finding the person with the stapler, to attach the photo
- Being allowed to leave assuming I showed the disembarkation permit, bringing all my gear down to the dock.
- Helping load the trucks and then cycling a short km to the customs area
- Retrieving the bag, having customs come and place stickers on both bags
- Having customs check stickers on the bags, then also put sticker on the bike to check
- Riding off to camp
Once we arrived at camp, we got first look at the big overland vehicles and our lockers. Pretty big and impressive and fortunately, all my stuff seems to fit in the locker.
