On Sunday I flew with the RED904 out of Lokichokio to Khartoum. On the six hour flight we stopped in both, Wau and Juba in order to unload and load passenger and cargo. We reached Khartoum just before dark and could still see the Blue and White Nile joining each other to make their way together northwards. Khartoum the safest city for travellers in Africa according to the Lonely planet guide book has some good eating places. We try the indian restaurant not far from the delegation which is famous with our colleagues in Khartoum. It is nice food for a couple of dollars. The night we can stay in the guesthouse which has internet connection but is situated just next to the airport. So don't forget your earplugs for a decent sleep.

To see Meroe tourists need a travel permit (required to leave the city of Khartoum). Our welcome service takes care of obtaining it. In the meantime we organise the car. It saves us a lot of hassle to have an car from the delegation. As we are five people to visit the pyramides we decide not to take a driver. As long as you stick to the main road which is in excellent condition it is not a problem at all to find the places. Before you leave the city think of getting the site permit which can be obtained easily from the ministry. Crossing the river Nile we leave the city behind us and drive through the outskirts towards the dessert. A last stop to buy some food is necessary because there is no restaurant on the way. After three hours driving through the dessert we reach Shendi. This is the village close to the pyramides where the only hotel is situated. Don't be too fast with the booking. You could save a fair amount of dollars for a lazy room when staying overnight at the pyramides. The guards will ask you upon arrival whether you have your sleeping bag with you. A nice experience to see the pyramides at sunset and sunrise and in the light of the moon. If you stay in the hotel they will arrange the dinner for you in the beautiful garden. Nice sudanese food and a good variety.

The pyramides itself are really nice and far better than my expectations. The first site we reach does not seem very open to the tourists. The ten pyramides about twenty meters in height are all a little bit damaged. Despite that fact, I get a good impression of the place and how it must have looked like in ancient times. Now it has something mhytique with the tranquility and the quietness. The main site a few kilometers further is quite impressive. The pyramides are larger and in better shape. Not all are perfect, some are damaged but the picture you get is nevertheless a great one. It can take up to two hours to see all the constructions, the stone carvings and do some souvenir shopping... or a camel ride. The pyramides in the light of the setting sun are just magnificent. (Don't expect the size of the Gizeh pyramides!)

The following morning on the way back to Khartoum we want to see another famous ancient site. From the main road it takes us almost 40 kilometers or more than one hour off-road driving to reach the place. As for the pyramides it is requested to get a visitor permit to see these old buildings or the remaining parts of it. Of course we do not have this permit and a bakschisch is categorically refused by an angry guard. Unusual! We therefore continue our 4-wheele drive through the sudanese desert. If it would not be to catch our flight to Port Sudan later this day I would not be too much worried about driving around the beautiful countryside even though it is the spartanic deseert vegetation but with all its beauty.

In probably the oldest aircraft I ever set foot we are heading towards the coastal town of Port Sudan. It is an old russian IL-18 bringing us more slowly than save to our next destination. Sudan Airlines is fully booked at Christmas Day on this flight. The sandwiches are rather dry and simple with just a slice of cheese between two slices of yesterdays toast. Organised from Khartoum the local travel agent brings us directly from the airport to the harbour. Sure we could also have hired a cab for the twenty kilometers from the airport to town but I am not sure wheter we would have been safer. Cars are rather in a desperate condition.

The "Elegante" a beautiful sailing yacht is ready to welcome us. The italian "commandante", his wife and the two staff are busy preparing the yacht for our three day cruise. The accomodation is in very nice doubles with bathroom. We prepare and test our diving equipement since we will leave the following morning rather early the harbour of Port Sudan to find our first diving site in the Red Sea. Sanganeb offers beautiful reef diving with lots of corals and maritime life. Beautifully coloured reef fish and exotic soft corals makes me believe that Sudan is one of the best diving places. A second dive in the afternoon at the almost same location reveals even more beautiful marine life. Sanganeb Reef has a light house which can be visited. Daniela takes us with the boat to the place and lets us do the exercise of climbing up 260 stairs desperately needed to solve our calory problem.

The second diving day is at a site called Sha'ab Rumi another two hours cruising through the clear waters of the Red Sea. The famous south point reveals an abundant marine life on a plateau protected from the current of the open sea. Our dive takes us to 50 meters underwater as suddenly hammer-head sharks swim above our heads. Also the numerous black tail sharks accompany us during the whole dive. In still the same reef but at a different place there are remains what formarly used to be an experimental base of J. Cousteau. The "Precontinente II" is a steel construction in still very good shape. Blue spotted rays, barracudas, reef fish, blow fish and scorpion fish are all to be seen at this place. Really the scuba diving is very enjoyable out of the "Elegante" since the dive master takes us to beautiful places, we have good equipement, the water is warm and clear and the Red Sea offers very good diving.

Not only the diving but the hospitality on the boat is good. It cannot go wrong with the italian/egyptian crew. By the way the food is excellent. Young Mohamed prepares us the italian pasta as good as he does the shusi (raw fish fresh out of the sea). Coming back from each dive we find some freshly prepared snack or cake on the table. The service is nice, smiling and discret so as not beeing disturbed living three days so closely together on the boat. The cabines are nice but to sleep outdoor on the deck is just as nice. The rhythm of the waves, the light of the moon and the movement of the boat in the water makes you sleep like an Angel. Claudio the captain and his assistant Ali know their job since they are doing this for some years now. It is just a pity that we have only three days on the boat. That just means that we head back to Port Sudan where we get just at the right time to catch the flight back to Khartoum.

The respectable welcome driver of the delegation brings us for the last night of our holidays back to the guesthouse. Tonight we decided on having some korean food just opposite the road. The good authentic korean food rewards for the long waiting and unprofessional service. If the beer is not prohibited in Khartoum for muslim traditions is is certainly the price which is prohibitive in this place. The following morning or the seventh and last day of our christmas special holiday we fly back to Lokichokio where the big heat and the dry countryside welcomes us back to work after a really relaxing few days in Sudan.