I first dreamt of travelling to the Sudan as a teenage boy. My grandmother would take us to the op shop at Ashburton where I would scour the book section and indulge my passion for reading. One of my favourites was the “White Nile” a ripping yarn of British exploration in the deep heart of Africa written by Alan Moorhead in 1962.
One of the more tragic stories within the book was that of the British occupation of the Sudan in the mid 1800 and the last British governor, General Gordon a heroic soldier who was sent by Prime Minister Gladstone to evacuate all Egyptian and Europeans from the Sudan due to the rebel threat. Gordon arrived in Feb 1884 and fortified and held the besieged Khartoum for 11 months. Ultimately Mohammed Ahmed who called himself the Mahdi (one who would rid the world of all evil) led the successful Sudanese Muslim uprising. Gordon was killed and beheaded all of which has an eerie resonance today.
So it is to the Sudan I venture. I want to see what, if anything remains of the fort that Gordon defended, nestled on the land protected on two sides by the confluence of the blue and white Nile. The Mahdi’s tomb still exists on an island in the Nile. Then there is the assortment of fabulous ancient Egyptian temples and pyramids north of Khartoum.
From Sudan it is unfinished business in Ethiopia with a 4 day safari into the Danakil depression. Straddling the border with Eritrea it is 100metres below sea level and one of the hottest places on earth. The landscape is reminiscent of Mars and the climax here will be a night sleeping out in the open on the rim of an active volcano. The finale is a brief transit through the tiny Djibouti wedged between Eritrea and Somalia.
I depart on Friday and am only away for a short 2 weeks. Large chunks of the trip will see us “off the grid” so postings may be late and well after the event but I will endeavour to keep you all posted while I am away.
Death of General Gordon