Border Chad - Sudan Closed???
 

Via via Sudanees ambassy Holland via via I heard that de border between Chad en Sudan is now closed, does anyone have better news?

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CU under the Cu

Frank
http://www.crossing-africa.com .:. The Ultimate Travel on a Yamaha XT600Z

That is indeed very bad news !! I have sort of been waiting for that now that the peace talks have broken down. I spoke to the official in charge of visa affairs in the Sudanese embassy in N'djamena about 2 weeks ago. He told me that the border is open. According to him there are 2 types of visas, the one is for business travel and entry by air. In order to get that you need a letter of introduction from within Sudan, the rest is routine. He told me that the other type of visa is for overland entry by road. These visas have to be approved from Khartoum. I.e. after you apply in Tchad your details are sent off to Khartoum for approval. He said generally these are approved, but often they get no answer back. He said typically this process takes up to 3 weeks. So I am not sure what the situation is, but sounds like it is 50/50. I know there is a Sudanese embassy or consulate in Abuja/Nigeria, so I will pass by there and try, if unsuccessful I will go on to Tchad and try again. Please let myself and the Forum know how much success you are having. Also check out

http://www.sudmer.com/Sudan's%20Missions%20Abroad.htm

This is very useful !!

Cheers,

hed

when we came through a few months ago it was technically visas require sending to Khartoum and it takes three weeks but actually took about 2 hours. Don't know if the overall situation has changed but the supposed requirement to send to khartoum has existed for a while and is based on how the consulate is feeling - seems fairly indesciminate as to whether they refer you or not.

tobias, txs for that, i take that as good news. i was wondering, did u get yours in abeche or in n'djamena ?

cheers hed

Ndjamena - heard all sorts of bad stories about not getting visas in Chad and several other travellers went via Nigeria because they heard it was easier - we wanted to go to Niger and didn't want to go to Nigeria so went for Chad option and was easy - 2 brits, 1 kiwi plus seperately a dane. - all took about 2 hours - possibly consul was in good mood - we didn't meet him or see him so it wasn't us personally.

Tobias,

I am glad you clarified that consul story, because I am quite an ugly guy and I thought that maybe your personalities got u through. I was planning on doing the same and using Nigeria as a backstop, i.e. if no luck in Tchad, enter Nigeria and try there. Where are u now ? Did you make it all the way through Sudan ?

hed

Yes in that particular case my devestating good looks didn't come into play. Currently in Uk, went right way down to Cape Town and shipped back end of June. Sudan is a cool country, people are the friendlist we met along the whole way. Really keen to help. Crawled across to Costi with bad diesel which we picked up near Zakoma in Chad, had about 2 weeks in Khartoum and then headed in to Ethiopia. The change in personality is instantly noticable as soon as you cross the border. And all the other travellers we spoke to seemed to find the same thing.

Tobia, txs for the feedback. I did hear that about Ethiopia and Sudan as well. I will be leaving from here in early October and whenever I get to a PC along the way will try to give feedback.

cheers, hed

I just spoke to the consul at the Sudanese Embassy in The Hague (Holland). He advised me that all western borders of Sudan have been closed from September 2002 to January 2003 due to the safety situation.

Because of the large number of requests from tourists wanting to enter Sudan, the consul advised me that the ministry of Foreign Affairs in Khartoum may revisit their decision in the coming months.

I wonder if anyone has had similar experiences recently or perhaps any good news from the road to cheer me up?

Camiel

Hey camiel,

I just spoke to the person in charge of visas at the Sudanese embassy in N'djamena/Chad, and he told me the same as what he told me a couple of weeks ago, namely that you can apply, it gets sent off to Khartoum and then you have to wait 3 or 4 weeks for approval. He says that the border is not closed. I don't like the 3 or 4 week waiting period, so I am hoping that once I am on the ground I can work something out. I will be there round about Jan myself, too. See you there, I am leaving southwest Mali in early November but I am taking some detaours via Guinea and Goldcoast etc.

Cheers and good luck,

hed

Hello Hed,

That already sounds a lot better than a blunt NO and best of all: there is consistency in the news you're receiving. As you say, let's hope that something can be worked out there and then.

BTW: I just got an email from a German couple who got their Sudan visa's in Germany without any trouble.

In shalah, we'll make it through!

Camiel

Some bad sounding news... (29th September)

"The governors of North and South Darfur States ... have declared Jebel Marra area a closed zone for security reasons in order to crack down on armed robbery which turned recently into tribal rebellion"

Source: http://www.khartoummonitor.com/news556.htm



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Happy Travels,
Andras

FJ Expeditions

Hi we are an swedish couple who is traveling from Sweden to Capetown. At this moment in Mauritanien heading for Senagal and The Gambia. We hope to get in tuch with some other traveler how have the route trough Chad and Sudan. We hope to be in Chad with in one month. Thanks for all the info.

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Best regards Jonas Blanck and Nina Widell

The Chad Sudan border is open and you can get visas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have just made the crossing from Ndjamena to Khartoum in about 6 days, having waited for just over 2 weeks in Ndjamena for sudanese visas. the only way to get the visas is to have someone sort it out for you in Khartoum. After some bribery (about 20$), and paying for our visas both in chad and khartoum, we were successful (so budget about 80$ per person all in all). The man who sorted all this out for us is called Midhat and he is a great chap (his telephone in khartoum is 0024911798111). if you are planning to make the crossing, i would call Midhat sooner rather than later so that you dont have to wait too long in Chad. We are a group of three blokes, in chad two of us were robbed, and chad is very expensive to live in (camping in the novotel car park is the best option), so get on the case early to get your sudanese visas.
Hope this is of interest to you all.
Ben

Hi Nina and Jonas,

We might be crossing Niger + Chad at the same time as you. If you want to, send us a mail via our website:
www.dunia.no

Erik D.

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