‘Today it is not very hot there are 57 degrees’ … told me a policeman …
My today’s objective was reaching Delgo about 130 kilometers from Dongola, I arrived there relatively early and I found out it is not a town, but a big and convulse market frequented by thousands of gold diggers who every day fathom the surrounding mountains. They do not have the sieve of Uncle Scrooge and Rockerduck, but they are equipped with some kind of sounder, Made in China I assume, which they keep over the shoulder at the market and use as a hoover on the ground, seeing them busy sounding the ground they seem CIS on the crime scene, or NASA analyzing the surroundings where it is thought a alien ship landed …
At the market I was welcomed by a friendly old man who manages a kiosk where there is only Sudanese food and drinks, I had a fire in my throat and wanted something ice cold, he had it, a traditional drink with milk and another more spicy one but certainly with tamarind, I drank about ten glasses, he made me pay for five. He wanted to have some pictures taken … ‘so you can do a good report …’ and he advised me to travel by night because there is a full moon and it is cooler … then as I start off he says … ‘ah I almost forgot when you are on the hills’ … ‘beware of the wild dogs!’ … ‘when there I is a full moon at times they attack in packs of seven or eight’ … and … ‘there is nothing you can do …’
I decide to go to Abu Sara, the old man told me it was like Delgo, bad place for bad place better one twenty kilometers further, instead, it is always better to verify in person … Abu Sara is a paradise, it grows along the West bank of the Nile, it has nice and spacious houses, with colorful doors, not armored doors nor with iron bars inviting you to keep away, but open doors, often open inviting you to enter … I still do not know where I will sleep … but it is almost sunset and I want to take some pictures of the Nile … between the bank and the town there are some secular trees whose shade thousands of Nubians must have enjoyed … when I reach the river bank I realize that on the opposite side there is another town, Tondy, which can be reached only by taxi boats that take you to destination in five minutes … I take a lot of pictures, trying different functions of the camera, I stop to talk to some elders and I start walking towards the bicycle which I left two hundred meters behind … that is when I see a man with a briefcase greeting me and telling me ‘let’s go to the other side to eat we have to hurry up because the sun is setting’ … ‘and the bicycle?’ … ‘there is no problem it is safe there where it is …’ I change my glasses and we go … Nasser my guardian angel in Abu Sara … lives in Khartoum … but he still has many family members and land in this area, moreover he sells foodstuff in the small shops in the miners’ markets.
We reach Tondy, when from the mosque the signal that you can eat arrives, the food is delicious and I have to hold myself back not to finish all the juices and teas there are, after the prayer which I assist to together with another one who is not praying because he is not at peace with himself, we move on to the house of a relative of Nasser … the house is by the Nile, white and blue, on the courtyard where you enter from, there are three beds placed in the shape of a U around a television under the central arch of the three marking off the veranda from the yard … the arches have the shape of the key holes used by our grandparents … some young girls with braids dressed in western style are watching a music program … when we enter they leave the courtyard … but the curiosity to see the foreigner is irresistible … first they spy from behind the arches then they improvise themselves as waitresses … I am on a bed … my eyes are closing … Al Arabiya is talking about Syria … but my attention is caught more by the beautiful blonde and sexy presenters who are a bad match to the world their TVs represent … slowly slowly more and more people arrive Nasser knows everybody and he introduces me to all he is enthusiastic that sport can be a tool for peace and development … after the many coffees and teas … it is time to go back to Abu Sara … we call the boat with our voices and light signals and immediately one arrives … will we finally sleep? … it seems so … outside the house of a relative retired English professor … there are two fantastic beds ready with a real sprung bed base not the usual made with the string to hang the laundry … as soon as I touch the bed I doze off … Nasser wakes me up because he is discussing with a relative who told him that the government wants to build a market in Abu Sara on a piece of land of their property … they decide to build something immediately … I am sleepy but I like this fighting spirit and I nod with a smile … and I sink back into sleep … sweet dreams? …
No towards half past eleven, I am waken again, food is ready! I enjoy a rise and cold and sweet milk really thirst drenching … an old aunt of Nasser cannot believe how I could have ended up there … this time we sleep for real …
These Nubians have an initiative and independence which surprised me, they can be at the same time rooted and attached to their traditions, languages included, and active and open to the opportunities the world has to offer.
Dongola N 19° 16.946’ E 30° 47.423’ – Abu Sara N 20° 18.346’ E 30° 34.660’
151 km