Is crossing from South Sudan to Ethiopia doable ?
 

I am contemplating a foray into South Sudan and I would like to know if crossing into Ethiopia from there could be an option.
Any first-hand accounts out there ?
Cheers, L.

It seems unlikely
 

Hi,

Strangely I was just considering the same question. The common answer was NO, although I found someones route, on a website, that headed SW from Ethiopia, popping into Kenya W of Turkana, and then heading into S Sudan and across to Juba. I'll see if I can find the link again.

It will be interesting to hear more reliable information. I've heard somewhere that the Kenya to Juba road is pretty bad and slightly dangerous. Compared to what I'm not sure, but probably the allegedly simple Uganda to Juba route.

From the information of two German travelers who tried to cross from Ethiopia into South Sudan, it does not seem to be possible. In their case, the Ethiopians did not permit the exit of the country. From the South Sudanese side, it would most probably not have been a problem.

Unfortunately, the thread in the German site "Wuestenschiff" is in German only. But the pics are great and the map in the beginning shows the actual routing:

Wüstenschiff • Thema anzeigen - Von Äthiopien über Südsudan nach Uganda

Greetings,
Achim

Thanks for the feedback.
I crossed from Ethiopia to Kenya along the Omo river and Lake Turkana back in the mid 90's. You had to go off-road on the Ethiopian side and according to some maps you were also crossing briefly into Sudanese territory. There was on full-fledged immigration on the Kenya side, just a shed and you were asked to get stamped in either Lodwar or Nairobi.

While in Juba few months back I have heard of someone who did it, but I do not remember in which direction. Local people in Eastern Equatoria have confirmed that there is a road, thou difficult and probably impassable in rainy season. Some trucks follow it.

Sth Sudan
 

I rode there from Uganda....was very hard rain & very wet clay roads also 1/2 way to Juba was turned back which ironically probably saved my life !!!! but I believe things have settled down now.

Cheers
Paul

Paul, were you turned back on your way to Juba from Uganda or on your way to Ethiopia from Juba ? When was it ?