Cross from West Africa to Sudan?
 

Hi,
We are Peter (Petrus) and Leonie and are about to leave for our RTW-trip of two years. We leave in about one month on two CRF250Ls
We would like to go to Africa first. We had planned ride to Turkey, take the boat to Egypt and ride south along the east coast. This plan now changed (several times already: Tunesia-Libya-Egypt or fly to Sudan)
We now consider taking the west-route, beginning in Morocco. We both still like to visit Sudan, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Kenya.

We could off course ride all the way south and then ride north again. However, we are looking for information to cross overland from west to east Africa (through for example Tchad).

Does anyone have any up to date information about that part of Africa?

Any information is much appreciated!

Leonie

I have not read of anyone crossing Chad into Sudan for a couple of years, probably as it requires going through Darfur.
Certainly I have heard the Sudanese will not allow you to cross into Chad.

If you want to get to the east side and do it all overland and without shipping (as opposed to using regular ferries), your best bet seems to be Libya transit, or ferry to Israel and so on.

Otherwise, your bikes are quite light so air freight is not such a bad option, or as you say, all the way down and up the other side.

Ch

Hi Peter and Leonie,

I am sorry for not being able to give you a positive answer to your interesting idea. A German guy actually tried it in 2012, crossing through Tchad and then into Sudan. As Chris very rightly pointed out this involves crossing the war region of Darfur - and this is where the trip ended. At some point he got arrested by Sudanese authorities and was only released many weeks later in Khartoum. I have no idea what happened to his vehicle. The guy was a seasoned traveler but apparently committed some errors - but then again: who would be immune to errors in such an environment.

The Central African Republic further south is quickly becoming a failed state. Crossing this country is out of the question for now. And so is the north of the DRC.

So, unfortunately, there only seem to be the two options (for bikers) that Chris mentioned: Either fly the bike from a place like Cameroun (for instance with Ethiopian Airlines to Addis) or go anti-clockwise around the continent.

Good luck for your plans!
Achim

Have to agree with Achim's assessment, the first readily feasible border to cross these days from W to E south of the Gulf of Sirte is the Angola/Zambia one. Southern half of the DRC might be possible, but probably pressing luck...

I crossed DRC west to east in 2012 ending up in Rwanda.

Political situation in DRC´s northern/southern Kivu and Orientale Province changes like the weather so its obligatory to drive all the way to Uganda and then ask around with bus drivers that do the route Kampala-Kisangani. They will most likely be from Kenya as what i heared on the spot Congolese and Ugandans are rubish truck drivers that cannot handle the bad roads or get drunk all the time, also the whole transport buisness is kenyan dominated !

There are several border crossings from Uganda into Congo and these guys are the only ones that regularly take that route and will be able to give you information that is not the kind of "I heared from a friend, who heared it from a friend" kinda style which is very common down there !

The situation is very fragile with multiple rebel groups fighting for their share of the cake. Follow the situation very carefully while you are on the road to Uganda, plan to spend some time there ( its a fantastic country anyway ) and do your homework in terms of security matters. Have a backup plan in case its not safe !

The road to Kisangani is ridable, normal buses do it ! In Kisangani there is a possibility to take a barge to Kinshasa. How long you have to wait to find one that is willing to take you ?? Depends on if you are lucky, 5 days to 1 month i´d say. When I was there one of the old colonial times cranes was operating and that one can handle cars too. Many cars that are sold in Kinshasa are going that way so its a pretty normal thing ! How much ?? No idea, something between 200-400 dollars i´d say ...

cheers,
Chris

Hey,

When did Ghislain cross into CAR and Northern Congo ?
Probably before the civil war broke out again in CAR early this year.
This route is I believe unfeasible now as from what I know CAR is an utter mess right now.

Levelo.

All,

Thanks a lot for your input!

After a lot of research we finally decided to go for the option Italy-Tunisia-Libya-Egypt. We picked up our visas for Libya last week and will have to use it on 28th of December at the latest. We are currently in France, heading to Italy (and hopefully better weather).

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Leonie