Chad - photography, permits and more!

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Good post which I already read when you first had posted it. It was probably removed because nobody replied to it. If you want to keep it on this thread, I suggest that you post it on the FAQ thread at the beginning of this blog.

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oceansurf,
hat off for your experience.
I'm keen of travelling independently in Chad.
Forgetting the issue of the photos, how is staying in Ndjamena?
Can I get easily from the border with Camerun?

www.albytravel.com

PS: do you like to travel cool? Enjoy: http://www.albytravel.com

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Hi Alby
Yep it's easy to cross to cameroon - the only easy border crossing in the country i think! You can see cameroon a couple of hundred metres over the river from much of N'djamena.
Everything else about N'djamena is fine, but it's EXPENSIVE - the absolute cheapest hotel i found was about 40 euros but you really wouldn't want to stay there. otherwise the cheapest, reasonably plesent place is called Tropical Hotel and the cheapest room there is about 75 euros (in much of europe you'd pay half that for the same room and in more touristy parts of africa you'd pay about 10 euros max...). otherwise n'djamena is safe and fairly friendly althuogh there is very, very little to do - the main market is cool though. Oh and go to the bus station for buses going west toward Abeche - you've never seen a bus like it!!

Off to sudan at the weekend - lets hope it's better than Chad!

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I just finished a three week trip in Chad taking in a circuit of the northern villages (N'Djamena-Abeche-Faya-Mao-N'Djamena) and thought I'd suppliment these comments here with a few of my own-- beginning with a wholehearted agreement that Chad is unlike any other place in Africa and, for lovers of desert culture, one of the most fascinating and beautiful places in the world, despite also being among the poorest places you'll ever see. That being said it certainly is a difficult place to get around and get things done-- in large part because there's so little information available for independent travelers. So here's my two cents:

Permits: Definetely a headache. First you have to go to the ministry of tourism to have your itinerary drafted into a formal letter. Once prepared, deliver it to the ministry of Public Security and wait around three days. It pays to show up frequently and keep reminding them that you'd like your paperwork sometime this year. However, I did not have to pay any bribes-- in fact the only time I was ever asked for one was by way of a shy request for 'tea money' that was quickly laughed off and forgotten. Perhaps that's because I was there purely tourism purposes, I don't know. It took four days start to finish. Once on the road the permit will be checked all the time, with official scrutiny motivated usually by a genuine concern for the letter of the law and, less frequently, them wanting a little scratch. Be sure all information on the permit is correct-- name spelling and passport number, and the order in which you will follow your itinerary. Only one time did I run into a truly bad official-- he 'arrested' me for a night for not paying up but in the end let me go.

Photography: I agree that this is a nightmare. I also did not bother with the permit. Not only is it officially discouraged, but pretty much every time I produced my camera some concerned citizen shouted at me-- even when I was shooting something with no people in the frame. I asked a Chadian friend what I COULD take pictures of-- he responded without a trace of irony, 'trees and sand are okay.'

Accommodation: I found a couple pretty decent places. In N'Djamena center one of the better cheap options is the Aurora Hotel, with singles for 18000 CFA-- about 36 USD. This is in Lonely Planet Africa. After seeing I was in for a longer stay I transferred to Auberge le Comfort, a very acceptable bar/flophouse deep in the suburbs near the river and the bridge to Cameroon, with showers ensuite and electricity at night, plus a super helpful staff, for 8500 a night, which is around 18 USD. This one is a bit far flung-- to get there take a minibus southwest from the Grand Marche and wait until you reach the fourth roundabout; get out there and the Comfort is a block or so north on the righthand side. In Abeche I stayed at Pension Cesar, which is pretty much the only game in town but is very charming and pleasant for that, if a bit expensive; rooms start at 25000 CFA for a basic double with satellite TV and air con (bath separate) and go up from there. It's located south of the city center past the Grand Mosque and WFP compounds. In Mao they have very basic rooms at the cultural center near the police post-- 5000 CFA gets you a room that's gigantic but feels like a dungeon-- I ended up dragging my mattress onto the verandah. Besides Abeche and Mao, I didn't find any other hotels in the north. In almost every town or village there's an ESTE bereau-- that's the Ministry of Public Security people, and you can stay with them for free if you choose. Sometimes it's compulsory, in fact.

Costs: For somebody requiring western standards Chad is very expensive indeed. For those willing to compromise on certain comforts it can actually be pretty affordable, however. In N'Djamena I was getting by comfortably on 40 USD a day; in Abeche, thanks to hotel costs this was more like 60 or 70 USD. Other places in the north I was hard pressed to spend more than 15 USD a day... there's simply nothing much to spend money on. All over the country simple canteens can rustle up something pretty edible for 500 to 1000 CFA or else there's the ubiquitous barbeque stalls for about the same price but highly variable quality; street stalls for breakfast will set you back no more than 200 CFA for tea and a place of beni donuts. Transport is the only other thing that costs a bit-- and this depends on your negotiating ability and what sort of vehicle you're trying to board.

Transport: N'Djamena to Abeche is pretty straightforward as many bus lines serve the route from the Gare Routiere in N'Djamena. Transport is by reasonably comfortable truck-bus hybrid vehicles, and the ride takes about one full day. Onward from Abeche to Faya most traffic seems to be freight trucks. The best way to find one is to take a land cruiser to Biltine, two hours north of Abeche and a pretty cool market town in itself, and shop around-- there's usually one or two getting ready to go on any given day. I paid 15000 for a seat on the cargo for a trip that was supposed to take two days but ended up taking four. Bring a jerry can to put your water in and don't bother being selfish with it since after a while all the water becomes communal anyhow. The truck ride is fascinating but arduous, and you'll meet lots of immigrants heading north to Libya and beyond-- great stories, these guys are the real modern adventurers. Try to hook up some place to stay on the ride up since there's absolutely no place to stay in Faya, despite what some people may tell you. From Faya back south to Mossoro Hiluxes are the order of the day-- 25000 in the front seat, 20000 in the back; with departures every couple days, the trip can take anywhere from 24 to 72 hours depending on the skill of your driver and mechanical soundness of the truck. From Mossoro there's lots of transport back to N'Djamena or you can press on to Mao, as I did, served again by Hiluxes with a front seat cost of around 12000 CFA and departures every morning. It really is worth sitting in the cabin as they drive very fast over big bumps and I imagine people fly off with some regularity.

Chad is really a special place-- in particular I can't recommend Faya enough. It's one of the last places in the whole Sahara where you can experience one of these oases as they were before the modern era, camel caravans and all-- and believe me, I've looked. Pretty much nothing comes close.

Edited by: treiffus

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Great info, treiffus, on a country where it's really difficult to get some information.

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I consider myself a seasoned traveler, but hats off to you for such adventure.

alby

PS: do you like to travel cool? Enjoy: http://www.albytravel.com