A Glimpse of North Sudan

By Eric & Clare Lowry

North Sudan is a largely unknown, thought-to-be-unsafe land. A Glimpse of North Sudan aims to correct that. This book is far more than a travelogue.

From diaries and photographs of a safe, non-alcoholic, wonderful holiday, it tells of a short tour of a smiling poor people with an ancient, frequently violent history, pyramids and tombs in royal cemeteries with wonderful paintings and reliefs to behold. It is a largely desert country but where the Blue and White Niles combine to form a majestic life-giving river on its way to the Mediterranean Sea.

In addition, there are descriptions of black Sudanese pharaohs of Egypt, the lifestyle of a Bedouin family along with British involvement in ruling the country (a section on the Battle of Omdurman led by Kitchener with a young, ambitious Winston Churchill in the ranks) and of the civil wars since independence in 1956.

Finally, it suggests a way out of the cul-de-sac of poverty and deprivation. This book is a must-read for the general-interest reader of a forgotten, though fascinating, land.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Oct 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9781528964456

Eric & Clare Lowry

Eric and Clare Lowry, both alumni of Trinity College, Dublin, and respectively a chartered accountant and a solicitor, are adventurous travellers. From Luang Prabang in Laos to the River Napo in Ecuador, from the icebergs in Patagonia to the lagoon of Aitutaki in the Cook Islands, from Aleppo in Syria to the Christian sunken churches of Lalibela in Ethiopia, they each while travelling write daily diaries. Advised by family and friends to avoid Sudan, they set out in November 2017 for a short holiday there. By combining both their diaries and a little history, this book relates their safe experience of a fascinating, forgotten and largely unknown land.

Book preview

Bibliography

About the Author

Eric and Clare Lowry, both alumni of Trinity College, Dublin, and respectively a chartered accountant and a solicitor, are adventurous travellers. From Luang Prabang in Laos to the River Napo in Ecuador, from the icebergs in Patagonia to the lagoon of Aitutaki in the Cook Islands, from Aleppo in Syria to the Christian sunken churches of Lalibela in Ethiopia, they each while travelling write daily diaries. Advised by family and friends to avoid Sudan, they set out in November 2017 for a short holiday there. By combining both their diaries and a little history, this book relates their safe experience of a fascinating, forgotten and largely unknown land.

About the Book

North Sudan is a largely unknown, thought-to-be-unsafe land. A Glimpse of North Sudan aims to correct that. This book is far more than a travelogue.

From diaries and photographs of a safe, non-alcoholic, wonderful holiday, it tells of a short tour of a smiling poor people with an ancient, frequently violent history, pyramids and tombs in royal cemeteries with wonderful paintings and reliefs to behold. It is a largely desert country but where the Blue and White Niles combine to form a majestic life-giving river on its way to the Mediterranean Sea.

In addition, there are descriptions of black Sudanese pharaohs of Egypt, the lifestyle of a Bedouin family along with British involvement in ruling the country (a section on the Battle of Omdurman led by Kitchener with a young, ambitious Winston Churchill in the ranks) and of the civil wars since independence in 1956.

Finally, it suggests a way out of the cul-de-sac of poverty and deprivation. This book is a must-read for the general-interest reader of a forgotten, though fascinating, land.

Dedication

For Christina, Tania and Amanda – our beautiful daughters.

Had it not been for a stray spark from a barbecue, which resulted in a 16 month evacuation from the family home, Eric and Clare Lowry might never have embarked on their unforgettable adventure to Sudan, and this book might never have been written. Much more than a tourist guide, it is a fascinating account of the wonders and complexities of this extraordinary, and little understood, part of the world. Superbly researched and richly complemented by the photography, it is a work of which the authors can be justifiably proud.

Chris Rea, Broadcaster and Journalist

***

A superb introduction to my beautiful country – the land of the two Niles and the Black Pharaohs.

Dr Hatim El Nour, Travel Guide, Khartoum and North Sudan

Copyright Information

Copyright © Eric and Clare Lowry (2019)

The right of Eric and Clare Lowry to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781528964456 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published (2019)

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd

25 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5LQ

Acknowledgement

This book has been inspired by the people we met and our fascination for North Sudan in a visit of only nine days. We would not have gone there except for The Times Travel Section article¹ by Tom Chesshyre of 26 August 2017 ‘Deep in the Desert in Ancient Sudan’ along with the efficiency of Hugh Fraser at Corinthian Travel and his agent in Sudan, the Italian Tourism Company, in speedily setting up the itinerary for our trip. They have been most helpful to us.

Sitting opposite Richard Wingfield at a convivial lunch at Huntercombe Golf Club upon our return, we discovered he had travelled through Sudan in 1964. Our thanks to him for introducing us to his friends, Michael and the late Anne Tibbs, who have been very helpful, and who had been part of the Sudan Political Service in the years leading up to independence in 1956 and later described their ‘adventure’ in ‘A Sudan Sunset’. Thanks to our good friend, Hamish Macpherson, for telling us of his trip through Sudan in 1965 and lending us his travel diary. Dr Tom King has provided delightful anecdotes of his trip to Sudan as a medical student in 2001. We thank Dr Julie Anderson, the Assistant Keeper (Curator) of the Ancient Egypt and Sudan department of the British Museum for her help.

We are enormously grateful to Robin Knight and Chris Rea for reviewing and correcting drafts and providing much helpful advice and guidance.

Finally, thanks to Hatim El Nour, our guide, who inspired this project just as much as did the whole experience of visiting his country.

Eric and Clare Lowry

1 May 2019

MAP OF SUDAN

UN Geospatial Information Section, Map No 4458, March 2012

Images

Except for the listing below, all of the images are taken from the Authors’ photo collection using a small handheld Canon SX210 IS camera:

Cover Page: Pyramids and Camel drivers Getty Images: Alamy

Map of Sudan UN Geospatial Information Section,

Map No 4458, March 2012

Page 13: Paddle Wheel Ferry 1964 Richard Wingfield

Page 16: Lowry Itinerary Tour Map Map by www.stepmap.com

Page 18: The Confluence of the Nile Salman Motwakil

Page 22: The Republican Palace Salman Motwakil

Page 23: Glass Vase ©Musee du Louvre/Georges Poncet

Page 24: Nuba Wrestling Anne Tibbs

Page 25: Anglo-Egyptian Sudan Map Anne Tibbs

Page 27: General Charles Gordon Wikipedia/Harvard Art Museum/Geruzet Freres

Page 30: Kitchener Wikipedia/The Queenslander Pictorial, 1910

Page 31: Battle of Atbara John Pollock’s Kitchener Constable & Robinson*

Page 32: Winston Churchill Wikipedia/Haffner, Sebastian, 2003

Page 34: Battle of Omdurman Macmillan & Co Ltd*

Page 35: Battle of Omdurman Longman & Green*

Page 37: Charge of the 21st Lancers Courtesy of the Council of the National Army Museum, London

Page 40: Map of North Sudan Map after Anderson & Abdel Rahman

Page 85: Buhen Temple Relief Dr Julie Anderson

Page 86: Baggara Lady: Moving Home? Michael & Anne Tibbs

Back Cover: ©Crown Copyright FCO Travel Advice Map, 16 October 2017

*Despite our efforts, it has not been possible to find the original source of these now very old maps. Above we give the original publisher of the texts of the books from which the maps were taken.

---

Link:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/deep-in-the-desert-in-ancient-sudan-xpg9nv9vr↩

Introduction

Our house is on fire. That was the start of 16 months before we slept in our home again. It was 5pm on Sunday, 19 June 2016. Seeing smoke pass by along the road, we thought someone must be having a bonfire. Very quickly we realised the problem was ours. Sparks from a fire in our recycling bin had set the thatched roof alight.

Our home on 20 June 2016

Fires in thatched roofs usually mean total destruction of the house. We were, if one may dare say it, lucky. With the flames advancing along the thatched ridge, firemen cut a firebreak with chainsaws and half the house was saved. Underneath, other firemen moved our belongings to the unaffected half of the house. They even cleared an attic already full of smoke and flames. It was a brilliantly managed operation with firemen from three counties working together like a single team. Unluckily, the devastated part of the house was the oldest part, maybe 18th century, and it took quite a while to design a replacement of the ruined beams and purlins. Below is our home now fully restored.