The Story of Our Long Stay in Khartoum

At the end of March, after a difficult trip through the desert from Wadi Halfa, we arrived at a station called Roiyan approximately 60kms North of Khartoum. This station is also in the desert and was the first place we had stayed where there was no shade. The horses were tired but healthy. The Sahara is a hot place, but unbearable when there is a heat wave. We experienced temperatures of more than 50 degrees for 3 days. The horses had no escape from the heat and it left them in a poor state. Chami tucked up and had a laminitic relapse. Rahaal showed the beginnings of laminitis. All three horses went off their food. We pushed on for another 16km to El Jeily but Rahaal got progressively worse. In the end, we loaded them onto a lorry and took them to Khartoum, to our friends (Brett and Toni) house in Mamoura, to recover.

After resting for a month in Khartoum, Chami and Nali looked and felt great. Unfortunately Rahaal was still struggling. The shock of rain and mud contributed to the laminitis and the pedal bone moved through the bottom of his feet. However, we remained convinced that he would recover sufficiently to come along with us.

Having been in a residential area in Mamoura, we decided to look for a change of scenery. At the beginning of August we moved the horses to Miracles Sudan Farm in Bahri. It belongs to Jane-anne Khalid who runs a riding school and hippo therapy. At the time, the Nile was in full flood right up to the farm barriers. Our plans were to get Chami and Nali fit and in peak shape while Rahaal recovered from his laminitis. 3 days after we arrived on the farm the boys became very lethargic. Their temperatures began to fluctuate by as much as 4 degrees. We suspected biliary although they were not showing all the symptoms because of the presence of ticks. As the horses have never really been exposed to ticks before we wanted them to build up an immunity on their own. We did not rush to treat them, but watched them closely. We had to decrease their workload.

Their fitness suffered. Chami began to suffer from very swollen legs, lower belly, sheath and parts of the neck. The Michelin Man comes to mind! We treated him with diuretics and anti-inflammatorys. As none of the symptoms that any of the horses had shown were definitive, we had blood tests taken. We decided it could be Biliary, African Horse Sickness Fever or even Sleeping Sickness. Sadly our little Rahaal died before we got the blood test results.

After the shock of losing Rahaal, we decided that we could not wait for the results any longer. Within days of eachother, both Nali's and Chami's temperature went above 40 degrees. We treated them with Imizol and Alamycin for biliary, Dexamethyzone for shock, Phenylbutazone to bring their temperature down, Vitamin B for liver support and a drip for dehydration. After two days their temperatures were normal and stayed normal. We began to work them again.

After sometime, we decided that they were strong enough to continue, but first we had to complete the distance from El Jeily to Khartoum. We did this 60km in 3 days arriving at Dagmar and Thomas Wiltberger's (friends from the German Embassy) house in Arkaweet, a suburb of Khartoum. We had planned to stay a couple of days but soon realized that the horses were not strong enough to continue immediately. The fact that they were sick at the farm and were unable to be ridden, meant they were not fit enough. The large doses of drugs they received, apart from treating their illness, also had a negative affect on their bodies as they were excreted.

Both Chami and Nali's feet were affected by this excretion. This is a photo of one of Nali's front feet. As you can see, there is a lot of seperation and chipping. He is still foot sore now, months after his treatment. Chami's feet were also weakened and they were torn apart even with shoes on. He is also still footsore from this. As they are both footsore, their work is limited again. Nali is doing 25 minutes of trot and canter on the lunge. Chami is being ridden for 40 minutes at walk purely to work on his co-ordination and rebuild all the muscle that he has lost.Finally, we received those blood test results, and all three horses had biliary. We immediately had blood tests taken again and sent to Nairobi. The results show that the biliary parasites are all gone but that the blood itself has been affected. The cell counts are low. This would account for their lethargy and unwillingness to do anything too energetic. Of course, in order to have healthy hooves, one needs healthy blood.

We increased their protein, gave them Folic Acid, vitamin B and other vitamins and a metabolic stimulator. As you can see by this photo, they are feeling much, much better! We hope to be leaving Khartoum in the next month with healthier, fitter, happier horses. We will take blood tests again before we leave so we know for sure that they are as they should be!

Our time in Khartoum has not been boring! At Jane-anne's farm we got involved in teaching the kids, training the horses and generally helping out on the farm. We have taken a ferry across to Tuti island to visit friends. We have had a bit of a cultural experience watching school plays, jazz bands and art presentations. Currently we are training the riding school horses for Khartoum International Community School and will be holding a basic riding workshop there in the next couple of days!

The Team

William was born on the 20/12/1968 and has lived in South Africa all his life. Although brought up in Mpumalanga, he has called Cape Town home since 1993. He is a farrier specializing in pathology and whilst carrying out his trade he encourages a healthier lifestyle for horses with the recommendation of keeping them barefoot.

William has crewed for two horseback expeditions, the first 1800km from Windhoek, Namibia to Cape Town, South Africa and the second 3500km from the East to West Coast of Africa crossing through Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia.


Christine was born on the 25/11/1983 and lived in Zimbabwe until 2003 when she and her family moved to Cape Town, South Africa. She is a horse riding instructor with experience training disabled and traumatized children. This is her first horseback expedition!

Chami, a Tunisian Barbe, was born at El Battan Stud in Tunisia on the 09/02/1998. He was used for breeding until Christine and William were lucky enough to buy him in November 2005. He is a chestnut with flaxen mane and tail, white face and white socks. When he started this expedition, he was barefoot with very strong hooves. In the Libyan Desert, disaster struck and he got laminitis as a result of dehydration, forcing us to shoe him. He is full of character and attitude and is not the easiest horse to deal with, but is much loved! He is Christine’s horse.

Ennahali, a Tunisian Arab Barbe was born on the 11/03/2000 in Janouba, Tunisia. He worked as a cart horse on a farm, then was brought to El Battan stud to be used for breeding. In November 2005, he was a scrawny little horse, but William and Christine bought him none the less. He is a dappled grey with black mane, tail and points. He is now big, strong and very handsome! He is barefoot and his feet just get better and better. He is a little bit like a naughty teenager, but he loves attention and is very affectionate. He is William’s horse.

Rahaal, a Local Libyan Bred Pony was born on 01/08/1997 somewhere in Libya. William and Christine bought him in Misrata, Libya in May 2006 with the idea of using him as a pack pony. He is a red chestnut with a white face. A little crazy to start off with, he has turned out to be such a loving character with an appetite for absolutely anything! He is also barefoot. He is William’s horse.

R.I.P.

Rahaal, our tough, loveable, Libyan bred pony, died on 15th September 2007 from Babesiosis (Tick bite fever). We miss him greatly.