I've worked in Darfur & in Chad and in both places the paperwork is fairly serious... The Authorisation de Circuler has to be made in N'Djamena as far as I understand, and it will be checked and stamped everywhere...

Both Darfur & E Chad are under regionalised control, so you would have to deal with a collection of local authorities who don't necessarily follow national rules, so you have to get clearance from the local Governors, Police & National Security in Darfur, and the Governors, Sultans, and Prefets in Chad.

It is your responsibility on arriving at each town to find out who you have to present your papers to, and then find them, everyone will know you are there and if you fail to track down the people you are supposed to get stamps from you will be in trouble, even though they won't ever be in their office!

Just because one authority in a town gives you permission doesn't mean that the others approve - especially in Darfur there is often a state of warfare between different authorities (we had a big gunfight in 2009 when the National Security tried to assassinate the Governor in one place!) so just because for example the Governor says you can travel in an area doesn't mean that you will be able to get past the checkpoints of National Security...

Also in both locations you will find that the authorities would be extremely worried about the risk of you disappearing on their patch. Generally I found that in Chad the authorities were very helpful, but wanted to provide armed escorts everywhere because of the embarrassment they would suffer if you disappeared in their area, even though actually the place was relatively safe. This would mean that even if you were able to enter Chad you would have to rent a car and driver in order to then be accompanied by the escort!

I haven't been in Darfur since 2009 but it was certainly rather insecure then - I spent a week in Zalingei (a small town in W Darfur) and on each day a UN vehicle was car-jacked at gunpoint from the town - the thieves used to park in the main marketplace in a Land Cruiser pickup and wait for a 4x4 to drive past, then just take it away at gunpoint...

Sorry if that sounds a bit negative, but it really isn't very practical to try to travel round Darfur by hitching... the local trucks travel in armed convoys of hundreds of trucks at a time, it's not just the foreigners in Darfur who are concerned about their security!

If you manage to get a Permit de Circuler for Chad then you can certainly travel around the country by public transport - there are trucks and truck/buses which would be very cheap (and slow!) but you would have to give a good reason for wanting to travel in Chad in order to get your permit... You wouldn't want to get there and then be stuck in N'Djamena, it's really not a fun city!

In summary, rather than trying to cross Darfur and then get over the border into Chad it would be much better to go to Chad direct, with a good reason for traveling around - research, writing a book etc... and travel within Chad. It won't be cheap but it will be interesting!

Here are some photos from both Darfur & Chad picasaweb.google.com/tonyemergency

Good Luck!

Tony