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27 Oct 2007
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Ok, what have I forgotten?
I'm about to embark on my cross Africa and I think I've sorted all the paperwork (bar visas which I intend to get on the fly). Do you find anything missing on the following list:
Drivers license
International drivers license
Certificat International Pour Automobiles (oddly, there's no english name for the document)
Green third party danish insurance
Registration papers for bike
Passport (brand new)
Carnet de Passage Endouane
European health insurance card
Medical insurance for the rest of the world outside Europe
International Certificate of Vaccination
What, if anything, have I missed? Leaving in one week and have that ugly feeling of "there's something I've forgotten". Can you guys help me out?
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28 Oct 2007
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Paperwork = cash, lots of it!
How about the usual "quote" of multiple good quality colour photocopies?
Thereafter, if you look over there on the left there is a paperwork link under planning a trip.
Have fun,
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Dave
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28 Oct 2007
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I think your list looks pretty good! Photocopies of passport and a list of things like Mother's name, father's name, Occupation, DOB etc etc is handy in places like Morocco and Mauritania but they are not essential. THey just speed things up a bit as they make you stop and write all your details down extremely slowly.
Don't forget to take lots of Euros & US dollars for when you cross the borders or countries with no ATM's around.
Have a great journey!!!
Amy
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28 Oct 2007
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Thanks for the replies to both of you.
Yeah, I left out the photo's on purpose. Didn't think they'd qualify as a "document". But I have 36 passport size pictures of myself. You know...in case I might miss me  .
The personal data sheet sounds like a realy good idea. I think I had read about it here on the hub once, but completely forgot about it. Thanks for reminding me.
Money has been a real problem for me to figure out. What to bring and how much. Apart from my plastic (visa, mastercard, american express), I'm bringing 500 Euros and 500 US dollars in cash to start things off with. On one side I do understand the problem of ATM availability, but on the other hand I don't think it's a good idea to carry too much cash around.
Do you think I should up my cash cache (try saying that realy fast three times in a row)? How much do think it would be good to carry? And what currency?
Thanks again for replying.
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28 Oct 2007
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Lots of photocopies if you can, better in colour as well. We took loads of our registration papers and front copy of passport and used all of them.
With money we took 500 euro and $1500 in US.
Hope that helps
Jim
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28 Oct 2007
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Quote:
Originally Posted by amybaja
I think your list looks pretty good! Photocopies of passport and a list of things like Mother's name, father's name, Occupation, DOB etc etc is handy in places like Morocco and Mauritania but they are not essential. THey just speed things up a bit as they make you stop and write all your details down extremely slowly.
Don't forget to take lots of Euros & US dollars for when you cross the borders or countries with no ATM's around.
Have a great journey!!!
Amy
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Which reminds me of the suggestion to carry the details of a good reputable dealer for your particular bike near your home (and maybe speak with someone there beforehand, so they know you personally). Then, if you need spares sending out to you in the back of beyond, you know someone to order them from (all this assumes that you can't get spares in country).
As a thought, you can carry less cash until you are about to leave Europe and then draw cash from the ATMs - but you will have a daily allowance on your account and you may have to do this over a few days, or make an arrangement with your bank first.
There is a recent thread in here by "camtracy" in Iran who got money sent to an Iranian bank from his bank in the UK at short notice, when he noticed that his plastic was not accepted in Iran.
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Dave
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28 Oct 2007
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bmbiker
Lots of photocopies if you can, better in colour as well. We took loads of our registration papers and front copy of passport and used all of them.
With money we took 500 euro and $1500 in US.
Hope that helps
Jim
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Ooh, colour copies. Hadn't thought of that (yet another thing I hadn't thought of). I'm on it .
I think I will go to the bank tomorrow and buy another "set" of 500 US$. 1000 seems like a good compromize. I was a bit surprized at the amount you mention Jim. I was actually only planning on using the 500 as backup/emergency money. So thanks for pointing out the necessity of bringing quite a bit more. By the way, the ones I have allready gotten are apparently brand new. They look like I've printed them myself. Hope they don't raise some eyebrows. Maybe I should carry them in my pocket for a few days .
Thanks again Jim
Torsten
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28 Oct 2007
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Walkabout
Which reminds me of the suggestion to carry the details of a good reputable dealer for your particular bike near your home (and maybe speak with someone there beforehand, so they know you personally). Then, if you need spares sending out to you in the back of beyond, you know someone to order them from (all this assumes that you can't get spares in country).
As a thought, you can carry less cash until you are about to leave Europe and then draw cash from the ATMs - but you will have a daily allowance on your account and you may have to do this over a few days, or make an arrangement with your bank first.
There is a recent thread in here by "camtracy" in Iran who got money sent to an Iranian bank from his bank in the UK at short notice, when he noticed that his plastic was not accepted in Iran.
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I've made arrangements with my local bike shop and made a "spareparts credit". If I need anything that I can't get locally, a good friend of mine will go pick it up and send it to me. There's a guy at the shop that I've developed somewhat of a personal friendship with and he is very knowledgable about my particular bike and especially the mods I've made.
As for the plastic I'm hoping that Visa, Mastercard and American Express will suffice. I realy don't have a lot of other options. As I've understood it, the places that do accept creditcards, Visa is the most commonly accepted. The other two I only plan on using if I exceed my monthly limit of 5000 $. Hopefully I wont be spending that kind of money in a month, untill I reach Capetown and book my return flight for me and my bike.
Thanks for your response Walkabout.
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28 Oct 2007
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Erm you forgot to turn off the cooker!
Safe Trip
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28 Oct 2007
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Quote:
Originally Posted by juddadredd
Erm you forgot to turn off the cooker!
Safe Trip
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Oops! Done.
Thanks 
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28 Oct 2007
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documents
Maybe not only make color copies of PP and driver license but make a couple of double sided color copies which you laminate with firm plastic!! They look very official. When police askes for paperwork hand these out as ID card and you can leave them behind in case police (Cameroon and down) conficate documents which they only return after paying bribes !! See more on "tips and tricks" in this web link.
exploreafrica.web-log.nl: 30-Tips & Tricks (in English)
Have a good trip
Noel
exploreafrica.web-log.nl
Last edited by noel di pietro; 28 Oct 2007 at 17:11.
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28 Oct 2007
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Memory stick
In addition to color photocopies, you may want to scan all your documents and credit cards and put them on a memory stick as well as email the scans to yourself.
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29 Oct 2007
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Join Date: Feb 2005
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Curious about traveling Africa
In Central/South America, it doesn't seem to be necessary to carry "lots" of photocopies. You can get copies made everywhere; the principal border crossings all have "services" available.
It's nice having a copy of [passport, vehicle registration, vehicle title] for the border, as it may save some time, but I never worried about this and it never took up much time at the border. Additionally, the copy services didn't gouge on prices (like you'd find in the US). When I do carry copies, they often times come out folded, spindled and mutilated by their weeks or months of being stuffed into cases.
I suppose lots means a few of each; several different items can add up to "lots" of copies. Carrying around lots of paper to me seems unnecessary; costs savings isn't significant.
So, my question: Are Africa border crossings different in this respect - that they (again, main ones) don't always have copy services, or they take advantage of the situation and gouge on prices? Or "carry lots of copies" overstates the situation a tad.
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30 Oct 2007
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Money has been a real problem for me to figure out. What to bring and how much. Apart from my plastic (visa, mastercard, american express), I'm bringing 500 Euros and 500 US dollars in cash to start things off with. On one side I do understand the problem of ATM availability, but on the other hand I don't think it's a good idea to carry too much cash around.
Do you think I should up my cash cache (try saying that realy fast three times in a row)? How much do think it would be good to carry? And what currency?
Personally I think a little extra cash is better as you never know what can go wrong and where you can't get money! You'll be extremely thankful if something does go wrong and you have the money there already as a backup.
Some embassy only take US dollars (the Sierra Leone embassy would only take large denominations of notes!) We tended to hide most of our money under the seat right down the bottom and only take out what we needed when noone was around. When in bigger cities, we would lock the panniers as well so it made it even harder to get to. Really, I felt it was quite safe! Unless you really that unlucky that someone steals your bike. (In Africa, mostly people don't know how to ride big bikes)
Euros were more in demands in West Africa until about Congo/Angola then they tended towards US dollars so it depends where you are going.. But I think most countries will take both quite easily.
Hope this is helpful
Always Amy
Last edited by amybaja; 30 Oct 2007 at 07:40.
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31 Oct 2007
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Quote:
Originally Posted by amybaja
...*snip*
Hope this is helpful
Always Amy
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It was. Thanks.
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