AK-47s and Shisha

Our protection, AK-47 wielding Sudanese police, took a break to lie against a sandy bank. They were smoking shisha and enjoying the day’s final rays of light. One waves their arm and invites me to join their shisha circle. They point to the Nile and say Kneel, the way Arabic pronounce Nile and then pointed to the water in the glass base. We’re filtering the shisha through the waters of the Nile. As the sun disappears behind the opposite bank of the Nile, we look towards camp and see a poorly staked tent blowing across camp and into the desert. Laughing, we take another puff and watch the frantic owner chase his home.