Highlights

• Discover fascinating Nile confluence at Khartoum as well as National Museum – one of Sudan’s best museums displaying royal statues and 3,500-year-old artifacts.
• Watch an incredible display of faith and celebration as whirling dervishes from the Sufi Community twirl, dance and worship outside the tomb of Hamad Elneel before sunset.
• Ditch the phone and settle in for evenings spent in stargazing at an endless sky while enjoying mobile camps in the Nubian Desert.
• Naqa – a ruined ancient city and trading station, east of the Nile, with two striking temples.
• See an unforgettable hundreds of pyramids at the Royal Necropolis of Meroe, watching as crumbling sandstone is warmed by the light of day.
• Kerma – one of the oldest inhabited towns in Africa and a vast archaeological site in Nubia.
• Kerma Museum – an edifice displaying relics from the Kerma site, with seven granite statues and Nubian artifacts.
• Sai Island, with an Egyptian temple, Ottoman fort and a medieval church.

Trip Itinerary

DAY 0: ARRIVAL TO KHARTOUM

MARHABA! Welcome to Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan. This is 14-day tour to Capital City of Khartoum and to discover the Meroe Island treasures. Upon arrival our staff will meet you at Khartoum international airport and arrange your complimentary transfer to hotel.

• None
• Three-Star Hotel

DAY 1: KHARTOUM CITY-TOUR

This morning you should get ready for almost full day drive to explore the capital city of Khartoum and surroundings. On the way to the National Museum, we pass the Presidential Palace that stands since the English General Charles George Gordon was Sudan’s ruler at the beginning of 19^th century. We continue driving to the National Museum of Sudan, which accommodates ancient civilization of Sudan. You continue your journey into history and cross the confluence of the Blue and the White Nile to Omdurman, the old capital of Sudan, to see the Mahdi tomb, Khalifa’s House Museum. After lunch break, you pay a quick visit toOmdurman traditional market. As the sun begins to set, you proceed to the tomb of Hamad Elneel where we have the rare chance to witness the bizarre dances of the Dervish [on Friday only].  Now it may be the time to get back and relax at your hotel.

• Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
• Three-Star Hotel

DAY 2: KHARTOUM-NAQA

Today our tour of Sudan begins early morning as we drive north to visit the temple of Amun, the Roman chapel and the lion temple at Naga, which is located about 160 km to the east of the Nile and developed during the Meroitic period.

• Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
• Tent Mobile Camp

DAY 3: NAQA - MUSAWARAT - MEROE

Our tour begins after early morning breakfast towards Musawarat es-Sufra around 20km, an extensive temple area with rare elephant depictions.  Afterwards, we proceedvisiting a treasure trove of hundreds of pyramids in Meroe – Kingdom of Black Pharaohs – that offer rare insight into life and death in ancient Nubia, located among undulating sand dunes. These Pyramids belong to the Royal Necropolis of Meroe and some of them are perfectly preserved. Each pyramid has its own funerary chapel with the walls fully decorated with bas-reliefs that show the King’s life and offers to the gods. You enjoy the incredible sunset in front of the pyramids and spend the night under an open sky.

• Tent Mobile Camp
• Nubian House

DAY 4: MEROE – EL DAMAR – BAYUDHA DESERT – DEIR GHAZALI - KARIMA

Enjoy incredible sunrise and have a good walk around the pyramids. Afterwards, we will have a long drive to Karima to visit the ancient monastery of Deir Ghazali. Afterwards, we will drive to Nuri, 25 km to visit the cemetery containing the pyramids of the 25th dynasty, among them that of Pharaoh Taharqa.

• Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
• Nubian House

DAY 5: KARIMA – EL KURRU – JEBEL BERKAL-KARIMA

The sites that surround the nearby mountain of Jebel Berkal are particularly beautiful in the morning light, so an early start is on the card today. We start to explore the Jebel Berkal archaeological sites which are on the World Heritage list. Here we see Temples and Pyramids from the Royal necropolis of the ancient city of Napata. We then move southwards to the village of El Kurru, 18 km to explore the subterranean tomb of king Tanwetamani that is decorated in the classical pharaonic style. Not far from there, there is aninteresting site of petrified wood, an ancient forest with hundreds of huge trunks.

• Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
• Nubian House

DAY 6: KERMA

After breakfast we will pack and start driving from Karima crossing the desert about 300 km to get to Kingdom of Kerma.

• Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
• Mobile Tent Camp

DAY 7: KERMA – SOLEB

This morning we will visit the capital of Upper Nubia during the 3rd and 2nd millennium B.C. and specificallythe epic site of the ancient city of Kerma, including the only diffufa’s (unique earthen temples) in known existence. Spend time in the small Kerma Museum, where seven granite statues depicting pharaohs discovered in 2003 are on display. Drive to the village of Kerma for provision, thencontinue driving to Soleb in the late afternoon, by then no doubt you will be ready to relax in your Nubian homestay.

• Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
• Nubian House

DAY 8: SOLEB – SDEINGA –SAI - SOLEB

Next day, early morning, we will be visiting the temple of Soleb, a Nubian copy of the temples of the Egyptian New Kingdom, with many remaining pillars and walls covered in hieroglyphic inscriptions. The structures are believed to date from 1500 BC. Afterwards, we will drive to Sdeinga, 50 km to pay a visit to the temple dedicated to the Queen Teje, the mother of Akhenaten. After that we are going to have a boat trip to the island of Sai, 40 km, with settlement ruins from old Nubian, Pharaonic and Christian times. Afterwards, we return to Soleb through the desert along taking the old Darb el-Arbaeen – the “Road of Forty” – which means a camel took 40 days from Khartoum to Cairo on this road.

• Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
• Nubian House

DAY 9&10: SOLEB – SESEBI – SEBU - TOMBOS

Next day early morning, we will return back 50km to Sesebi, a military outpost of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Crossing the Nile near Delgo and 30km drive to the 3rd cataract for a quick fascinating photo stop and checking out the naturally shallow parts of the river that caused issues for ancient Egyptian sailors. Then we will drive to Tombos, passing prehistoric rock inscriptions near Sebu where hundreds of images dating from the prehistoric to Egyptian era can be seen. We will pay a visit to hieroglyphic inscriptions and a recumbent statue of King Taharqa in the granite quarries. We will spend two overnights in Kerma.

• Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
• Nubian House

DAY 11: TOMBOS – KAWA – OLD DONGOLA

We are starting this day by drive from Tombos to Kerma to buy provisions, then drive on to Kawa, 120km, to see the sand-covered temple ruins. Afterwards, we proceed to Old Dongola.

• Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
• Tent Mobile Camp

DAY 12: OLD DONGOLA – WADI MILK

This morning we visit the Old Dongola [formerly Christian and later Islamic capital of Nubia], site for several Coptic Christian churches. Centre of the Nubian region has many colorful houses that are decorated with floral motives. You will be able to see the ruins of the seventh-century Church of the Granite Columns, plus the defensive structure archaeologists call the Throne Hall, and more. Afterwards, we will drive to the particularly beautiful desert valley of Wadi Milk, where often one may meet Bisharin Bedouins watering their camels at one of the wells.

• Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
• Tent Mobile Camp

DAY 13: WADI MILK –KHARTOUM

After enjoying breakfast, there is an opportunity for taking a walk, and then we pack up and drive back to Khartoum. We will stop for lunch in a simple traditional “Coffee Shop” (a roadhouse where the local truck drivers stop for food and rest). We expect to arrive late and you will be transferred to your hotel.

• Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
• Three-Star Hotel

DAY 14: Free time till we transfer you to the airport for departure.

• Breakfast

Notes:

• The section of this tour out of Khartoum operates in two directions on different dates – either starting with Meroe, or starting with Karima. The same sites and overnight stops are maintained, just in the opposite order. Hence, itinerary may start either way.
• Pricing depends on your travel dates, number of travelers, and category of accommodations you would like to stay in.

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