Before arriving in Sudan this week I got a call from a friend in London. "It's 23 degrees," he exclaimed. "Summer's here!"
Summer has arrived in Khartoum too. Yesterday it was a balmy 45 degrees centigrade (112F in old money). Air-conditioned rooms provide some respite, but it's short-lived. The moment you step outside the heat hits you like a smack in the face. Winding down the windows in the car does little to help - the breeze is so hot it stings your eyes. Even opening doors becomes problematic - metal doorknobs are simply too hot to touch.
Sudan is spending most of its new-found oil wealth on Khartoum - mainly on the parts of the city that the city's elite and its battalion of UN and aid workers spend their time in. Many of the newer eateries, like Amwaj, which does a great burger and fresh fruit juice and is full of young Sudanese all day and all night, spray light plumes of water over their patrons in a vain effort to keep off the heat.
Things cool down a little at night - but not much. At the hotel I've been staying at there is a choice - turn the air-conditioning on and try not to let the loud, continuous clunk disturb your sleep, or switch it off and bake in silence. There is, of course, a third way: wildly switch between the two throughout the night.
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