Avoiding Sudan
 

I am in the early stages of planning an African overland trip (South to North), but would like to avoid (Northern) Sudan. A few questions:
1) Are there any border crossings from Ethiopia to Eritrea or Djibouti which are open to travelers?
2) Does anyone know of ferry services along the Red sea, from Eritrea/Djibouti to Egypt or Jordan?
3) Alternatively, has anyone traveled via Chad and Libya into Egypt?

Thanks,

Saar

Any particular reason you want to avoid North Sudan? It's a fascinating country and the population is extremely hospitable and friendly... On top of that, it's generally quite safe as well.

just my 2 cents.

Joova

I second Joova...

It's a fascinating place and It was probably the safest and least corrupt country that I visited in all of Africa.

And me, one of the highlights of the trip.

+1 for northern Sudan. Well, the ordinary folk and not the mass murderers who run the country anyway.

As for alternatives, not sure there's much. Ethiopia and Eritrea really don't get along so that border is firmly closed. I met people who tried at the end of last year to get from Djibouti to Eritrea (as the Ethiopia border was closed) and they didn't manage it. There's a thread in the sub saharan section about it if you have a search.

entering Sudan is not simple for everyone
 

No problem there. You have options, no ferry I would know of: Sail / Fly to Djibouti say hello to the Legion, then pass through Somaliland (not Somalia), ride into Ethiopia from Hargeisa, then South to Kenya and the rest is for you to chose. Otherwise you may wish to fly to Addis and enjoy the rest of it. You can also sail to Mombassa and ride from there, or fly to Nairobi and ride from there, but don't miss Mombassa. I was told Uganda is a place to ride in, see if you can manage to.