Tourism is far from dead in Sudan, it appears, as today’s Khartoum Monitor - an English language daily – reports on the visit of a group of cyclists undertaking a 12,000 kilometre ride from Cairo to Cape Town.
The group is being hosted while in Sudan with the local YMCA, having cycled for 19 days across the northern deserts. The Monitor reported on a number of activities arranged by the YMCA for the group, including a cruise on the River Nile, a visit to the home of Khalifa Abdullah (the man who unsuccessfully stood up to Kitchener and British Imperial Rule in 1899) – sadly closed on the day of their visit – and more bizarrely an excursion to distribute mosquito nets to children in the neighbouring city of Omdurman.
It all seemed very jolly, nice bit of culture thrown in with “doing good”, and hats off to the adventurers for their plucky trek (having driven through the northern desert, I could never imagine how hard it must be to cycle through it!). We need more people like this coming to Sudan.
However the report – which really does its best to show that there are opportunities for tourism in Sudan – lost some of its edge by including a prominent photo of four of the visitors recreating the YMCA letters – a la 1990s student disco night. And of course that’s when the mind springs immediately to the Cowboy, Native American, Leather Cap Man, Policeman, Construction Worker and Navy Officer … or the closing credits of “Down Periscope”.
Posted by khartoumchronicler 
