The name ‘Sabalooqa’ sounds so musical and mysterious that it already triggered our senses without ever having been there. We were
determined to find out more about this place and so yesterday we went on adventure. It took us some
necessary paperwork beforehand, an early morning wake-up call (- we left the house at
6.30 AM-) and a bit of a bumpy ride through the desert, but as soon as we
arrived there it felt like the mysterious Sabalooqa name hadn’t let us down. The
so-called Sabalooqa Falls form the
6th cataract (water rapids) of
the river Nile and it definitely was an interesting experience to feel the
small boat balancing on the waves of this water rapid. But the simple local reed
huts, twined local beds to sit on and the relaxing atmosphere made this visit complete
and something to remember. Frank’s Sudanese
colleague Omar had brought 2 friends with him and we spent the whole afternoon
playing games, chatting, eating fresh fish from the river and exploring the
surroundings (Frank ->birds!). In the
afternoon more and more locals arrived: large families and a few goats (- their
lunch), a newly-wed couple (still wearing their wedding outfits), young men
from the neighboring villages and a singer who was invited to provide some musical
entertainment. It was a shame that the
generator blew up a couple of times while she was singing, but the enthusiastic
men (-no women) kept dancing anyway. On our way back to Khartoum we happily concluded
that our visit to Sabalooqa had indeed been a refreshing immersion in Sudan’s
nature and culture! I found out later that our magical word ‘sabalooqa’ actually means ordinary ‘drainpipe’
in English, but that can't take away this memorable experience..
The name ‘Sabalooqa’ sounds so musical and mysterious that it already triggered our senses without ever having been there. We were
determined to find out more about this place and so yesterday we went on adventure. It took us some
necessary paperwork beforehand, an early morning wake-up call (- we left the house at
6.30 AM-) and a bit of a bumpy ride through the desert, but as soon as we
arrived there it felt like the mysterious Sabalooqa name hadn’t let us down. The
so-called Sabalooqa Falls form the 6th cataract (water rapids) of
the river Nile and it definitely was an interesting experience to feel the
small boat balancing on the waves of this water rapid. But the simple local reed
huts, twined local beds to sit on and the relaxing atmosphere made this visit complete
and something to remember. Frank’s Sudanese
colleague Omar had brought 2 friends with him and we spent the whole afternoon
playing games, chatting, eating fresh fish from the river and exploring the
surroundings (Frank ->birds!). In the
afternoon more and more locals arrived: large families and a few goats (- their
lunch), a newly-wed couple (still wearing their wedding outfits), young men
from the neighboring villages and a singer who was invited to provide some musical
entertainment. It was a shame that the
generator blew up a couple of times while she was singing, but the enthusiastic
men (-no women) kept dancing anyway. On our way back to Khartoum we happily concluded
that our visit to Sabalooqa had indeed been a refreshing immersion in Sudan’s
nature and culture! I found out later that our magical word ‘sabalooqa’ actually means ordinary ‘drainpipe’
in English, but that can't take away this memorable experience..
