Just a quick question:

Is there much around to stop anyone from "slipping" into Sudan from Uweinat in Egypt and arriving in Khartoum off piste?

I understand that there my be a security issue with smugglers in the region but will the Egyptian/Sudanese authorities take umbridge to this?

Technically doable, BUT:

• To get to Uweinat legally from Egypt, you need all sorts of permits + military escort. The military escort will not mind a short foray into what is technically Sudanese territory, but going to Khartoum might just be stretching things a bit...
• Assuming you manage to give the Egyptian authorities a slip, you will miss the crucial exit stamp from Egypt, and the entry stamp into Sudan in your passport. While this will be of little hindrance in crossing the desert, it might require a lengthy explaining session the next time you visit those parts (or try to leave Sudan through one of the legal channels).
• The logistics would be rather challenging. Any desertworthy vehicle equipped to carry enough water & fuel for such an extreme distance is likely to attract attention and questions...
• Summing it up, the only way to do it would be to go there and back along the same route. Someone with good local experience and contacts could possibly be able to pull it through (the smugglers do all the time), however if you get caught on either side, the consequences could prove to be rather unpleasant.

So there is no way at all to obtain exit stamps/carnet stamps before entering the desert in Egypt and then obtaining entry stamps in Sudan in Khartoum? Whilst following the guidelines in Egypt by having permits and escorts??

A lot of the queries (like status of N Chad, the balise line route across the N Tenere to Niger, Chegga in Mauri to SW Algeria crossing) are things that can only be worked out if you try them. Generally speaking they are things people avoid doing because its more or less taken for granted that they won't be smooth going. And because no one is doing these things, its hard to say whether they'll work or not. Even when there are cases of people doing these bold routes in recent years, the Saharan dynamics have changed sufficiently in just the last 18 months for these past experiences to be an uncertain guide.

I don't know the answer to the Egypt-Sudan off piste crossing. When out there, we certainly saw people driving off piste to Omdurmann from Egypt but the rules for locals are always different. They just blend in on arrival - like they had never left in the first place. Generally speaking in N Africa (if not all of Africa), border officials in the country of arrival check for the exit stamp of the country you've just left from. If that stamp is missing, the questions start and exactly how things proceed from there is probably different from one episode to the next. This happened to us some years back in Niger when we left Algeria without stamps and arrived in Chirfa in Niger. The trip ended badly.

I believe they will - in particular the govt-supported rackets* which insist on operating a ferry over the only lake for hundreds of miles of largely flat desert. (You will have read Steve L's truck hassles on that ferry.)

Otherwise tourists would wing it and be happy to pay the ferry cost in a fine just to save the aggro. I know of one guy who strayed in from Libya into the Gilf area, had the vehicle confiscated and a bit of time in prison.

Also, to get to Uweinat you need an agency guide and a bloke from the army and there are more fixed checkpoints down there now.

In the countries further south you may get away with it unofficial border crossings, but AFAIK Egypt (with its 800% carnet which you will not get stamped out...) and Sudan thrive on red tape and regs.

Ch

* my speculation

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Morocco Overland 4 pre-order for Xmas • Trans Morocco Trail

Thanks, it seems as though the hassel will be too great to do such a trip. The 800% value of the carnet is a big put off, and to lose that kind of money is not worth it considering one can use the ferry to Wadi Halfa.

Richard,
As for Chegga to Alg, this is one I intend to do either this season or next with some swiss friends of mine. If anyone has a link to a website or any more info on Kalus Daerr's journey from Alg to Mauri via Chegga, please post it here.

Thanks
Trans-African

52/53 African Countries "done".

52/53 African Countries "done".

Which is #53? Chad I would guess!

Ch

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Morocco Overland 4 pre-order for Xmas • Trans Morocco Trail

How did you guess! Yes, never been to Chad let alone with my own transport. The plan is to do so this season, enter from Sudan, across to N'Djamena then up to Faya Tibetsi then the Endenni and finally into Niger via the Lake Chad route. Might enlist some help from Tchad Evasion. any opinions?

Tchad Evasion?
There isn't really much to choose from in Chad. We used TE in 2005 in a trip to the Bodele. Moosa, the boss, drove a v.very hard bargain. The vehicles he provided for the trip were rubbish. One 60 series had 450K km and no drive through the front diff (not good in the erg!) when we left the capital. The diff bearings eventually got changed in the Djourab.

The guys from TE who went with us (hired hands) were mostly good though - especially the chef guide. He knew his stuff and was a good influence on everyone. Without him I think the outfit would have atomised.