IRIS GOES TO KHARTOUM - Laura McDermid continues her stories of Iris McCallum's flying exploits.

In Part 1, Iris introduced us to the American Congressman and diplomats she was flying with three planes from Nairobi to Khartoum.

- Laura McDermid

HAVING ARRIVED IN KHARTOUM, the American delegates were whisked off to their peace conference the next morning and the three of us pilots were left to our own devices.

There were many power cuts during the day at the Hilton and Heather advised that we should consider what we ate very carefully as the cold chain would be sorely affected in this heat.

I took her advice on board and had Carlsberg for breakfast lunch and dinner. I stuck to eating simple food such as Moukhbaza - mashed ripe bananas smothered with chillies, and Tamayya- broad bean balls with pita and tomato salad - both typical Sudanese dishes.

I had a wonderful view from my room where I could see the confluence of the White Nile,, flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile, flowing west from Lake Tana.

It was a great opportunity for me to explore Khartoum and I headed out along ancient, cobbled roads amongst the souks. The sun beat down mercilessly, and I could understand why the local men wore loose-fitting kaftans and ghutras (kufiyahs) to cover their heads. Scrawny goats and dogs took shelter under the meagre shade of the date palms that lined the streets.

The air was filled with the cloying smell of spices, incense, cheap aftershave, and metallic tang of fresh blood. A camel's head on a spike stared at me sightlessly, its eyes swarming with bloated flies, an advert for a 'butchery'. The calls of the muezzin competed with the loud caw of crows which seemed to be everywhere. 

As I rounded the corner I spotted a large plastic cone, the once pink plastic soft serve on top bleached white by the relentless sun.

Ah, just what I felt like.

I was about to enter the shop when something caught my eye. There was a big pile of rubbish right next to the shop and on top was.... the small black body of a dead child.