Arriving in Sudan is a breath of fresh air…seriously.  The peace that we are all feeling after the madness that is Egypt is indescribable.  The people here are nothing that you would expect.  The smiles and waves that we get from the side of the road make you feel instantly at home.  Some of us risked the crocodiles for a dip in the Nile. This job is seriously cool. 

Our second night in Sudan our truck staff organized a desert bonfire.  In the middle of Sudan  we finally have a moment to relax when all the work has finished for the day.  (read:  I’m slowly learning to stop asking the question ‘is there anything else you need?’  and just vanish into the desert night) 

It’s my day off as we arrive into our rest day in Dongola Sudan.  It was my mission for the day to test where I sit amidst the racers.  It’s not entirely fair as I’ve only been riding at best every other day and they have all just finished 2 back to back 150km days.  But I was able to place third amoung the women and surprised myself.  Thank goodness for muscle memory.  Dongola is an awesome town, full of happiness and smiles.  We headed from our campsite in the Dongola Zoo (seriously) to find some dinner.  Our tuktuk driver (minicab) insists on taking us to his house for tea.  His home is quiet and cool.  Both a treat after our long hot day on the bike.  We try to communicate with them between James’ phrase book and sign language.  We enjoy tea and cake.  They take us to see ‘agriculture’.  We think that it is their piece of land.  We snap off fava beans off the plant and they tell us stories.  Children come out from the woodwork to see what we are doing.  Their big smiles will melt your heart.  Ibriham  introduces us to his friends and tells us about his English school on Saturday’s.  They talk about WWF and Football.  The moment between lost in translation and when we realize we understand each other is awesome.  Those brief moments that we understand each other are precious. Every one punctuate with laughter.  As we make our way back to the tuktuk driver’s home the children insist on getting photos of all their friends.  One pulls out a sling shot and Shanny and I both think about the probability of this being aimed at a cyclist! Their aim is scary good! The tuktuk drivers wife fills our hands with dates and we are on our way.  This brief moment in the day to day life of the Sudanese people is something worth treasuring in the many miles ahead.