Travel in Sudan

the historic Kingdom of Kush

At an incredible 1,886,000 square kilometres, Sudan is the third largest country in Africa, two and a half times the size of Texas, fifteen times the size of England.

The population is around 42 million people, 97% of whom are Moslem, the majority of which live along the banks of the White Nile and the Blue Nile, particularly in the south of the country, which is a good deal less arid.

The primary reason to visit Sudan is to explore the incredible archaeological sites of the ancient Kingdom of Kush, which date from around 1450 BC to 400 AD.

For around 2000 years Nubia sat uncomfortably at the southern end of the Egyptian Empire, sometimes as an integrated province, other times as a fierce rival kingdom. Incredibly, around 700BC, the Nubians successfully conquered Egypt and lorded it over their rivals for a glorious century, when they famously became known as the black pharaohs.

Sudan is fast earning a reputation as ‘the smart way to visit Egypt’. Although the ruins are definitely not as impressive as those at Luxor and Cairo, the sites are visited by far fewer people and there remains a real sense of this being a new frontier for visitors.

The hotels in Khartoum aside, the whole country only contains a handful of simple lodges. To visit more out of the way locations it is necessary to use a mobile tented camp, which certainly adds to the sense of adventure.

The most popular period to visit Sudan is Nov-Mar, which is the ‘cool’ dry winter season, when daytime temperatures tend to peak around 34C/93F and there is little chance of rain, therefore humidities are usually nice and low.

The converse Apr-Oct period represents the hot ‘wet’ summer season, when temperatures can exceed 42C/108F, rainfall tends to peak during Jul-Sep, which can lead to some really uncomfortable high humidities (although this becomes much less of an issue the further north you go).

Getting there

Sudan is usually accessed by international flights into Khartoum.

When combining with Egypt, it is also possible to journey north to Wadi Haifa, from where there are boats down the lake to Aswan.

Sudan is usually explored by private-guided overland safari out of Khartoum, usually over around four nights, split between the key locations of Karima and Meroe.

Where to stay

Guest accommodation in Sudan is literally in a handful of lodges, ensuring that the country remains a far cooler and less touristy place to visit than its more famous northern neighbour.

private-guided overland safaris out of Khartoum