Khartoum Things to Do

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When you get to the Blue Nile Sailing Club, the first thing you will notice is a gray colored boat onshore about 50m from the riverbanks. The El Malik was formerly one of Kitchener's gunboats that has seen many battles, namely the Battle of Omdurman. After retiring from government service, she was handed over to the Blue Nile Sailing Club and used as its headquarters.

By the the late 1980s, the El Malik faced another battle, corrosion, and the gunboat faced the possibility of sinking. Ironically, a massive flood in 1987 washed ashore the gunship and it sits there will to the present day. It is still an operational clubhouse where you can hire small boats to cruise or sail along the Blue Nile.

Places to visit in Khartoum
The Mogran
Khartoum Mogran, (confluence of the two Niles) is an outstanding natural attraction to its lovers from all over the globe. The area is famed for migratory birds, frolic flowers and various restaurants as well as a family park.
Museums
Khartoum is home to several museums, including the Sudan National Museum, The National Museum for Ethnography, Natural History Museum, and the Khalifah House Museum, plus others. They are the must places to visit, as they serve as one stop venues for finding out about the people, culture and history of the largest county in Africa.
The Mahdi's Tomb
It is located at Omdurman and encompasses and encompasses an important part of the country's heritage during the Mahdist Era.
Omdurman market
This ancient Souq exhibits all types of handicrafts, artifacts, souvenirs and various items of Sudanese folk memorabilia. The market is usually open from 8:00 a.m. and closes at sunset.
Sheikh Hamad-el-Niles Tomb
On the western side of Omdurman on Fridays, many dervishes congregate dancing their famous and well-known rites and songs. The practice exemplifies tradition of Sufi in the Sudan.
Boatyard
It lies just off shore of the Abu Raouf quarter of Omdurman, on the western side of the Nile, where we can see the manufacturing of traditional boats, the way it have been done for centuries.
However, the above are not the only to be seen. Khartoum is rich with other attractions that are really breath taking. Among them we may include: - Nuba wrestling, the Camel Market, Abd-el-Qayum Gate, the Nile's Islands, the WWII cemeteries, the church of St. Matthew, king Farouqe's mosque, Sayyid Ali's mosque, the Republican Palace, the Botanical Gardens, west Omdurman's desert and Jebel Awlia, etc.

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Rent a boat that can hold twelve people and travel along the Nile southwards to Um Doum Island. It is fresh and enjoyable on the water, and one sees a different picture of Khartoum. There are farms and rest houses along the banks of the Nile, a beach where people have picnics, and then the island itself where childrencan build sandcastles or bury themselves in the sand.
It is not exactly cheap, but a pleasurable few hours away from the throb of Khartoum's traffic.

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Khartoum War Cemetery is marked with a sign before the turning to it. It is hidden away on one side by a high wall nowadays, but the other side in a roadway near Hai El Matar and the Military area is home to the International Community Club and also ST Francis' School.
The cemetery is entered through attractive black wrought iron gates. In the centre of the area is a cross and around it row upon row of to my eye typical war burials, although this also a public cemetery .
Somehow the way it is hidden away seems to deny the sacrifice made by the soldiers. But, it also secures it from the view of potential vandals.

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They still build boats by hand. Along the river in Ombdurman there is a man that builds every day...no power tools here folks. It is a bit of an impressive sight to watch this guy work..there are numerous tea/coffee stands nearby to relax and watch the guy work...there is another guy next to him that builds chairs out of logs.

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Khalifa was the second in command of El Mahdi. His house has been transformed in a Museum.

The house itself is interesting to see, a beautiful example of the traditional mudd-brick building that is getting lost nowadays. It shows a lot of objects from the days of the Mahdi and exhibits on the weaponry used in his days. It even shows one of the first automobiles imported into Sudan. It has some very interesting plumbing that was added later by the British.

Most displays are labeled in English. But when I was there, an English speaking Sudanese, slightly disabled, showed me around and explained everything to me. He was very happy with the SDG 5 tip that I gave him.

The entrance fee is SDG 1.50, even if the ticket only shows SDG 1.00.

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A very interesting place. The recently redecorated Museum is an interesting place to see. It shows a lot of objects and displays of the life of the different tribes of Sudan.

It is open from 8.30am to 6.00pm, on mondays and fridays from 8.30am to 12 noon and from 3.00pm to 6.00pm. No entrance fee.

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As I mentionned in my travelogue, Khartoum is completely dead on a week-end. If you want to see how Sudaneese spend their week-end, go to the Mogran Family Park at the confluent of the two Niles after the noon prayer.

You'll pay an entry fee of SDG 1 per Person and if you, or your kids, want to enjoy the luna park like attractions, you'll have to pay SDG 2 per ride.

But just to walk through the place and having a drink in one of the open-air places is an experience. You'll see people squatting the lawns with blankets on which the whole family enjoys the week-end with the kids playing around.