Forty lashes. That is the penalty for getting caught with alcohol in Sudan under Sharia law. Forty of them. And I’m pretty sure that getting caught during Ramadan would not be considered as mitigating circumstances by the authorities.

So booze was off the menu for the nine days we were in the country. Fortunately a shopkeeper in the desert town of Atbara helpfully pointed out a case of Vitalsberg at the bottom of his fridge with a sly grin and a wink, as if it was something that a cheeky inebriate Westerner might prefer over water to quench his thirst in the fifty degree heat. How perspicacious of him. I bought a six pack and hid it guiltily in my backpack for the walk pack to our truck.

Vitalsberg, ‘for the beverage lover who wants to feel the bitter taste of malt beverage without alcohol content’. Delicious – and lash free.