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Sudan 2007

sudan.JPG


Route

  • Days: 11
  • Period: May
  • Weather: Extremely hot. Temperatures above 40 degrees and in Khartoum almost 50. No rain and no sand storms.

General information:

  • Currency: Sudanese Pound  

  • Internet: available in only a few places. We only used it in Khartoum.

  • ATM's: No ATM's for Cirrus, Maestro or Visa. You need cash!

  • Creditcards: Not accepted much, you need cash.

  • Safety: Sudan is very safe but keep an eye on your things. From the people we travelled with on one night some things that were left outside the car were stolen.

Prices (per May 2007)

  • Value Money: €1 = 3 SP

  • Fuel:  1SP per liter (= € 0,38)

  • Camping: We mainly bush camped. The only campsite we had was in Khartoum (10 SP per night). Hotel in Wadi Halfa was 7 SP per night per bed.

  • Prices: Sudan is not a very cheap country. Basics like fruits, vegetables, water and eggs have european prices.          

Visa

  • Valid = 1 month from date of entry (single entry)

  • Visa can be extended to three months.

  • Visum can be obtained in Cairo ($100), visum is made within 24 hours.

  • Cairo is one of the few locations that does not need approval from Khartoum. In many other places, like Amman, you might have to wait for up to 10 days.

  • Letter of recommendation for the Dutch embassy in Cairo needed (for free and only takes 5 minutes)

  • No charges when you leave the country

 

Border crossing

  • At the moment is is not possible to travel to Sudan by land. When you come from or go to Egypt you have to take the ferry from Aswan to Wadi Halfa.

  • The passenger ferry will leave once every week (on monday) and will take about 17 hours.

  • The car will be shipped with a freight barge that takes an extra day.

  • Tickets for the ferry and reservartions for the barge can be made by Mr. Salah from the Nile Navigation Company.

  • As the ferry is not very comfortable the best option is a first class cabin. As the might be sold out quickly you better book well in advance. A 2nd. class seat cost 266,5 EP per person

  • Barge for your car to Sudan: 2452 EP (Egyption Pounds) for a place on the public barge. If you want to organise a private barge the price is 19.380 EP for the whole barge. When you write a letter to the chief of port and ask for a discount the price will be lowered with 30%. When you are with more than four cars this option might be cheaper. Please note: even if you arrange your own barge it is not allowed to stay on it together with the car and also the space left on the barge will be used for other cargo.

  • In Aswan in the harbour mr. Salah will mostly likely help you to get your paperwork done

  • On arrival in Wadi Halfa there will also be someone to pick you off and arrange all paperwork. In Wadi Halfa several people can help you with this.

  • Loading the car can take some time. In Aswan we were in the harbour at nine in the morning and at about 3 in the afternoon the car was on. The passenger ferry left at six and arrived the next morning at about ten.

  • The barge will take an extra day. In our case the privat barge we rented arrived on Wednesday, but because all the cargo had to be unloaded first we could get the car off no sooner that Thursday at 7 in the evening.

  • When leaving Egypt you have to pay 25 EP at the customs to get your Carnet stamped.

  • Costs for entering Sudan: 16 SP Port Tax, 25,5 SP Customs (for cars up to 2 mton) and 34 US$ per person for registration of your passport.

  • These things are all arranged by the person helping us in Wadi Halfa. For his service we paid him 30 SP.

  • On arrival in Wadi Halfa you are also asked to buy your permits for the sites (10 US$ per person per site) in advance. This however is not needed, you can also pay at the sites.

  • Photo Permit is officially needed in Sudan. The permit is for free, but we did not got it, No one ever asked for it. In Wadi Halfa they will only issue one if you buy a permit for at least one site.

 

Highlights or not

  • Because of the not temperature we did not visited a lot of site. We only saw Karima. Although there are less the pyramids here seem to be in better condition than in  Meroe.

  • The main attraction in Sudan is the country itself. Just drive through the villages and bush camp in the dessert.

 

Roads

  • Wadi Halfa - Dongola: Gravel with a lot of stones and corrugation. The trip took us about 3 days driving an average of 25 km/hour.

  • Dongola - Karima: Picking up the track in Dongola is not easy. You need a GPS or guide. In the beginning is mainly sandy. After a while you will get to the new rarr road. In May 2007 this way finished until halfway Karima. The last part to Karima is a sandy track with stones.

  • Karima - Khartoum: Good tarr road

  • Khartoum - Gedaref: Good tarr road

  • Gedaref - Border with Ethiopia: Just after Gedaref you have to follow a dirt track for a only a few kilometers. After that a new tarr road all the way to the border.

 

Tips

  • Getting your Kenian visa in Khartoum is quick and easy. It only took us half an hour. Price is 50 US$ per person. Visa are issued on Monday and Wednesday morning.

  • Getting your Ethiopian visa in Khartoum is also easy. When you apply before 11AM the visa can be picked up the same day after 3PM. The price is 20 US$ per person. Embassy is open every day except on Friday and Saturday.

 

Important addresses

 

Nederlandse ambassade in Sudan
Street 47, House no. 76
Khartoem-2
Tel. 00-249-183-471198 / 471200 / 471012
Fax. 00-249-183-4712.04.

 

Embassy of Sudan in Cairo:

3, Ibrahim Street, Garden City

Cairy, Egypt

Tel. (202) 3557705 / 3545043

 

 

Links

 

www.sudan.net = all embassies of Sudan outside Sudan

 

 

Holidays

 

Independence day 1 January
Uprising Day 6 April
Day of the Revolution 30 June
Christmas 25 December

 

GPS-waypoints

 

Grid: Lat/Lon hddd°mm.mmm"

 

Abri N20.49.011 E030.25.370 Bush camp   In a field before Abri
Abu Dom N17.46.819 E031.19.391 Bush camp   In the dessert betwen Abu Dom and Khartoum
Gallabat N12.57.513 E036.09.027 Various   Customs, get the Carnet stamped
Gallabat N12.57.453 E036.09.129 Border   Border between Sudan and Ethiopia
Gallabat N12.57.487 E036.09.064 Various   Police for your exit stamp
Gallabat N12.57.558 E036.08.908 Various   Security. Register before leaving the country
Gedaref N13.58.228 E035.23.787 Bush camp   In the field just after Gedaref
Gedaref N14.02.507 E035.23.321 Hotel Hotel Amir Did not stay here, bad place
Karima N18.59.018 E031.08.476 Bush camp   In the dessert between Dongola and Karima
Kerma N19.55.736 E030.25.576 Bush camp   Under palm trees before Kerma
Khartoum N15.31.440 E032.34.220 Camping International Residence Nice shady place with good showers, laundry and internet at nearby junction
Khartoum N15.36.662 E032.32.050 Camping Blue Nile Sailing Club Camping near the Nile. We did not liked it here and stayed in International Residence
Khartoum N15.34.904 E032.32.039 Embassy   Embassy of Ethiopia. Visa issue within 24 hours
Khartoum N15.35.400 E032.34.927 Embassy   Embassy of Kenia, Visa issue within one hour
Khartoum N15.35.105 E032.32.337 Various Ice Bear Laundry Laundry close to the Ethiopian embassy
Khartoum N15.34.990 E032.30.697 Landrover   Genuine parts for Landrover. Mechanics around the corner
Khartoum N15.36.118 E032.21.946 Various   Here you can get a photo permit
Khartoum N15.33.574 E032.33.242 Supermarket Afra Big, but expensive supermarket. Within the market you can exchange money and there is wireless internet
Khartoum N15.36.474 E032.32.650 Various   Travel permits can be obtained here
Meroe N16.56.142 E033.45.260 Bush camp   Bush camp close to the pyramids. We have not been here.
Merowe N18.29.134 E031.48.874 Various   Ferry across the Nile
Wadi Halfa N21.44.669 E031.22.416 Hotel Deffintoad hotel Very basic, but one of the best places in town
Wadi Halfa N21.46.163 E031.22.061 Bush camp   In the dessert just outside Wadi Halfa
Wadi Halfa N21.46.512 E031.22.973 Various   Beginning of the track to Dongola