Chad and Sudan
 

Does anyone have have any information about Chad and Sudan? We are currently in Ghana wanting to travel through Togo, Benin, Niger, onto Chad and Sudan. Is it possible to get a visa for Sudan, if so where and how long will it take. Any information would be great, many thanks www.popadd.com/ksv2africa

The Chad - Sudan border is closed for practical purposes (though as far as I know not officially), the Darfur area is sealed off to foreigners due to the ongoing rebellion. Chad - Libya border is also closed northbound, heading out east is not an option for the time being.

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Happy Travels,
Andras

FJ Expeditions

Hello Vicky,

I agree with Andraz, forget the Sudan way. Even if you managed to get through the border (highly unlikley) I think you would not be secure in Darfur region. I was there in February and things were already not 100% kosher. There was lots of military activity and tanks guarding entrances and exits to towns, various machine gun emplacements along minor roads and also lots of technicals (Landcruiser pickups with mounted machine guns) cruising around. As recently as 4 days ago the government was supposedly doing aerial bombardments in Darfur.

If you are keen on getting through though and not too skittish you could go to Chad (no problems, get the visa in Abuja in one day, while there enquire about Sudan at the very professional Sudanese embassy in Abuja) and then you head south from Ndjamena to Kome and then on into CAR. I think this should be quiet now, they had a coup a few months ago. From there you could then either load onto a ferry straight in Bangui onto the river Bangui (may have to wait for a week or two), or alternatively keep driving south into DRC, past Gbadolite and head for Bumba or Lisala. With a one or two week wait over there you will be able to get a ferry to take you all the way to Kinshasa, or alternatively east, to Kisangani, and from there you should be able to drive east to Bukavu/Rwandan border. Sounds scary, but is feasible. I did it recently, the other way, coming from Rwanda and then to Kisangani and from there by ferry to Kinshasa. Everything north of Bumba, i.e the stretch from CAR down to the river Congo is controlled by the MLC who I have found a reasonably disciplined bunch. I think if you have some African travelling experience and you speak some french you will be OK.

Regards and let me know how it goes,

hed

Another alternative route seems to be CAR-South Sudan - Uganda - Kenya. You will travel through SPLA-controlled territory in Sudan. I read a story from a German couple that travelled this route lately.

Vicky,i travelled C.A.R. South Sudan,Uganda in Jan/Feb 2002 on BMW 650.Both areas notoriosly unstable.The only way to know how safe it is is to gather info as you travel and follow your feelings.Don't go to South Sudan with an official Sudanese visa.It won't be recognised by the S.P.L.A. and may hinder your progress.Use Catholic Missions and N.G.O.'s for refuge,good luck,Ed.

Hi

We (the German couple) travelled 10 days after Ed through CAR and into New Sudan. We would not really recommend this trip. Even we had the impression that South of Sudan is quite calm it is still a war zone and situation can change quickly. The real problem is CAR. Crossing CAR is more a matter of luck than solid planning. The officials are a pain, coupes and Coupeur de Route are frequent and over wide stretches (especially the Northeast) you find just pure anarchy. East of Bangui fuel is rare and extremely expensive (when asking around up to five US/l where demanded – but we never really bargained because we had enough) More facts you can find on our website at www.afritracks.net (Englisch) or www.afritracks.de (German).

@Ed
Hope you are well, haven’t heard news for a long time

@Vicky
A while ago I mailed you some thoughts about your initially planned route on your website account. Just mail if you didn’t get it.

Regards
Bernd


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www.afritracks.net

How about going down the west coast. There have been several expeditions going through in the last year and seems to be relatively stable. Possibly more stable than the CAR / Southern Sudan route being mentioned.