The Sudan - 27

As we stroll the 25 yards from our guest house to the office, we see an elderly gentleman approach on a rather modern and shiney bike - it stands out around here and we comment on it. As we get closer, my colleague suddenly exclaims "He's got a bloody sword". Sure enough, hanging from the belt of this old fella is a 3 foot long sword. its in a scabbard and has a tassel hanging from its hilt. We watch amazed as this sword wielding, bike riding old man dismounts and enters our office block. Turns out hes the night watchman. Later in the day i enquire of our host if the sword is decorative or functional. Worryingly, its for function!

We spend our day in a conference type board room - long conference table to seat maybe 20 people all with what is appearing to be essential meeting equipment in Sudan - microphones for everyone. I sit at one end of the table where the mics are wired to the sound system - the floor is an absolute rats nest of wires. within an hour ive given up trying to position my chair to avoid them and unwittingly crush half the communication network of Kassala. The room has every wall draped from floor to ceiling with thick blue curtains with a wishy washy flowery pattern running though them at eyelevel. These drapes cover every bit of the wall including windows and doors - the only opening are the 2 holes that have been cut in for the aircon bowers. Outside the natural light is wonderful, but sadly we spend the day inside this giant Victorian trinket box

So by the end of the day i have learnt all about "river training" - the art of re-routing and managing the flow of a river to minimize flooding and provide irrigation. its a fascinating 8 year, multimillion dollar project. This are is a seasonal area, which means that the river drys up during the dry season and floods during the rainy season. Apparently, in the summer, its a skill to know when to take the silt removing diggers from the dried river bed before the river literally floods over night