Hi All,

I did El Gemeina, to Nyala, then El Fasher, then En Nahud, then El Obeid in January on an old Tenere. Stretch El Gemeina (border with Chad) to Nyala is OK, rocky and partially tarred, but easy, as described by Toby. Nyala to El Fahsre is tarrred (perfect) about half way, the rest is OK, with some deep sandy dune crossings, not too difficult. From Nyala onwards about 100 km's of very good, sand road, almost like tar, thereafter very very deep sandy, tracks, rutted by Souk trucks, all the way until you pick up the tarred road just before El Obeid again. Very scenic, but quite tough going. Not too many thornbushes, so possible to drive next to track part of the way, still very difficult going.

The direct track from El Gemeina to El Fasher was not recommended to us by anyone (travellers and locals), and not really necessary, as the track to Nyala is pretty good. Hope this helps.

hed

We are in NDjamena and the Chad/Sudan border is closed to foreigners because of banditry. The French embassy would not give a Letter of Recommendation either. They said that one of the towns near the border was under curfew (don't know which one).

It is still possible to fly to Khartum but there are travel restrictions on Sudanese Airlines for Americans, Canadians, Chinese etc... because of the SARS epidemy.

Last solution for us: we'll fly with our bikes to Addis Ababa. Cost: around $1500/person with a motorcycle, crate and everything included.

Pierre & Merritt
http://photobiker.com