Dubbed by some “the world’s largest waiting room”, Khartoum is one of Africa’s most laid back capitals.
A place where things come together, it’s actually three cities in one; Omdurman, Khartoum North and Khartoum Proper, the oldest part which sits between the confluence of the Blue and White Niles. It’s also a melting pot of many tribes and nationalities, from Arab, Dinka and Shilluk to Nubian, Beja and Fur.
Whether you decide to explore the city or sit at a tea stall watching the world pass by, Khartoum is sure to find its way into your heart.
Confluence of the Nile
The Confluence of the Nile is one of Africa's geographical highlights. From this spot, referred to as Al Mogran by the locals, if you look east, you'll see the Blue Nile stretching fast and narrow all the way to Ethiopia. If you turn your head south, you'll find the White Nile, flowing wider and lazier after it's been exhausted by passing from Lake Victoria through the swamps of the Sudd.
The two rivers are two distinct shades of grey and you see them flowing side by side like a shy couple before coming together to complete the mighty river that flows north towards Egypt. The difference of color is particularly noticeable during the summer when the Blue Nile is at its highest and the White Nile backs up enough to flood.
Viewpoints:
- The White Nile Bridge overlooks the confluence, but photography is forbidden even with a permit.
- The confluence is visible from El Fateh Tower hotel.
- The Mogran Family Park also offers excellent views of the confluence and you can snap pictures there to your heart's content. Bonus point: there's a ferris wheel!
- If you decide to hop on a ferry to Tuti island, stroll to the tip of the island and you'll find the blending of the Nile waters at its strongest.
Natural History Museum
Also goes by the unflattering moniker of ``the dead zoo``. While the majority of the museum's collection is either dried or stuffed, you'll find in the back garden crocodiles, snakes, lizards and tortoises that are still alive and kicking.
University of Khartoum
Founded in 1902 as the Gordon Memorial College, The University of Khartoum is the oldest and largest university in Sudan. Visit if you have some time or if you're interested in attractive colonial architecture.
Commonwealth War Cemetery
A charming, green space in the middle of the city that carries a grim significance. This WWII cemetery is full of headstones but no bodies. Khartoum was used as a base for the invasion of Abyssinia (in Ethiopia) to expel the Italians.
Pro-tip: A remembrance service is held here on November 11th.
Coptic Church
Khartoum's Coptic minority uses this church off the main drag along the Nile. It's an elegant building, with two imposing bell towers.
Tuti Island
Tuti Island is an island in Sudan where the White Nile and Blue Nile merge to form the main Nile. It is surrounded by the ``Three Towns``: Khartoum, Omdurman, and Khartoum North. Despite this; Tuti is home to only one small village that provides a snapshot of traditional village life. Grassland is the main makeup of the island, with sandy beaches on the north and the steep banks on the south of the island are a good illustration of the seasonal variation in the level of the Nile.
National Museum of Sudan
If you're seeking a well-presented narrative of Sudanese history, specially ancient and medieval past, the National Museum of Sudan is the place to be.
The museum is laid out as follows: the ground floor starts at Sudan's prehistory and covers the rise of Kerma and Kush in great detail, while the upstairs gallery holds the most unexpected displays; salvaged frescoes from Christian Nubia. Last, but not least, in the museum's grounds, you'll find three remarkable temples rescued from the flood waters of Lake Nasser and resurrected here: temple of Kumma, Buhen temple and temple of Semna.
Pro-tips:
- Open from Monday to Friday, officially open from 9.00 am to 12.00 noon then from 3.00 pm to 6.30 pm. Best to visit in the morning as it sometimes does not reopen at 3 pm.
- Allow at least one and a half to two hours to enjoy the museum.
- If you want to peer closely at the frescoes, bring a torch. The upstairs galleries can be a little dark.
- For those interested, the museum hosts regular archaeological conferences and seminars that are open to the public. Inquire at the reception for further details.
Kitchener's Boat
Gunboats of one description or another have been used on the Nile ever since the first Arab to own a rifle took a pot shot at someone from the deck of his felucca. So when General Herbert Kitchener came to Khartoum to defeat the Mahdi, it made sense that he'd do so by sailing up the Nile in the Melik, his small gunboat. On his retirement, the general gave it to the Blue Nile Sailing club to use as their headquarters where it remains to this day, albeit in an unfortunate state of disrepair.
Botanical Gardens
A small, pleasant haven for a picnic near to the Nile confluence. At least butterflies think so (along with other local bird and insect life)
Nile Cruises
What's a more iconic experience than a boat trip down the longest river in the world? Sail from Al Mogran to Crocodile Island or hire a boat to see Khartoum from a new perspective. An hour upstream on the Blue Nile you'll find Jazeera, a perfect spot to have a picnic on the sandy beach.
Republican Palace Museum
This museum should be on your Khartoum bucket list both for the vessel and its contents. The fine red sandstone building with stained glass windows was once an old Anglican church built in 1904 before it became home to medals, photos and presidential gifts.
Look outside for a display of vintage and bulletproof presidential cars that include Rolls Royces and Humbers.
Ethnographic Museum
A perfect place to get a taste of the melting pot that is Sudan. The displays are ordered by geographic region beginning with the tropics that are now South Sudan , followed by the savanna regions south of Khartoum and finishing up with the deserts of the north.
Pro-tip:
Opening hours are from 8.30 am to 12 pm, then again from 4 pm to 6 pm.
This museum is best explored with a guide.
St Matthew's Cathedral
With its various turrets, slender spires and a large rose window, this Roman Catholic church is more resembling of a fairy tale castle.
Services take place on Sundays and Holy days.
Grand Mosque
Known as Al Jame'e Al Kabir in Arabic, the Grand Mosque was built a hundred years ago, exactly in the heart of the Sudanese capital. The mosque is now under the national corporation of Archaeology and visitors come to see the mosque, including ministers and consultants from international archaeological bodies, particularly Turkey.
The name (the Azhar of Sudan) has been repeated speaking about the Khartoum mosque for the many symposiums which are held in the mosque daily.
The foundations of the mosque were laid in the time of Ruler Khorsheed Pasha in 1864, but the work wasn't finished until 1902 and was first called Abbas mosque, after Khedive Abbas Pasha Helmi, the ruler of Egypt and Sudan at the time.
Omdurman Souk
This famous souq (the largest in Sudan); is abuzz with noise, activity and color, and a couple of hours' exploration is bound to turn up all manner of surprises.
Hamed al-Nil Tomb
Hamed al-Nil was a 19th century Sufi leader of the Qadiriyah order (tariqa). Every Friday afternoon you can see an incredible Sufi ritual, where a colourful local troupe of whirling dervishes belonging to the Sufi community stirs up the dust in worship of Allah at this imposing mausoleum located in a large Islamic cemetery.
Things start around 4.30pm (5pm in winter), but it doesn't really get going until about 5.30pm and the atmosphere just makes you feel like you want to join in, many of our guests do participate and class it as a highlight of the tour.
Pro-tip:
- Foreigners are welcome to attend this ritual and take pictures.
- The dervishes don't dance during the month of Ramadan.
The Mahdi's Tomb
The original, a tomb with a glittering silver dome, was raised in honor of the Mahdi upon his death five months after the fall of Khartoum in 1885.
Soon after the re-conquest of Sudan, General Gordon's nephew ``Monkey`` was given the job of destroying the tomb, finishing it off with throwing Mahdi's ashes into the Nile.
The present tomb – a straight copy of the original – was rebuilt in 1947, presumably once the British had got over their fears of its symbolic power.
Pro-tip: Non-Muslims are permitted to enter the tomb, but women must cover their hair.
Boat Builders
Even though there's hardly any demand for the wooden planked dinghies nowadays, it's still possible to watch them being built at the yard on the edge of Abu Roaf district, just north of Shambat Bridge.
The Khalifa's House
Across the street from the Mahdi’s Tomb is the house of his successor, Khalifa Abdullah. A low, two-storey building with a series of linked courtyards, the house has been turned into a museum of the Mahdiya period and is known locally as Beit Al Khalifa.
Al-Moheli Souk
Located on the western edge of Omdurman, Al-Moheli souk is Sudan’s largest camel market. It’s particularly spectacular on Saturdays.
Camels find their way here from the Juhayna tribes of the west destined for the Egyptian market, and from the Beja and Rashaida tripes of the east to end up on the racing tracks in the Gulf states.
The camels are moved in herds of around 300 camels and take from one to two months to get them from Darfur to Egypt.
Al-Nilain Mosque
Al-Nilain is the largest mosque beside the Nile from Lake Victoria to the Mediterranean. It was built almost 30 years ago and was designed to resemble the Muslim prayer cap known as a taqiyah.
Nuba Wrestling
If you want to watch traditional Nubian wrestling, you can catch a bout or two in the district of Haj Yusef on the eastern edge of Khartoum North.
The wrestlers usually start going through their paces roughly an hour before sunset every Friday.
Sometimes there are Nuba wrestling rounds running additionally during the week.
Pro-tip: The additional wrestling rounds are usually announced on the preceding Friday.
The Military Museum
This museum, which is located inside the Castle of the Sudan Defense Force, is one of the most important museums in Sudan because it not only preserves military artefacts but also documents the military history and links it to the present.
Layout: The exhibition is divided into four sections:
- The Department of Admiral Zine El Abidine Hassan Tayeb: contains archeological photographs and documents, including those the Sudanese army received from General Asconz, commander of British forces in Egypt in 1953.
- The section of the Conquest of Bishara: contains ancient archaeological weapons.
- Mahmoud Abdel-Rahman Al-Faki’s department: includes the uniforms of the armed forces since the Blue Sultanate to present day.
- The Department of Brigadier Abdul Rahman Al Bakri: contains the old documents and decorations used in Sudan. There is an open section containing weapons of ancient times from the Turkish rule; coastal guns and warplanes and the armored vehicle of the President.
The Borden Paddle Steamer
The Borden is the oldest surviving paddle steamer on the Nile, and the second oldest in the world. She is only eight years younger than the Skibladner, which is the world’s oldest operational paddle steamer.
To date, the Borden has been transported from its previous location on the opposite bank of the Nile, and restored by an iron conservation expert from the SS Great Britain project. The viewing platform surrounding the Borden, and the hard landscaping for the garden and museum area has now been completed and includes an outdoor performance area.
Sabalooqa
The Sabalooqa Falls are the sixth, and final, Nile Cataract, located 60 km north of Khartoum. The word sabalooqa refers to a drainpipe for water, a name that seems entirely appropriate as the Nile is funneled through the rocks. The cataract is a great site for a picnic and a spot of bird watching.
Jebel Aulia Dam
Situated near a village of the same name about 40 km south of Khartoum, the Jebel Aulia Dam intersects the White Nile.
Gibson and Pauling Ltd. undertook the project to build the largest dam in the world at that time, succeeding in 1937. In 2003, a hydro-electric project was completed on the dam, adding a 30 megawatt maximum capacity, adding to the national importance of the site, so much so that it’s guarded by the Sudan People’s Armed Forces.
Wad Medani
Around 136 km southeast of Khartoum, on the west bank of the Blue Nile, lies Wad Medani, the capital city of Al Jazirah state.
Visitors enjoy its commercial centers and “souqs”. Souq is what they call their market areas, which have retail stalls that sell different kinds of things, including native Sudanese souvenirs. The town’s central market areas are Al Daraga, Al Gism, Al Awal and Wad Azrag.
Another thing that the tourists would enjoy in Wad Medani are the boat rides on the Blue Nile and across the river, there are many beaches. That, together with easy going atmosphere, good food and exquisite restaurants, make Wadi Medani a local honeymoon destination.