Gunfire in Wadi Halfa (Day 11)
By admin. Filed in Sudan |
We arrived at the soccer field in mid-afternoon to find that a game was going on inside. It seemed like we could have just as easily camped in the open lot across the street, but we were just told to wait. Then the machine guns started firing. We hoped that we were actually waiting for a soccer game to finish and not a public execution. Eventually, some of us decided to wander in and see what was going on. What we found was quite a spectacle.
Police in blue SWAT gear were marching around the field performing various exercises, along with other military people in green fatigues. The crowd was glued to the action. When the police “fired” their weapons, military people in the corners of the field fired real machine guns into mounds of dirt to simulate the sounds. After a short while, the field broke out into celebration and both groups came together in congratulatory hugs. If one group won, it was definitely the guys in blue. They were hoisted up on the shoulders of the guys in green, holding their guns even higher up in the air and smiles of exhilaration that would make you think they just won the World Cup. The crowd went wild and ran down from the stands to congratulate them. Younger boys ran to the corners of the stadium to collect the bullet casings. We set up our tents behind the goal posts.
Ted and I were ready quickly, so we headed grabbed a tuk tuk into town in search of some food and a quality toilet. We had heard that there were only two restaurants in the town to service all 60 of us, so we wanted to beat the crowd. We got to the town to find out that there were a few food stalls with a big communal eating area. I had an impressive selection of vegetables, potatoes, fuul, rice, and pita bread. After dinner, lots of us had delicious tea next door, where all the local men were smoking their hookah pipes. Things are much more relaxed here than in Egypt. Their are virtually no tourists in Sudan, so nobody trying to sell us anything or cheat us out of any money. There were no souvenirs to buy even if we wanted to.
Back at camp, the white board had some surprises for us. First, we had gone through a time change so we would be leaving an hour later in the mornings (8:00 instead of 7:00). We actually leave when we do because we are waiting for the Sun to rise. Biologically, we will still be leaving at the same time. Our second surprise is that we will be riding to Dongola in three days instead of four. That means that we have to ride farther each day. That will allow us to try a new dirt route through a national park later in Sudan.