Practical Information SUDAN This page will be updated as more information obtained

Visa

Have no first hand information yet, but from other travelers stories it appears that obtaining a tourist visa is quite simple and straight forward, especially if one has a local sponsoring letter. Will put up more info when obtained.

Note: Sudan is a "dry" country, no amount of alcoholic drinks may be imported.

Permits & Escort

Foreigners need a travel permit to travel anywhere outside Khartoum, this can be obtained only with the original passport, not photocopies, thus may be only arranged on the spot. From hearsay this can take 1-2 days. To my knowledge no special escort is required once the travel permit has been issued, but in light of the tense Darfur situation this may change at any time. At present no travel permits are issued to any of the Darfur provinces. It is unclear at the moment how this affects travel to the NW desert.

Note: due to the ongoing civil war in Darfur, the situation can change any time.

Vehicles

Our local contacts have diesel model 62 Landcruisers and HiLux pickups, which are certainly up to the job. For comfort, we have three people to a car, plus the seat beside the driver in the pickup. Weight and volume needs to be watched, as the -62 has a much smaller volume than the -75, and a portion of the back is taken up by an additional welded steel fuel tank.

Maps & navigation

The 1940s era 1:500000 Sudan Survey maps are the only good ones of the NW desert area (sister maps to the 1:500000 Survey of Egypt series), but I have yet to find a source. There are also the Russian 1:500000 series, though their terrain information can be misleading (mostly sandy areas turn out to be much better than anticipated from the map).

Mines

There no known mine hazards in North-west Sudan.

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