You know I’m in Khartoum. I’m staying at a very run down Hilton Hotel: it’s being refurbished now and it clearly hasn’t been redecorated since the 1970s. My room overlooks the Blue Nile and the view is lovely.
I’ve been busy and haven’t had time for sight seeing so I decided to make the most of my last evening here and set off for the Mogran ... the confluence of the White and Blue Nile. I walked and thought better of it even though I knew it was near the hotel. I didn’t want to walk into any nonsense but couldn’t see the White Nile although I knew where I was vis a vis the Blue Nile.
I back tracked to the taxi I had seen earlier and bold as brass got into the taxi even though I could tell by the driver’s body language that he really didn’t want to take me. We set off. He laughed when I tried to put on the seat belt and failed. It jammed half way out so I told him to be careful and he laughed again as if he understood! His driving skills were, erm, limited. We went to a very busy intersection and he asserted himself. Still, we survived and apart from being overtaken by the most appalling looking taxi apart from the one I was in, the very short journey was then uneventful. We got to Al Mogran Family Park and the driver accompanied me to the ticket office (that is NOT the box office). It cost me two Sudanese Pounds to get in and I asked the ticket seller to ask the taxi driver to wait but again I sensed something akin to reluctance. I’m afraid I ignored the driver's plea and strode on. Well, I might have been wrong and he laughed again once I got back and tried to put the seat belt on again.
Just as I got right to the end of the park I was despairing of ever seeing the White Nile let alone the confluence. All of a sudden, there it was. The sight that the vast majority of people on this planet have never seen: where the two Nile rivers meet. I started taking snaps. Bill Gates came in for some stick as my camera (Windows operating system I’m afraid) hung twice. Anyway, I took around 10 – 15 pictures and was happy.
Then a policeman came up to me and opined not to take photographs. I apologised and moved on: to leave the park. I had been careful especially not to include any women in my pics. Half way towards the exit I heard someone shouting and thought, that’s for me. I ignored it and walked briskly on but they caught up with me. The Policeman and a colleague. I was told to accompany them. I did. We met up with three more men, all in plain clothes and they exchanged a few words including camera, photographs, video.
The two original men left and I was told to follow the new three and they took me into a room and made me sit. I pondered at my plight at this stage. I offered to delete all the pics but was advised to sit down after which I said nothing. Their English was about equal to my Arabic. They took my name and nationality and since I didn’t have my passport with me, couldn’t hand that over. Then they looked at every photo in my phone/camera and after a discussion during which I got the impression that hard cop wanted me in the cells whilst good cop wanted me to go free, they let me go free. They handed back my phone and one said in English that to take photographs there I needed a permit but I was OK this time.
I apologised and said I didn’t know. I shook all three hands and left. They hadn’t deleted any of my pics and I was grateful for that.
I wonder what they made of the photograph of one of my socks drying out on the top of a lamp shade? You can have a copy if you want
DW
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