Got up early this
morning after another night sleeping with the windows open. (It is
gradually warming but still in lower 60s during night.) Went down to
the shore of the Blue Nile to take a waterbus across to Tuti Island.
Tuti sits in the middle of the conjunction of the Blue and White
Niles. Until 20 years ago, the three Arab tribes that lived there
didn't let anyone visit their island, not even other Sudanese. It is
easy to understand why. In the middle of a desert, they have great
soil (silt carried down the Nile) and a steady supply of water. They
grow fruits, vegetables and sorghum year round. They only "import"
from Khartoum cooking and motor oil and a few other things like
softdrinks. They even make their own bricks from river mud, dung and
Nile water. (I saw several places where people were making bricks by
hand as they would have thousands of years ago. One of them appeared
drunk, as I might well be too making bricks all day. Expert brick
makers can make up to $8 a day.)
They
now let people onto their island and there are a large number of
southern and western Sudanese that do much of the labor. I walked
around with my bodyguard Hashim. He had scouted ahead and led me
across the whole place. The sun was a winter sun but intense
nevertheless. We walked for fours hours steady. I returned beat and
still am. But I had to do an interview with the editor of a local
Arabic newspaper this afternoon. He asked me questions for 1 1/2
hours. He started by telling me be was invited to be with the US
Marines in Lebanon many years ago and ended by assuring me he likes
America. We'll see what he does with my answers.
Note: I had spent the holidays back home with my family and returned after the New Year.
