"Atbara" a Atbara Travel Page by mafi_moya

Have only ever stopped briefly in Atbara while passing through to somewhere else - it's that kind of place. There's not much reason to make a special trip here, but it is a very pleasant and quite relaxed, sleepy little town ideal for a quick visit. If you've got friends here to stay with then all the better.

Send Photo to a Friend

Women in traditional 'tob' dresses

As Sudanese towns go this one is quite famous. First and foremost, it's the centre of the Sudanese railway industry... or used to be anyway. Not many trains are made here (or anywhere else) nowadays. Trains still trundle through most days though, and the original station and unusual dome-shaped houses of railway workers remain. They're well worth a look.

Perhaps because of the influence of the railway unions, Atbara is also considered by many to be the home of Sudanese communism. Jaafar Nimeiri, Sudan's president throughout the 1970's, alternated between communism, rabid capitalism and Islamic fundamentalism - depending on who he was trying to get on his side and extract money from - and the communist phase had its stronghold around Atbara. Not that this has any real bearing on Atbara today, but it's just an interesting bit of history!

Like Khartoum further upstream, Atbara is also the confluence of two major rivers - in this case, the Nile and the Atbara river.