Aug 18, 2009

Drfur

The permit finally came through so that means I’ll be on the first flight out of Khartoum tomorrow and on my way to El Fashir, Northern Drfur. An old hand who use to work out there said that the planes generally leave very early in the morning so they could land in El Fashir before noon, when the air had become too hot, creating giant up drafts. My plane leave Khartoum at noon, so I’m hoping that the airplane technology has improved from his man’s early humanitarian days. He tells me – “20 years ago I use to go there a lot, it was a pretty awful place”. El Fashir use to be a vital refueling stop for the British during world war 2 and their fighting in North Africa. Before that, an important city along the caravan route that crossed the Sahara.
I’m guessing from the sound of things, it has become a boom town because of the humanitarian aid pouring into Drfur. With only four days to complete an assessment for our project, time will not be there to take in the sites. Maybe there is some touristy things to do when I need a vacation. Yeah!

Click since photographing is prohibited.

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