Afrinkong
The Great Bend
The Nile turns southwest for three hundred kilometres here, against every expectation.
North Africa · Afrinkong
Sudan
More pyramids than Egypt.
Two hundred Nubian pyramids at Meroe and Nuri, the Nile making its great bend through desert, and a Red Sea coast with reefs nobody dives — a country with an extraordinary past and a hard present.
Where it is
Africa · North Africa · Sudan
The land in brief
- Spans
- 1,710 km E–W, 1,510 km N–S
- Latitude
- 22°N to 9°N
- Borders
- 7 countries
- Sea
- Has a coast
- Best time
- November to March, and only when the security situation allows it.
Also in North Africa
AlgeriaThe largest country in Africa, and the emptiestEgyptThe Nile, and five thousand yearsLibyaLeptis Magna, and the sand sea behind itMoroccoAtlas, Sahara and the medinasTunisiaCarthage, the Sahel and the desert south
Compare Sudan with another countryAll fifty-four, worked through the same twenty-seven categories.When to come
JFMAMJJASOND
November to March, and only when the security situation allows it.
01Highlights
What Sudan is known for.
Six of the twenty-seven, and the ones most people come for. The rest are below — and none of them is filler.
Dinder and the Red Sea
Dinder on the Ethiopian border holds lion, giraffe and roan; the reefs hold everything else.
Mountains
The Red Sea Hills and Jebel Marra
Granite hills behind Port Sudan, and a volcanic crater lake on Jebel Marra in Darfur.
Beaches & Coast
Reefs Nobody Dives
Sanganeb atoll and Sha'ab Rumi, where Cousteau sank Conshelf II and the coral grew over it.
Forests & Rainforest
Acacia and Doum Palm
Gum arabic comes from the acacia belt across the middle of the country. Most of the world's does.
Nubian, Arab, Beja
Nubian along the northern Nile, Beja in the Red Sea hills, and nearly six hundred groups altogether.
02Experiences
25 ways to spend the time.
Every country we cover works through the same twenty-seven categories, so you can hold two of them side by side and compare like with like rather than one brochure against another. Compare Sudan with another → The two not listed here are the hero picture and the case for going, which has a section of its own below.
Landscapes
- The Great BendThe Nile turns southwest for three hundred kilometres here, against every expectation.
- The Red Sea Hills and Jebel MarraGranite hills behind Port Sudan, and a volcanic crater lake on Jebel Marra in Darfur.
- The CataractsSix of them on the Nile, rapids where the river crosses granite, and boats have to portage.
- The Blue and the WhiteThey meet at Khartoum, one clear and one brown, and you can see the line between them.
- Reefs Nobody DivesSanganeb atoll and Sha'ab Rumi, where Cousteau sank Conshelf II and the coral grew over it.
- Acacia and Doum PalmGum arabic comes from the acacia belt across the middle of the country. Most of the world's does.
Wildlife
- Dinder and the Red SeaDinder on the Ethiopian border holds lion, giraffe and roan; the reefs hold everything else.
- DinderOne of Africa's oldest national parks, and one of the least visited on the continent.
- Gum Arabic and the Acacia BeltA gum tapped from wild acacia by hand, in most of the soft drinks in the world.
- Walking Between PyramidsThere is no fence at Meroe. You walk in off the sand and up the ridge.
People and culture
- Nubian, Arab, BejaNubian along the northern Nile, Beja in the Red Sea hills, and nearly six hundred groups altogether.
- The NubiansThe Nubian villages along the northern Nile paint their houses, and have done for a very long time.
- Sufi Friday at OmdurmanThe Hamed al-Nil tomb, every Friday at sunset, drumming and whirling for two hours.
- Basketry and SilverCoiled palm baskets from the north, Beja swords, and silver from the Omdurman souk.
- Ful and KisraFul medames for breakfast everywhere, kisra sorghum flatbread, and coffee spiced with ginger.
- The Nile at TutiThe island in the confluence, farmed, walkable, and reached by ferry from three sides.
- The Camel MarketOmdurman's camel market on a Saturday, with animals in from Kordofan and Darfur.
Places
- Khartoum and OmdurmanTwo cities facing each other across the confluence, one colonial grid and one enormous souk.
- Mud Brick and Painted DoorsNubian vaulted mud-brick houses with painted gates, a technique revived by Hassan Fathy.
- Meroe, Nuri and El-KurruThree royal cemeteries of the Kingdom of Kush, which ruled Egypt for a century.
- KushGebel Barkal was the holy mountain of two kingdoms, and the temple of Amun is cut into it.
Ways to travel
- Diving and Desert DrivingLiveaboards out of Port Sudan, and four-wheel-drive routes between the pyramid fields.
- Very LittleA handful of Red Sea liveaboards, and camps at Meroe. That is the whole of it.
- Pyramids and DunesMeroe an hour after dawn, when the sand is still ridged and the shadows are long.
- Old DongolaA Christian Nubian capital on the Nile, with a throne hall that became a mosque.
03Why go
The case for Sudan.
Why Visit This Country
Why Sudan
More pyramids than Egypt, no queue at any of them, and a welcome people write books about.
Hidden Gems
Old Dongola
A Christian Nubian capital on the Nile, with a throne hall that became a mosque.
Eco Tourism
Gum Arabic and the Acacia Belt
A gum tapped from wild acacia by hand, in most of the soft drinks in the world.
Heritage
Kush
Gebel Barkal was the holy mountain of two kingdoms, and the temple of Amun is cut into it.
04Go deeper
All of Sudan, four ways in.
Who would take youAfrinkong
The ground is ours right across Africa: your vehicle, your driver for the whole journey, and the days shaped around what you came for.
In Cameroon, Uganda and Namibia you travel with companies of our own as well.
Plan your journey →
Begin
Your Sudan starts here.
Tell us the month, or simply the thing you want to see, and a guide who works there will answer.