Upon arrival our staff will meet you at the airport and transfer you to your hotel in Khartoum where they’ll help you settle in and introduce you to the local area. An optional city tour is available if you arrive this morning.

After a leisurely breakfast we start our tour of Khartoum city, starting with the Archaeological Museum. The main highlights here are two beautiful temples that were moved from the Lake Nasser area by UNESCO when the Aswan Dam was built and the area flooded. Next we cross the confluence of the Blue and White Nile rivers, close to the Presidential Palace where General Gordon was beheaded by the Mahdi’s troops in 1885. We then reach the old capital of Sudan, Omduran, where we’ll see the Mahdi’s Tomb from the outside. Lunch is included at a restaurant on the Nile before we visit the interesting Khalifa’s House, home to a small museum about the Mahdyia (Fridays & Saturdays only). We have a little time to explore Omduran’s colourful souk before we move to the tomb of the sufi leader Ahmed al Nil at sunset time to assist at the involving Whirling Dervishes Ceremony (Fridays only). Finally we return to the hotel.

Our tour of Sudan begins as we drive north to visit the temples at Naga, which is located about 30 km to the east of the Nile and developed during the Meroitic period. We then go to Mussawarat, which is located in a beautiful valley crowned by hills. Later we journey northward, arriving into a desert area covered with huge round granite boulders; these are the last offshoots of the rocky formations of the 6th Cataract. Suddenly, more than 40 pyramids appear as if out of nowhere! These Pyramids belong to the Royal Necropolis of Meroe and some of them are perfectly preserved. We then arrive at the permanent tented camp of Meroe with a beautiful view of the pyramids which you can enjoy from your own veranda.

Today is where our local guide will start teaching you about the Kingdom of the Black Pharaoh’s. Several pyramids stand out with their sharp shapes against the clear sky. Each one has its own funerary chapel with the walls fully decorated with bas-reliefs that show the King’s life and offers to the gods. In the afternoon we move along the Nile to visit the ruins of the Royal City. Most of the area where the city is located, formed by many small hills covered by red clay fragments, is still to be excavated by archaeologists.

After breakfast we head north crossing the Nile by ferry boat. From here we enter the Bayuda Desert, an area bounded by the loop formed by the Nile between the 4th and the 6th Cataract and characterised by sharp black basalt mountains, most of them volcanic and typically cone-shaped. It is very likely we will encounter isolated groups of Bisharin nomads, who live in familiar groups in small huts made of intertwined branches close to the rare water wells. After we reach our Nubian Rest house the rest of the afternoon is free.

Today we explore the Jebel Barkal archaeological sites which are on the World Heritage list. Here we see Temples and Pyramids from the Royal necropolis of the ancient city of Napata. We then move southwards to the village of El Kurru. Here we can visit one of the tombs, which is excavated in the rock under pyramids – partially collapsed – and are totally decorated with images of the Pharaoh, of the gods and multicolour hieroglyphic inscriptions (unfortunately the 2nd tomb here is currently closed due to the paintings inside suffering damage). Not far from here there is an interesting site of petrified wood, an ancient forest with hundreds of huge trunks.

This morning we make the long drive to Old Dongola, site of several Coptic Christian churches. Centre of the Nubian region many of the houses are colourfully decorated with floral motives.

After breakfast, we visit the market in Karima where we can have a real experience of the life of Sudanese people. We then board a small motorboat for a pleasant cruise along the Nile to enjoy the beautiful sand stretches and cultivated islands along the river. A little further northward there used to be the beautiful granite rocky formations of the 4th Cataract. After a scenic picnic lunch we visit the Pyramids of Nuri for the afternoon.

After enjoying breakfast we pack up and drive back to Khartoum. We stop for lunch in a simple “chai house” (a roadhouse where the local truck drivers stop for food and to rest), before arriving into Khartoum in the afternoon. On most departures we also include a visit to the popular weekly Nuba wrestling competition, a highlight of the week for many locals in Khartoum.
A day-use room is provided in a hotel in Khartoum until around 23.00. Most flights depart Khartoum between 02.00am and 04.00am so a full night’s accommodation is not normally required. The rest of the evening is free time.

We transfer you to the airport from your hotel around 3 hours before your flight departure time. If you have booked a full night’s hotel accommodation then your day is free until we transfer you to the airport for your onward flight.