Back in Khartoum every Friday near dusk sees a uniquely Sudanese event which harks back to the beginning of my story. The Mahdi who defeated General Gordon led a scion of Islam known as Sufism. These musical, mystic Moslems were referred to as the whirling dervishes after their music and vertigo inducing spinning dances. In the shadows of the Mahdi’s tomb a weekly reenactment occurs. In a country that sees few tourists this is not a tacky tourist culture show we see perhaps a dozen tourists in all. The pulsating chanting and dancing draws a hundred locals and we are privileged to be allowed to witness it.
This is a fascinating country with no shortage of top notch tourist attractions but one that has been blighted by war over decades and therefore a perception that it is unsafe for tourism. I certainly do not feel that there is any danger here for the culturally aware tourist. There is a negativity towards being photographed and twice we have been pulled up by locals asking us not to take photos, not of them but of the village or environment. By contrast at the dervishes today some of the guys were actually waving us to the front and prompting where to take the best photos. At the museum one of the locals randomly paid our admission price in a typically Muslim gesture of hospitality.
This is not a country for the novice traveller to cut his teeth on but any experienced traveller would find this country and its people well worth visiting.
Next stop Ethiopia and the ominously named Danakil Depression!