Advice on Chad

Alex,



I haven’t been there myself, but I have a Chadien colleague at work. I think he’s from one of the villages in the northeast.



If you have any specific questions, I could put them to him.



I looked into the possibility of a trip to the north a year ago, but kept hearing that travel permits were required for all travel outside of N’Djamena, and that permits to the north were not being issued to tourists.



Regards,



Lee.

As of August last year, you did need a permit to travel outside as a journalist outside N’djamena. A letter from a publication and some running around to some government offices should get you the right permissions.

There were UN flights leaving to Abeche from N’djamena every couple of days – don’t know if that is still the case.

Dont walk anywhere in N’Djamena alone and keep your hands clean in the East.Really.Thats not code.

i was around there last year and left in february. try to sort out everything quickly in jamena. accomodations are quite expensive. use public transportation if you re with friends but alone i wouldn’t suggest it…
there are little mobs of kids stealing from foreigners but if you dont carry anything with you youll be fine.
the center is ok.
there are a few internet points and cheap restaurants. watch out for mosquitos and bring lots of cypro and imodium.
as johan said there were flights to abecche up to 3 times a week or more. once you re in abeche life becomes really affordable.
un has this seat policy and journalists are last on the list. so you might have two wait around sometimes.
there actually are a few cheap places in jamena but i woudnt recommend them.
in abeche you could stay at the catholic mission or in other inexpensive places.
one thing i got ripped off: i heard from un personel that they can’t charge you full price accommodation if you re sleeping in one of their tents or on the floor. so check it out. i didn’t know about it so i had to pay… 10 dollars or something but after a while in africa fighting over one dollar becomes normal.

There is a very safe and affordable guest house at the Geological society, N’djamena. It is very close to the airport, Rooms are half decent and cheap ($15) compared to the rest of N’djamena and safe. Take my advice and be careful after dark it can a little unsafe to westerners I will try and find the WHO and UN flight co-ordinators for the area for you At present I cannot seem to find my note pad from my trip there in Nov-Jan. How strange….

cool advice keith.
i had no idea on where to stay when i was there and finished paying 70 usd per night. only alternative was a 15 dollar negotiable brothel near the big market….
the UN people in chad were pretty nice and once i had all the paper work sorted i was in abeche in nothing. its just a matter of jumping from office to office for a day or two.

Everyone, Thanks for all the good advice. I hope to head to Chad in November after Niger and Ethiopia – that is if the Niger Embassy ever sends me the visa forms…

yeah-ndjemena is expensive and in many ways hostile…as far as job contacts-many NGO’s are quite desperate for some good material for PR/fundraising purposes…you would be shocked (or not so) at some of the tripe photos NGO’s are stuck with thanks to the proliferation of the digital pocket camera. If you contact NGOs before leaving (especially smaller ones like International Medical Corps, ARC, mercy corps, ect.) -with a small introduction and access to your portfolio…suggesting that you document their programs in exchange for room/board/access…which is half hte battle in chad. if your lucky-they will even pay you. but no fear—with the access you get from the NGO’s,you can then proliferate your own photos in the freelance capacity…

I hope I’m not too late. If you want to have trouble-free (relatively, it’s still Chad) existence in Chad, I’d recommend getting accreditation with UNHCR prior to your departure (you’ll need a letter from your employer, have several copies). That will allow you to get travel permits and filming permit relatively hassle-free. The UNHCR Information officer in N’djamena might actually help you to get these documents. To work in Chad you need two permits the permit de filmer and permit de circuler. The filming permit you get from the Information and Broadcast Ministry, unless they’ve changed the name. The circulation permit which allows you to move around the country is given by the Ministry of Interior. Make sure you have that document because they’ll be asking for it at every checkpoint (I had mine laminated at Taiwanese copy shop on Charles de Gaulle Blvd. by the Lebanese restaurant). You can’t take any pictures if you don’t have the filming permit, you might get away with a small "tourist" camera but anything resembling a SLR would require the permit, especially if you end up photographing sensitive sites (that’s arbitrary and depends on the policman’s mood that day). 

Getting accreditation with UNHCR gives you also the advantage of getting the right to put your name on a list to fly east to Abeche and from there to Tine, Bahai and etc. UNHCR and WHO have flights couple of times a week each, it’s free but they had a 15-kg weight limit on you luggage. Depending how busy it is you might have to wait a few days. If you speak French and can charm your way into the French base, the French military also has regular flights between N’Djamena and Abeche. No weight limit there.

It can also help you stay at UNHCR compounds if they have extra space. WHO has a very nice guest house and for a modest price they provide you with bed and meal (they even have showers!)

In Abeche you might have to rent a car. Be prepared to haggle to death and then get every little detail, including who is paying for gas, for how many days you’re renting the car and etc in writing. I’m not kidding, we had a very nasty experience with the car rental when the middleman (there is just one guy who has 3 phone numbers and you think you’re calling a different guy and he shows up again, creepy) demanded we pay for days that they did not work for us. 

As everybody has already mentioned, don’t go out after dark – bandits and malaria mosquitos. There are only a couple places to go to in N’djamena at night anyway. Restaurant Le Carnivore is where all the "white" people go – diplomats, NGO types, a few businessmen, journos and French military. I’d recommend their steak pavé, it’s pretty good. For breakfast or lunch you can go to one of the French patisseries on Charles de Gaulle, the Lebanese restaurant is not bad either.

If you need to move around in N’djamena, you can rent a taxi for the entire day, it comes cheaper than taking different taxis. If you’re really on a shoestring budget, you can take the minibuses but it’s pretty hard to figure out where they go (I wouldn’t venture out of the downtown on my own).

That’s about it. Oh, yeah you need a yellow fever vaccination certificate to be allowed into the country.

Have a great trip,