Adventure...

If you've been paying attention (and if not, why not?). You'll remember that I said I was going on a road trip this past weekend, and that it should be an adventure. Well, it did not disappoint.

We (Dr Rob, Masiir & I) set off bright and early on Saturday morning to make the 30km journey North East to Khourtumbak with one quad & a motorbike. I drew the short straw and had to make do with two wheels instead of four:


And was forced to play the 'try and keep up with Dr Rob on a quad bike' game, which on a sandy windy track was easier said than done, although the challenge was fun. this was my view for most of the journey, when it wasnt obscured by dust:


After a couple of hours we arrived and went for a wander around some of the surrounding villages, many of which were completely deserted, such as this one:


As there is no water nearby and everyone had left to find some.

Then we returned to the central village and sat under a tree with some of the men as they discussed recent developments in the area (in the local tribal language, Mabaan, so we had no chance of understanding). During the afternoon Rob mentioned that he was a little tired and so they brought us beds so we could sleep under the tree while they talked which was welcome, if a little surreal.

Then a football match started on the pitch next to us, and I thought I'd join in. However, as I only had sandals I decided to play barefoot, I mean, how sore can it be...? Very sore, it turns out. The combination of hot sand and sharp rocks was more than I could bear (much to the amusement of my teammates) and I had to retreat to the sidelines at half time to put my sandals back on.

After some food, we set up camp under the tree (which was generally where all our activities centred) and settled down for a good nights sleep, apart from the disturbances by dogs chewing over the remnants of our dinner.


After the smallest and shortest African church service I had ever attended in the morning (it was an hour long and was attended by 16 people and a donkey), we set of for home, expecting to be back at Doro by abotu 1pm. After around 15km the real adventure started, this happened (I got a puncture, in case that isnt clear):


We were still some way from home, with no way of getting the bike home so Rob set off to go to Doro and get a new tube for the tyre, whilst I sat under a tree and waited (and attracted a lot of attention from the nearby village, who all came down to shake hands, or sometimes just stare at the white guy). When Rob returned, at a bout half 2, we set to work on changing the tyre, which if you've ever tried, you will know is not the easiest job in the world. We had a small audience who watched, laughed and eventually helped us get the tyre back on:


But, calamity of calamities, when we eventually tried to pump the tyre up it wouldnt work (I think we damaged it putting it on) and so we were back to square one, with daylight fast running out. So I was dispatched on the quad bike back to Doro to get the trailer so we could bring the motorbike home. Needless to say, I got back as fast as I could, and it was the most fun I've had in a long time (I only nearly rolled it once), and then made my way back to the village where Rob was waiting for me, giving four african ladies and their flour a lift for part of the way.

So, we got the bike loaded up:


by which point, as you can see, it was pretty dark, and set off on the long slow journey home (going flat out I could do it in 40 mins, fully loaded it took more than double that).

However, the journey was not yet over. About half way home we were flagged down in a village by a group of people where it transpired that there was a woman who was having trouble giving birth (she was on a bed, by the road, waiting for help to come from somewhere). Dr Rob, being a doctor, was able to assist while I looked on not knowing what to think (I'd never seen a woman in labour before). Shortly afterwards, it emerged that things were really quite serious but fortunately a land cruiser passed and was able to take the woman and Rob the remaining 10km to our clinic for further treatment.

And so it was that I got home at about 9pm while Rob went to our clinic with the nurses to treat the woman. I'd love to tell you that there was a happy ending and both mother and baby are well, but unfortunately the baby died, and the mother was by no means out of the woods when they sent her across the state to a hospital for an operation. Whatever else, life in Sudan is no fairytale...