Travelling in Sudan without guidebook- any recommendations?
 

Hi all,
We are on a road trip from London to Cape Town in a landcruiser, currently in Turkey. I've just realized none of our guidebooks cover Sudan! Just wondering whether it is worth trying to find one in Egypt or whether we should just wing it. We don't have any fixed plans but are keen to go on the Nile route to Dongala, then not sure which way to go to to Khartoum. Keen to head out to Kassala as well. Any tips or route recommendations would be great. We were planning on bush camping most of the way if possible, except Wadi Hafa and Khartoum. I've heard the Nile sailing club has gone downhill, where is a good place to stay in Khartoum?

If anyone is heading north and wants to trade/sell their sudan guidebook then let me know!!

Cheers
Ness

It is worthwhile taking a detour from Dongola to Merrowe to see the pyramids there, you can camp right next to them as well then on to Atbara. It is ok to camp just outside of Wadi Halfa if you want, we did for three days waiting for the ferry, no problem. Loads of bush camping in Sudan, you are rarely far from a quiet spot and the Blue Nile sailing club is rather grubby but still a nice spot with Kitchener's gunboat and the Nile of course as a backdrop, there is at least one other campsite in Khartoum used by travellers but I forget where it is. I think you will manage alright without a guide book.

I'd agree with Mark, pretty easy to get by with no guidebook in Sudan. It's not very touristy, so as you can imagine it wouldn't tell you much anyway. Fellow overlander info is best, I assume you are using Tracks for Africa and that will suggest some great camping spots and point out the obvious places like the Blue Nile. Happy travels.

Bush camping is pretty good in Sudan. Not even the need to find a quiet spot. If you camp close to a village local people will come along with tea and food, or invite you to camp in their 'garden'. One aspect of that though is that an early start in the morning will be difficult. Locals will want to show you their homes and friends before you get on the road.

The Sailing Club is grubby as Mark says. But has other advantages. It's a lively evening social club for the locals, and very interesting to 'people watch' in the evenings. And an excellent way of meeting those locals.
To the extent that after my daughter, son-in-law and I stayed there for 3 weeks last year, (en route to Cape Town) the two of them are now living and working in Khartoum. Completely unexpected, through a chance encounter at the Sailing Club. Renting an apartment from one of the members.

Will be OK without a guide book I think, but if you decide to buy one, the American Bookshop in Cairo has a wide range of English-language guide books, Lonely Planet and stuff.

Off hand, maybe the only thing you might miss by not having a guide book, is knowing that taking photos near rivers, bridges and government buildings is very much frowned upon unless you have the right permit (obtainable in Khartoum). And along most of the route, you'll be close to either a river, bridges, or government buildings. And Khartoum is almost entirely comprised of all three!

Have a good trip.

If you go through Luxor, and can find the Oasis hotel, I left a Bradt Sudan guide (1st ed.) there. Tell the manager that the American on the motorcycle sent you. Assuming it hasn't been snatched up already! It was there 3 days ago when I left.

Cheers
Sean

From Wadi Halfa, the desert route to Khartoum is nice as well - you follow the railway track for a few hundred Km's through the desert till you get to some tar and branch of to the city.Lots of sand and wide open vistas. V good bush camping, but no pyramids etc.
Blue Nile was nothing short of a shite hole when I was there (it's just a car park for a dodgy bar, but it is worth having a look at Gen Gordons boat), and they took the mickey with the charges so I drove off to the edge of the city and slept in the car instead, but couldn't say I'd recommend doing that.
Apart from that, just follow your nose, people and the authorities are very freindly and you should have a really good time.
There was a nice old colonial style hotel in Wadi Medani after Khartoum that we liked - Blue Nile hotel I think it was called

You have a pm

Sudan is very easy to travel. There are very few obvious good roads so it's difficult to get lost.

Like said though, there is little tourism so places to stay are rather few. The added bonus is that you can wild camp almost anywhere between towns. Theres plenty of places completely devoid of people and leads to some fantastic star gazing nights in the desert..

Once in Khartoom, bypass the Blue Nile sailing club as it's a complete DUMP..

Try and find "Farbest autos" in the centre. He is an overlander, owns a garage/wokshop and is well connected in town. He will probably sort an appartment for you and take you to dinner.

I'll try and get teh GPS co-ordinates of his place for you.. WELL worth a stop. Especially if you have repairs to do etc.

Ted

Farbest Autos
 

Here is the best contact in Khartoum..

His name is
Abd Alsalam Eltinay (Hes on facebook like this)


FARBEST AUTO SERVICE CENTER
Tel 00246612304675

N 15,5741 E 32,5774

He is a local guy who owns a large workshop in Khartoum. He specialized in fixed Landrovers, landcruisers etc but can also get all bike repairs sorted for you if need be.

He arranged an apartment for 8 of us for much cheaper than camping at the Blue Nile, took us out for dinner, a tour of city etc..

I can't guarantee you'll get the same level of hospitality but you will be welcomed...

Am also aquainted with Abd El Salaam, and can confirm that he is an overland enthusiast, car nut and gentleman of the highest order who can obtain or find anything within the city of Khartoum and probably beyond!

Wow guys, you are all awesome!!! Some great advice there! Thanks Sean and twoupfront for the guidebook heads-up. Sean, we'll be heading through Luxor in a few weeks so will
Track down the Oasis Hotel and see if it is still there!!

That's great to have the contact deets for Abd el Salaam. Will definitely look him up.

Cheers guys, you rock
Ness

Looking forward to it, should be good fun.

Kindle guidebook to Sudan
 

I had a similar problem and I did found there there is a kindle version of a guidebook about Sudan.
I found it an excellent solution to travel light when doing a multiple country journey in Africa.

btw the kindle/Ipad edition is called the Trail guide to Nord&South Sudan and it has been published this year.

Guidebook Sudan
 

Sorry I forgot to give you a link for the guidebook.
The kindle version I bought on Amazon but maybe you can try on the publisher website below.

Sudan Travel guide
 

I got my guidebook to Sudan directly in Khartoum. The UK publisher of the Trail guide to North & South Sudan has an office there. I did contact them and bought my copy there. It was handy and easy!
The number of the Trail Publishing in Sudan is
00249 (0) 912250025
I write it here because i noticed that it isnt on their website and I had to contact them to have it.

And btw I found this guidebook extremely useful!

thanks all, that answered most of my Sudan questions bier

I went South from Khartoum to the Uganda border 16 months ago.
It was "interesting".
In hindsight I think I missed Ethiopia, but was still a different ride.
i was on a bike.
Thru Sudan I was travelling along with a couple German brothers in a Landy.
Pretty rough road to the Uganda border the last 2/3 of the way from Khartoum.
OK on a bike but slow with a vehicle.

There's not much to stay at past the North/South "border" except some very expensive places for the expatriate/UN people.
However we got befriended by the people at Minetech, a land mine clearing operation. And stayed in their compounds.

They have two camps, I need a map to remember the names.
Sorry.

Be very careful about photos in the South. The permission you get in Khartoum is not recognizd there. This was before the vote/referendm, I dunno what it's like now: probably worse with respect to things like that.

We had a very helpful guy in Khartoum help us out with the permission to travel South called Midhat Mahir

Mobile : +249 (0) 912253484
Mobile : +249 (0) 121313101

Sudan Tour & Travel | Mashansharti

E mail : midhat.sudan@gmail.com
: Midhat@tour-sudan.com
: Midhat@hotmail.com
; sudan.tours@gmail.com
; toursudan@gmail.com
: mashansharti@gmail.com
: mashansharti@yahoo.com
: globtours_sudan@yahoo.com

His brother is at Wadi Haifa.

By the way, be careful about the ferry to Wadi Haifa. You need to make sure you book it ahead of time and then ring the guy a few times to confirm you are coming for sure.
Otherwise if you are not there 2 days befoe it leaves he gives away your booking.
With me it left on a Monday I think it was and he expected me there on Saturday morning. I caled to say I WAS still coming but he still gave my berth away so I was in 2nd Class until there was a last minute cancellation.

And yes is no problem to rough camp except be aware of land mine issues. And best not to camp near the North/South border either. People VERY uptight there.

Alan Jarvis

Sleeping in Khartoum
 

Dear all,

good, clean and friendly place to stay is this: "German Guesthouse Khartoum (Michael Rentschler)".

It is not far away from the Airport. You can find the guesthouse on Facebook, as written above. Michael gives good advice, has a weekly barbecue etc.

Lalli

Touring Ted,

In Khartoum trying to find the mechanic mentioned, but your waypoint is miles south west of Khartoum. Could you kindly check it?

N 15,5741 E 32,5774

Also the phone number doesn't work - Sudan is +249 not 246 etc....

Hi, I don't have the GPS that the info was on anymore :(

That information was off his facebook page.


You're best just contacting him on Facebook. He speaks English.

Perhaps that number was his mobile !!!

Sorry mate. I don't know what else I can do.....

ok thanks mate, number doesn't work etc. Got a friend who facebooks to send him a message.... waiting ;)

Could you describe how to find the workshop?

Anybody else.....??

Many thanks from 43 degrees in the shade Khartoum ;)

Hi,
I checked Ted's waypoint, it's correct I think.
(My daughter lives in Khartoum but is in London at the moment so can't help directly)

Did you enter it correct? It's decimal degrees.
It's on Bashir Elnefeidi Street 70 mtrs north of corner with Abdalla Al-Tayeb Street. Entrance a few metres down a side street I think.
(These are GoogleEarth street names. Names are a moveable feast in Khartoum)

If you look on a map or googleEarth it's due east of the southern end of the runway at the airport, between airport and Blue Nile.

Here's a screenshot.

There are Tracks4Africa 'spanner' signs as well.

Hope that helps.

http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ga/Farbest.jpg

That LOOKS exactly correct from the photograph. I can't remember the street names though.

His workshop is a few metres down a side street next to a large PIZZA restaurant.

He owns a GPS so I'm pretty sure that his co-ordinates are correct.

Many many thanks to the pair of you, I should be able to find it tomorrow morning with that map and my (oh so wonderful 3G) internet stick/laptop and small brain memory capacity ;-)

Something is off with the cooling of the landy as well my as extra electrical fans relay/fuse/wiring having rusted away, so I need to get it fixed asap in this heat and I can't afford to drive around for hours trying to find the place with my basic Arabic.

So thanks again..... the hubb and many of the people on it make travel much better ;-) :-)

For reference, in Garmin BaseCamp on OS X (Garmin software on OS X is rubbish by the way) it doesn't seem to accept that format for a waypoint and sticks it 30km south west of Khartoum and then changes all the numbers to zeros.

I don't understand all the different formats, so if anybody could convert it to the following format so I can just type it into my Garmin 278 tomorrow it would be greatly appreciated...

I need this format: N15 33.830 E32 31.814

Many thanks from the heat of Khartoum!

Right, it's
N15 34.446
E32 34.644

Drink lots of water! beer

All the best.

Thanks again for the help guys, he is a SUPER SUPER guy and has been a huge help and now a good friend. Also many of his friends have been great to meet.

Good mechanics and a really friendly place. If you are strapped for cash you can camp in his workshop area, even putting your mattress on his desk at night under the fan etc.

If you breakdown anywhere in Sudan, give him a call and he will organise something for you...

His number +249912304675

(he is slow to respond to Facebook or email, so call or text)