BootsnAll Travel Community

Hi all, well I´m sort of confused here. I am in Dar Es Salaam and want to go to Sudan and Ethiopia and when I am there I might as well go to Egypt. And later I want to visit the south all the way down to SA. So it would be Cairo to Cape Town. The thing is, of course, I need a visa to go to Sudan. It seems like I might get it relatively easily here in Dar Es Salaam. But the Lonely Planet Africa Guide (brand new 2007 edition) provides quite a gloomy picture regarding obtaining a visa for Sudan in general. It suggests that doing this from Addis Ababa could “take ages” or “prove impossible”, which is why I am thinking of doing it from here instead. But the bad part is that it also says that getting the visa from Cairo could be tricky - “most people pay USD160”. However, in the Egypt section it says about the Sudanese embassy in Egypt “visas take from 24 hours to a month to issue and cost 85USD for one month; you need a letter of invitation and three photos”. Fine, here it seems like the cost is high but not THAT high (160USD). But a “letter of invitation”? What is that anyway, and how could any ordinary tourists without connections or friends in Sudan have one? And why would they require this thing there, but not here in Tanzania where all they ask for is a “letter of recommendation” from my embassy (+ photos and cash)? God, this lack of logic I encounter everywhere just drives me crazy. By the way, Dar Es Salaam seems like a relatively easy place to get a visa for Sudan (provided it´s true what they say about getting one in Ethiopia and Egypt). But Lonely Planet doesn’t mention this in their “Africa” guide. The catch is that the validity is only for one month, meaning I have to enter Sudan within one month from the date of issue (and from then on I can stay one month in Sudan). It may be difficult for many people to get up to Sudan within one month, but for me I suppose it might work out since I want to do those countries I pass through going up, when I go down again anyway..

Well well, a lot of info I provide here I realize. Just think of it as an illustration of the meaningless difficulties that stupid embassies and the drafting (but not necessarily enforcement, although you can never be sure) of inconsistent and illogical policies create.

My question is this: Are there anyone on the board who has traveled from Egypt to Sudan recently? If so, how did it go in terms of obtaining a visa for Sudan in Egypt? Should I even count on getting one? And how much would it cost, and do I really need a “letter of invitation”? I´ve tried calling a bunch of embassies using telephone numbers from the internet, without getting through anywhere.

My worst case scenario is going up there to start my Cairo to Cape Town journey, only to have the whole project duped before my eyes because of difficulties in obtaining a(nother) visa for Sudan.

Hoping someone here on the board has any experience with this.. Thanks!

So, no one knows the deal? How has the search gone? what are your plans now?

Hi there, I got a lot of help on the Lonely Planet Thorntree forums: http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/messagepost.cfm?posta...from=1&iCountryId=49

Apparently it won´t be a problem, for me, to get a visa for Sudan in Egypt. Price seems to be 100USD, and it seems I will only need a letter of recommendation from my embassy. Cairo may be one of the easiest places or perhaps the easiest place to get a visa for Sudan. But, the situation could be completely different for Americans for all I know. I really don´t know about that, but wouldn´t gamble on flying to Cairo to get a visa for Sudan as an American with the limited info I have, without researching it further first.
I arrived in Cairo last night.

Hello,

I`m a brazillian traveler currently in Egypt. Before coming here I visited both south and north Sudan, with few visa problems.

I took a bus from Kampala in Uganda to Juba in Southern Sudan, getting the visa at the border with no problems besides the rifle-armed officers trying to convince me to give them more money. I ended up paying 70000 ugandan shillings (around 45 USD) for the "Travel Permit By the GoSS (Government of South Sudan)" and the half-page entry stamp on my passport.

No problems until I got to the airport in Juba to take the flight to Khartoum. There they told me I needed a visa by the Sudanese government, not the GoSS, if I wanted to go to the capital.

I ended up having to go back to Kampala and applying for a Sudanese visa there. It was easy, just filled a form, attached the photo, talked for two minutes with the embassador and they gave me a two weeks visa as I needed.

I hope those news are of any help. Getting the visa for Sudan in Uganda seems to be of no trouble.*


* -> I mean, the process itself seems to be straightfoward. In my special case, though, I had told the embassador that I was going to Israel after Egypt, and he said it was ok, I would get my visa. The next morning, when my visa was supposed to be ready (they kept my passport), I was told my visa was refused because the embassador had changed his mind because he did not want to "collaborate with Israel". I ended up getting the visa, but only after some big troubles at the embassy...

Anybody have updated info on the best place to get the Sudan visa? I've heard Dar Es Salaam is mostly the best place (going S to N, anyway), and that Addis Ababa is hit and miss, depending on whether the consul likes you or not.

Is Dar still a good place?
Is it really possible to get the Sudan visa in Kampala? I thought I read somewhere that the Sudan embassy there closed down. I'm an American, so that won't make it any easier.

Thanks!

I know this might sound silly, but why would you want to go to a country with an active civil war, one that is starving out millions, and more importantly, has banned even the NGO's from entering the country, let alone allow american tourists that might be 'spies'? I get a bad feeling about this.

I really do.

This government is capable of just about anything, and if they won't do it, their private militias well.

Is there anything of touristic interest in the sudan? Are you chasing a girl? Are you a photo journalist? I'd be interested in knowing why you choose this country at this time.

quote:

I know this might sound silly, but why would you want to go to a country with an active civil war, one that is starving out millions, and more importantly, has banned even the NGO's from entering the country, let alone allow american tourists that might be 'spies'? I get a bad feeling about this.

There is no war in Khartoum or Port Sudan (both tourist destinations) Despite the media attention on Darfur, there IS tourism in some parts of Sudan. You can't get access to Darfur (not sure why anyone would want to) and I guess if the government feels you are involved in anything political they will probably not give you a visa. But, if someone wants to go through the hassles of getting a visa for Sudan and wants to deal with everything involved, I imagine the experience will be quite rewarding.

I haven't been but it is on the top of my lists of places to get to soon. The pyramids and ruins of Nubia in northern Sudan are supposed to be untouched and rival Egyptian works. Khartoum is supposed to be a fantastic city and the people of Sudan in general are apparently extremely welcoming to visitors.

So, speaking for just myself... the reason I would go is to find out if all the great things I've heard about Sudan, are in fact true. While, staying smart and not going where advised not to.

yeah, i second that.

i obviously don't agree with human suffering.. but like joey says the war isn't going on in the whole of sudan. i don't mean for it to sound like i'm belittling the situation there.

i want to travel there someday because that area fascinates me, and yeah.. maybe it's partly because of the 'taboo' aspect of it. i admit that, and i don't see anything actually morally wrong about that.

quote:

Originally posted by Joey:

quote:

I know this might sound silly, but why would you want to go to a country with an active civil war, one that is starving out millions, and more importantly, has banned even the NGO's from entering the country, let alone allow american tourists that might be 'spies'? I get a bad feeling about this.

There is no war in Khartoum or Port Sudan .....

Just some update on this...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/world/africa/11sudan.html

Well, the rebel almost took Khartoum and things may get worse from now on.

According what I read from Paul Theroux's "Dark Star Safari," it seems a very fascinating country to visit. However, I really don't think it is a good time to visit either.