The Egyptian Nile

British explorer Levison Wood is walking the River Nile from source to sea on a nine-month journey through jungles, savannah and deserts in some of Africa's most spectacular locations. Along the way, he encounters modern Africa, its people and its wildlife face-to-face and at ground level. Five months and more than 2000 miles into his journey, Lev is in Sudan, facing his biggest physical obstacle yet: the Sahara desert. He has to walk 1300 miles across one of the most inhospitable places on Earth, at the height of summer, to reach the Egyptian border. Lev is joined by a friendly Sudanese guide, Moez, two charismatic nomads, Awad and Ahmad, and three badly behaved camels. Together they encounter some of the most spectacular sights of Lev's mission, camping among the ancient Meroe Pyramids that were built for the ancient Nubian kings and queens, and which few outsiders have ever seen. Lev joins 10,000 Sufi pilgrims as they celebrate one of the holiest days in the Islamic calendar by singing and dancing all night until they enter a spiritual trance: another spectacle rarely glimpsed by the outside world. He then faces his toughest physical challenge: crossing the Bayuda volcanic field where temperatures can reach 55 degrees Celsius. Lev loads up his camels with as much water as they can carry. Walking 20 miles a day through blinding 100-mile-an-hour sandstorms, Lev soon starts to run out of water and with no sign of a well he starts to think he's made a massive mistake.