Sunday 13th 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.

Monday 14th 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.

Tuesday 15th 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.

Wednesday 16th 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.

Thursday 17th 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.

Friday 18th 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!

Saturday 19th 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 dating to the first century AD.
• Visit the Roman kiosk, which represents the intersection of various cultures both European and African.
• Visit the Among temple.
• Group A hits the road for Khartoum 150km from Naqa.
• Check into the hotel followed, by a local farewell dinner.
• Group B spends the night in Meroe, prepping up for the adventure of a lifetime!

Sunday 20th November – Khartoum

Morning

• Group A members: conclude tour
• Group B members: depart early for the long trip to Abu Hamad, the end of the road in Sudan!

Afternoon

• The town of Abu Hamad is one of the last stops on the train, and name after a sheikh who was buried here. Our guide will introduce us to the legends about him.
• We enjoy our last dinner in a human settlement before we head to… nowhere!
• Overnight in tents by Abu Hamad.

Monday 21st November – Bir Tawil

Morning

• Today, our expert guides drive us across the desert, where there is no road but the traces of the previous travellers’ cars.
• We are in the deepest depths of the desert and shall stop for many photo opportunities.

Afternoon

• Lunch today is a picnic in the desert.
• We reach Bir Tawil in the evening!
• Enjoy our camp meal outside of any country!
• It wouldn’t be a YPT trip without a party — the first party, probably ever, in that part of the world!
• Overnight in tents, in Bir Tawil!

Tuesday 22nd November – Bir Tawil

Morning

• Today, our day will be dedicated to the in-depth exploration of Bir Tawil.
• If you brought a flag, plant it in Bir Tawil and claim the land! It is your opportunity to change the world and start a country according to your values (YPT can’t guarantee your claim will be approved by any international organization but you’re welcome to have a go at it!).
• Lunch by our camp.

Afternoon

• The afternoon is spent exploring Bir Tawil some more. Chances are we’ll be scoring many firsts in that part of the world.
• Dinner and overnight by our camp (the first human settlement?) in Bir Tawil.

Wednesday 23rd November – Abu Hamad

Morning

• As always, all good things must come to an end and we start making our way down towards Khartoum but this time as proper trailblazers; fathers and mothers of a nation.

Afternoon

• Lunch on the way.
• Arrive in Abu Hamad by the beginning of the evening. We’re back in civilization! Kind of…
• Overnight camping by Abu Hamad

Thursday 24th November – Khartoum

Morning

• After a good breakfast, we’re back on the road!

Afternoon

• We arrive in Khartoum in the early evening.
• We go for an evening stroll around Khartoum.
• Dinner in Khartoum and our last night party, remembering the time when we were kings and queens of our own land!

Friday 25th November – Khartoum

• Tour concludes – airport drop-offs can be arranged according to your flight details – YPT is also able to arrange post-tour accommodation or advice for flights. Those apart of our South Sudan tour we recommend taking the very early flight ET343 departing at 3:30am followed by flight ET352 arriving in Juba at 11:15am so you don’t have to miss much of the day. (Flight not included in the price of the tour)

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