Sudan

Sudan in North Africa is the continent’s third largest country and boasts of the world’s largest collection of pyramids. Sudan is home to desert landscapes, historic architecture, thousands of years of history, and diverse culture. Adding to this, its friendly locals and delicious native cuisine, make the country an interesting destination to visit.

Capital Khartoum is a modern city located at the meeting point of the Blue and White Nile rivers. You can actually witness this point from the White Nile Bridge. However, the rivers are not blue and white as their names state and are more of a muddy brown and ash grey. Though Khartoum is a low-key capital lacking big tourist attractions it does have good places to visit like the Sudan National Museum, Souk Shabi, Al-Nilin Mosque and Tuti island.

Sudan’s most popular site, the Meroe Pyramids are scattered along the banks of the Nile, with the earliest pyramids dating back to 751 BC. Built of sandstone and granite by the rulers of the ancient Kushite kingdoms, the ‘Nubian’ pyramids are smaller in size than their Egyptian counterparts and contain tombs of ancient kings and queens. Nubians belonged to one of the earliest civilizations in the Nile Valley in modern-day Sudan. There are almost 200 pyramids in Meroe, and the gold and jewellery they once housed have been plundered over the centuries.

The ancient city of Naqa, located between Khartoum and Meroe is popular for its well-preserved Temple of Amun, dating back to the first century. You will find the Lion Temple, dedicated to warrior god Apedemak and the Roman temple nearby.

The ancient city of Kerma with a 5500 year long history, is an important archaeological site in Sudan. The site exposes the ruins of numerous residential quarters and over 30,000 graves. It was home to a couple of enormous mud-brick temples (also known as Deffufa) and you can visit its crumbling ruins today. Another important Nubian town is Karima, where you will find the Jebel Barkal hill and museum. Near the hill lie the ruins of Napata, once a centre of the Kushite Kingdom. The ancient town of Soleb in northern Sudan was built in the 14th-century B.C and is popular for the ruins  of the Soleb Temple.

Port Sudan is located along the coast of the Red Sea, in eastern Sudan and is a bustling commercial city. Its coast boasts of great snorkeling and diving sites with impressive coral reefs and shipwrecks to explore.

Strongly overshadowed by its popular neighbour Egypt, the historical wealth of Sudan remains largely unknown to the world. A trip here will take you to the ancient civilizations and kingdoms that thrived along the Nile and let you experience a fusion of native Nubian and Islamic cultures.