Hi everyone,
Thanks for all your replies. I have however just come back from Sudan. We had a great time. Firstly I fill you in with a few facts for anyone who is planning travel to Sudan.
Firstly don't be put off by the civil war. At no stage did I feel unsafe (except for the plane we flow on..... nasty looking old plane!). Here are a couple of easy steps to survival as a westerner in Sudan
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1.Be polite and tolerant. Things are not always done the same, as you would expect back home.
2.Be respectful to their culture. Where possible, cover up.... Girls should wear pants and a top with sleeves at least to the elbow. Go easy on the cleavage. In fact don't show any at all. While aboard your boat, you can do what you want. Although it is not generally acceptable to sun bake topless, so girls put them away:11:
3. If you are planning on going to the town markets, while waiting for your flights back to Cairo.... If you have a weak stomach maybe you should have second thoughts. There will be things there you may not like to see. Although if you can stomach unusual smells and the sights of various animal body parts you once thought inedible. Go for it! I myself enjoyed it! It was very interesting. If you do go, and see something you don't like. Say... when someone holds up a sheeps head or intestines. Don't make gagging noises.... Just say. "No thank you , I'm just looking" and walk on by.
4.Say hello to the people in the markets, remember this is their way of life. Its not meant to be a freak show (although you could be easily mistaken!). Everyone will be staring at you, this is because they don't see many white people together in big groups. Once you greet them, they will generally smile and politely say hello back. They may even ask where you are from, followed by friendly banter.
5.Take a small bottle of water with you, but hide it on yourself. It is likely that someone will take it from you.
6. Avoid giving money to beggars, this will only lead to a mobbing from all types of people with various disabilities or mothers with young infants... You will only make the situation worse for the next unsuspecting tourist. If you feel you would like to help these people donate to a local aid group. It may sound harsh, but its the safest option.
Getting there and getting away....
It is much easier to book through a diving travel agency such as Tony Blakehurst Scuba (
www.scuba.co.uk). Getting visas for Sudan can be a little tricky. Organising connecting flights to Sudan can be just as tricky. To get to Sudan you must fly with Sudan airways. This is an adventure in itself and can be stressful. Sudan Airways runs flight schedules that constantly change to suit themselves. We had to wait in the airport for 7 hours for our flight and no one could confirm the flight time. Eventually our flight departed in the early hours of the morning. I think the airline has only one plane for this route.... It is very old and is due to fall out of the sky any time soon... Just kidding! Its old, but I'm sure it is well maintained. Be prepared to fill in a lot of forms.... heaps of forms! Also be prepared to part with your passport for the week. The Sudanese are big on paperwork. Although don't be alarmed, we had 16 people on board our boat and there were no problems.
The Diving
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To be honest, I was expecting more sharks at the dive sites. This is largely due to me being misinformed of what was around in October and also possibly the fact that there is so much shark meat being sold at the local markets!!!! I wanted to see Hammer Heads but there were none around. I was told on board that the best time to see them was around Spring (March to May). I have not been to other red sea dive sites so I can not compare them, although I was told that the one big thing that made diving different in Sudan (according to other Red Sea diver veterans onboard) was the opportunity to dive on sites without having other dive boats around, thus having the sites to ourselves and ensuring good vis on the wrecks. In the whole week of diving, only on two dives did we have people from another boat in the water with us. There are about 5 boats that operate in these waters and they all (to my understanding) try to co-ordinate the week diving to minimise having boats on the same dive sitse at any one time.
We dived from the Royal Emperor, which has just started running from the Port of Sudan (in fact we were their first clients for this expedition!). We experienced a few teething problems early in the week, such as unbearable fumes in our cabin from repair work done to the floor before the expedition. Although this settled down later in the week and we were able to get back into our room. We were looked after by 10 crewmembers and they all did a great job tending to our needs. Only on a few occasions we were dropped in the wrong spot on some dives. Which I think is acceptable considering some of these sites were new to the crew. Our dive guides, James and Regula were both very flexible with the itinerary, were able to modify it to suit a majority of people onboard and they were very knowledgeable about the area and diving in general. James a PADI Course Director, who runs the daily activities on board and organises the itinerary, has been working in the Red Sea for several years, and has years of experience on Liveaboards. I believe Regula is a PADI Instructor, and has been working in the Sudanese waters for 4 years, therefore has great knowledge of the sites and Sudanese customs (having lived in the Port of Sudan for a few years).
The sites we visited were a mixture of wrecks, reefs and walls, of which most dropped off to a couple of hundred metres deep, some even deeper! The highlights for me were The WWII wreck, The Umbria, The Blue Belt Wreck (Toyota Wreck), Jacques Cousteaus Conself (underwater living experiment), diving with Grey Reef sharks, snorkelling with Manta Rays and the dolphin riding the bow of our boat. Not to mention the people we met. Stand by for the photos
. I have many!
Would I go again
..? Yes I would, in a heartbeat
! ok maybe not in a heartbeat, Id wait until April, if I had the chance to do it all again!
I know I have probably gone on a bit. As I mentioned in the opening thread, I found it difficult getting information about diving in Sudan before we left. I thought maybe someone out there might benefit from my experiences. When reading this please keep in mind that this expedition was in October. As the seasons change, so too will the conditions and the inhabitants on these sites.
If you find yourself there, bring along a jar of Vegemite and say GDay Mate for me (The Aussie from the first expedition October 2005). Believe me James will appreciate the Vegemite!
In short
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The Trip was booked through Tony Blakehurst Scuba Travel
www.scuba.co.uk
The Boat was Royal Emperor
The Dive Guides were James Smith and Regula (dont know her last name)
