Monday 15th November – Khartoum

• Arrive at your convenience into Khartoum – the capital city of Sudan which is well connected from many countries within Africa and the Middle East.
• Meet our local guide at the airport and be transferred to our hotel
• Pre-tour meeting will be held at the lobby of our hotel at 8:00pm to discuss tour itinerary and to meet your fellow travellers and YPT guide.
• Overnight in Khartoum.

Tuesday 16th November – Khartoum & Omdurman 

Morning

• Up early for breakfast at hotel before we start the day with a city tour of the Sudanese capital city.
• We’ll visit the national museum, which contains various objects dedicated to Nubian history. This Nubian area of the southern Nile was home of Africa’s earliest ancient civilization.
• We’ll also take in the beautiful temples saved by UNESCO from lake Nassir and rebuilt entirely inside the museum.
• Visit the Ethnographic museum. Sudan has 597 different ethnic groups that speak over 400 different languages and dialects, we’ll get a taste for the incredible diversity here.

Afternoon

• Cross the White Nile for a trip to technically Sudan’s second largest city – Omdurman. We’ll have a short stop at the Mahdi tomb and tour around the Khalifa house museum. The house served as the HQ of the Mahdist state. This was a short-lived religious and political movement that ruled Sudan until the British reconquered in 1898.
• Lunch stop in Omdurman.
• Visit Omdurman’s beautifully colourful market before making our way back to Khartoum.
• Dinner and overnight in Khartoum.

Wednesday 17th November –  Khartoum – Old Dongola – Kerma

Morning

• Breakfast at our hotel and begin our journey to Northern Sudan.
• We’ll travel 500km north of Khartoum. On the way we’ll stop at Old Dongola, the capital of the Christian kingdom of Makuria. Today its a deserted city with the population having moved downstream in the 19th century.

Afternoon

• We move onto the cemetery of the Sofi holy men and stopping for lunch on the way.
• Take the ferry across the Nile and drive for a further 40km arriving at Kerma, a 3800 B.C archaeological site.
• Overnight in a traditional Nubian house with a wonderful local feast.

Thursday 18th November – Tombus – Soleb 

Morning

• Early rise to visit the site of Tombus – here there are many Egyptian inscriptions and a huge granite statue dedicated the famous black Pharaoh – Taharqa.
• Continue 50km to the north where we stop to take in the amazing panoramic view of the rock art from the prehistoric period at Wadi Sebu.

Afternoon

• Stop for lunch at a local tea house
• Cross the Nile to the west bank and drive two hours up to Soleb – an ancient Nubian town home to a vast necropolis of which we can visit the tombs which haven’t been destroyed by colonial “archaeologists”
• Dinner and overnight at a traditional Nubian house.

Friday 19th November  Soleb – Karima

Morning

• Breakfast at hotel and begin our journey back south driving for 320km before reaching the city of Karima, the location of ancient Napata.
• We visit the holy mountain of Jebel Barkal (Together with Napata, a UNESCO heritage site)  and the numerous temples at the foot of Jebel Barkal and lunch on the way

Afternoon

• We then visit the impressive Kurru, the royal necropolis of Napata. Here we go deep underneath the pyramid to see the amazing painted tomb of the black Pharaoh Tanutamani. You won’t find such vivid painting anywhere else!
• Dinner in a local restaurant.
• Overnight at Merowe Tourist Village hotel.

Saturday 20th November –  Nuri –Meroe 

Morning

• Early morning visit to the nearby Nuri pyramids. There are over 60 burial places here.

Afternoon

• We continue crossing though the Bayuda desert up to Meroe. We’ll pass through and stop at desert settlements such as Ad-Damer before reaching the famous Meroe pyramids. A perfect setting to witness the sun go down.
• Trip highlight – Dinner and overnight camping in tents near the Pyramids!

Sunday 21st November – Meroe – Khartoum

Morning

• Rise and shine for an early morning visit to the royal city of Meroe.
• Set off on an off-road/on-road adventure to visit Mussawart. This is a complex of temples dedicated the local god Apedamak – the lion god. This was the biggest construction in the history of Nubia.

Afternoon

• After a local lunch we continue up to Naqa 20km from Mussawart. This was once a vital trading post between the Mediterranean world and Africa. It houses a wonderful collection of buildings dated to the first century AD.
• Visit the Roman kiosk, which represents the intersection of various cultures both European and African.
• Visit the Among temple.
• We hit the road back to Khartoum 150km from Naqa.
• Dinner in Khartoum in none other than the Corinthian Hotel also known as the Gaddafi Egg. This hotel was financed by Libya and is one of the fanciest hotel of the city. They have a mean buffet!
• Overnight in Khartoum

Monday 22nd November – Khartoum

• Breakfast at hotel
• Tour concludes with airport drop-off arranged according to your flight details – YPT is also able to arrange post-tour accommodation or advice for flights. Group members for South Sudan continue to Juba by flight.

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