Cochrane resident on the verge of escaping Sudan

A 12-hour ferry ride is all that separates Tim Sanborn from getting out of Sudan and booking a flight home.

Tim Sanborn was successful in making his way to Port Sudan from Khartoum, Sudan with a 17-hour bus ride. Today, he was wading through the madness at the port to get a ferry to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

He says getting home from Jeddah will be less stressful than the ordeal he's already faced.

"That's the easy part," he said in a text earlier today. "Buy a ticket and come home. It's the craziness and the 12-hour boat ride that will be a little different."

It's been a gruelling few weeks for the Cochrane resident since being caught in the middle of the country's military power struggle.

Just two days away from flying home, Sanborn awoke to the sound of artillery on Apr. 15 in his hotel room by the Khartoum International Airport. For five days he had a bird's eye view of the military theatre that has rocked Sudan's capital city.

He was relocated to another hotel further from the battles but was still in harm's way

Communications were sparse with representatives of the Canadian government. They repeatedly messaged they were unable to perform an evacuation. To make the situation worse, the cell service was out when the Canadian government reached out two days ago.

"It was very stressful. We could not contact anyone for about 13 hours. We figured we missed every evac opportunity. As it is, this route will take us days."

Through an evacuation insurance provider, a bus ride was arranged to Port Sudan, where he travelled together with a British citizen with the same insurer.

He says the evacuation efforts have been chaotic but feels fortunate to have reached the port.