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Sudan
offered by supplier M16884 (view this supplier profile)
Key Information:
Tour Duration: 13
day(s)
Group Size: 2
- 99
people
Destination(s):
Sudan
Specialty Categories:
Cultural Journey
Archeology/History
Season: January - December
Airfare Included: No
Tour Customizable: Yes
Minimum Per Person Price: 3700 US Dollar (USD)
Maximum Per Person Price: 4000 US Dollar (USD)
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Tour Itinerary:
Day 1: Arr Khartoum
Transfer to Grand Holiday Villa, 5 star. Late morning start to have time to rest. Approximatively 10:30 am pick up for visit of Ethnographic museum. Afternoon drive to Omdurman to visit Khalifa’s house, Mahdi Tomb and the old market. Lunch in a restaurant along the Nile. Next, visit the Abu Roaf market for making the boats. Evening attend Daraweesh ceremony - drums and chanting - at 5 pm near the Tomb of Shaikh Hamad Al-Niel led by the Shaikh (Hamad Elniel dervish dance). Return to hotel. Dinner and independent time, browse in Assuq Al-Arabi (market) if you wish.
Day 2: Dongola
Long drive today by 4 wheel drive through Bayoda desert to Dongola. We’ll stop along the way to see the termi colonies. Lunch en route in a local restaurant and time to browse the Debba village market. O/N camp in tents outskirts of Dongola.
Day 3: Dongola-Tagab-Beyouda Desert-Marawe-Soleb
In the morning visit the local ‘suq’ in Dongola, then drive through desert on the way to Sesibi (3 hr drive). Part of the road crosses the famous historical road – Darb El-Arbeen (the forty days road), the one for the camel caravans that start from west of the country heading to Egypt. See Tagab, where the Nile makes a turn at the Northern U-bend of the river and leaves a fascinating scene. Lunch en route. In Sesibi, visit the temple of Ekhnaton and the relics of his city. Continue drive to Soleb (1 hr) and transfer to a Nubian local house. O/N and dinner at Nubian house .
Day 4: Soleb, Sadenga, Sai Island
In the morning visit the temple of Amun in Soleb (including Jebel Dosha where there are very interesting inscriptions on its rocks), Ammenophese the third, see Dosha mountain, the inscriptions of Tohotmosis the 3rd. Drive to Sadenga Sites of pre – Napatan and Meroetic remains that go back in civilization to the dynasties in Egypt with their influence on the Sudan of the day, including visit to the temple of queen Teje, the wife of Ammenophese the third. Drive 45 min to Sai Island ferry, cross the Nile to Sai Island (about 30 min). O/N in a Nubian house in Sai Island. This day is ideal for making contact with the local people.
Day 5: Sai Island-Abri, Third Cataract
In the morning visit the panoramic and Ottoman castle, Kerma tombs, the relics of the cathedral. Cross the Nile to Abri and visit the local market. Lunch in a restaurant then drive 3 hrs to the third cataract. On the way there are many Nubian villages and the route passes along the Nile and then crosses desert road of mountains . Visit the cataract. O/N camp in tents, near the cataract.
Day 6: Third Cataract, Sebu, Messaida, Tombus, Kerma, Kawa
See the rock drawings around the cataract mountain then drive to Sebu (25 min) and see the rock drawings there. Continue drive to Messaida (35 min) and visit the ancient church and the rock drawings there. This small well preserved, mud brick church is built against a massive boulder on which there are drawings of a large human figure with a spear, and two animal figures. While no good parallels of this drawing are known, a Meroetic date may be suggested.
Drive half hour to Tombus to see the unfinished statue and the inscriptions of Tohotmosis the first, other inscriptions, Napatan and Pharoanic. Continue drive, 30 min, to the ancient city of Kerma, now a small town surrounded by groves of date, palm and guava. Lunch in a restaurant.
Recent archaeological research has shown that Kerma civilization is clearly the earliest on the Sub-Saharan African soil (2800-1500 B.C.). The site of this ancient city lies near the Nile and contains western Deffufa. It is a religious building of unfired brick raised somewhat above the rest of the structure. In spite of the lateral entrance and the internal staircase, the silhouette of a reconstructed mode of it, recalls an Egyptian Temple. Beyond the wall enclosing this religious center, lies the town itself with its houses built of unfired brick, its courtyards, and its circular stone-houses. Drive to Kawa (1.5 hr). O/N camp in desert, tents.
Day 7: Kawa, Old Dongola
Visit the Kawa sites- the Amon temple of Taharka and drive to Old Dongola (2.5 hr). Lunch en route. In Old Dongola, we will see Christian relics of Makoria Kingdom including the Throning Palace, the Column Church and the main palace. We also see the dooms of the Sufi holy men. These tombs of holy men from Arab roots in Old Dongola called (Zyad family). The tombs have upper structure thats why called dooms. O/N camp in desert in Old Dongula outskirts.
Day 8: Old Dongola - Karima - Kurru
Drive to Karima (2.5 hr) through the Nubian desert, famous in Sudan for dates, mangoes and citrate crops. The features in this desert are of moving sands and rocky hard relief (every where around). The rocky hills and huge boulders have been clearly ripped up into unique fascinating shapes by way of millenniums of blowing north-easterlies. Along the way we will see camel caravans especially as we enter Elzoma village. Lunch in a local restaurant in Karima market and transfer to a local house. In the afternoon visit the Royal cemetery in Elkuru where some of Napatan Kings such as Pianky Tanutamany are located. Here is the only place where you can see the pyramids from inside with very clear paintings and inscriptions on two of the tombs. Also visit the Petrified Forest. O/N the local house in Karima near Jebel Barkal.
Day 9: Karima, Jebel Barkal, Nuri, Ghazali, Bayoda Desert
In the morning climb Jebel Barkal, about a 20 min climb at comfortable pace, highest point 90 meters. Jebel is a massive sacred mountain known as the main Temple of Amun (Deity of Egyptians and Sudanese at the time) It was carved by nature in approx 1220 BC, that coincide with the period of the 19th Dynasty in Egypt. When seen from a distance, the huge granite mountain is shaped in the bust of the Deity Amun and the pinnacle looks like the crown or acopra. At the foot of Jebel Barkal stands the Temple of Amun supported by massive granite pillars which are inscribed with hieroglyphics, animal figures and sphinx. Looking down from the mountain top, is a magnificent view of the Temple below. The sprawling Nile, green cultivated banks of date groves and other fruit trees complete the view to the east.
Cross the Nile, lunch en route. Standing high among clusters of rocks, the gorge over-looks a small traditionally built village of farmers and strips of vegetation along the bank of the Nile. Visit the pyramids of Nuri where King Taharka’s pyramid is located. Drive 30 min through Bayoda desert and visit the Christian monastery site at El-Ghazali, one of the few relics still remaining of historical Christian Sudan. Two hr drive to our camp in desert.
Day 10: Bayoda Desert, Atbra, Meroe Pyramid, Royal City
Drive through Bayoda desert (2.5 hr) to Um Toyoor village where we cross the Nile to Atbra (20 min). Lunch at restaurant in Atbra market. Afterwards continue to Dammer, an old town that has been the cradle to the tradition religious education for centuries prior to modern schooling. It is also one of the largest desert markets for camels and other desert livestock. We will see nomadic tribal, often in camel caravans, en route. Visit the camel market, then drive to the sites of ancient Meroe (1 hr), ahead are the pyramids of Meroe (the necropolises), the amazing and biggest complex of pyramids on a sandy hill glittering like gold. We go for a sunset look at the pyramids. Walk to the camp below the southern pyramids . O/N camp in tents.
Day 11: Pyramids of Meroe Royal City of Meroe, Shendi, Mussawarat, Naga
Revisit the pyramids of Meroe, then a short drive (5 km) west of the pyramids, and a short distance off the Nile, lies the Metropolis of Meroe, the royal city that encloses the relics of the royal palace, royal baths and few temples. Scattered all over this area are filings and pieces of glazed black iron and iron ore. Ancient Meroe is reputed to have been the earliest center any where in Africa, where iron had been mined and refined.
From here we head south to Shendi town (45 min). Shendi is the traditional center of the Jaaliyeen tribe, an influential Arabic-speaking group who feature prominently in the strife for supremacy on the main Nile in the recent history of Sudan. We visit the local market and a weaving house for traditional clothes.
Afterwards, drive to the next meroetic site, the Mussawarat Assufra (1 hr). It is situated in the center of an expansive rich valley, surrounded by black volcanic mountains, where remains of ancient quarries can still be seen. The great enclosure here is a labyrinth of numerous rectangular and square rooms and other different shapes of structure whose real purpose and function have been enigmatic until very recently. It has just been documented that it served as a religious center for pilgrims and used for religious festivals.
Drive about twenty minutes to Nagaa, an important Meroetic Archaeological site, where we visit the Amon temple, the Lion temple and the Meroitic Kiosk.
An additionally important site at this spot is the age old well, where strong young men and women from the nomadic settlement are drawing water for their flocks. The Temple of Apadamek (the deity of the Meroeties) is shown colorfully decorated with symbols and figures on the walls of sand stone structures.
Meriotic Kiosk: Adjacent to the Temple of Apadamek is the Meriotic Kiosk (also called Roman Kiosk), which is architecturally typical of old Roman structures. It was presumably erected to serve as a rest house. O/N camp in tents in Naga.
Day 12: Six Cataract, Khartoum
In the morning, resume the visits of Naga temples, drive to the six cataract (1 hr 40 min), drop by a farm, then a one hour Nile ferry crossing the cataract. Lunch en route. Drive 2 hours southwest across an open sand plain interspersed with valleys back to Khartoum. Farewell dinner in restaurant along the Nile. O/N Grand holiday villa hotel.
Day 13: Khartoum. Morning visit National Museum. Independent afternoon until transfer to airport.
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Also see tour packages in:
Africa
Sudan
Cultural Journey
Archeology/History
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