Alas the winter is coming to an end here in the Khartoum. The bright sunny mornings with a nip in the air will soon depart as February gives way to March. All too soon the blinding heat of the Sudanese summer will arrive in April. After that a fierce sun will beat down relentlessly all day and every day scorching the sandy streets and burning the flat zinc roofs. Relief from the stifling heat only then comes in August with the sudden violent thunderstorms that pierce the night’s sky and send a torrent of water to miraculously green the savannah once again.