Algeria via Niger or Mali
 

I apologise for not doing my homework properly.. I'm sure I could find this info by searching a bit more. Unfortunatly we are very much pressed on time.

Currently in Yaoundé, awaiting Nigerian visa. Need to be in Belgium by the 20th of june. I am looking for the fastest route to Europe. This seems to be trough Algeria (as the coastal route via RIM is about 2500km longer). Just looking for a fast route, will only take main roads, no scenic detours.

Thus:

- Is the border Alg-Niger open?
- Is the border Alg-Mali open?
- Are the respective routes trough either Niger or Mali to the Alg border safe?
- Is applying for an Algerian transit visa still possible in Niamey? How long does it take? Price?
- What about Tunis visa? Need to apply for in advance (where?), can get it at the border?

I mailed a few agencies in Algeria for a guide trough Algeria, still awaiting their responses. Any recomendations for agencies are welcome.

Thanks!

If you're going through Algeria...the agency that's reliable is Akar-Akar...contact Nick L there...

nloizillon "hat" aol "dhot"

www.akar-akar.net

Shortest does not mean fastest. You will definitely be a lot quicker to go the Atlantic route, becuase it is almost all tarred.

Mali / Niger and Algeria would be a lot more interesting but you'd be signing up for 2000km of potholes and piste and sundry adventures.

If you do decide to go via Algeria, I am very happy to recommend the agency Tanezrouft, who we used last year.

Trouble in Mali...
 

The Mali route might not be an option, just picked up this piece of news:
AFP: 27 killed as Tuaregs attack Malian army posts: government

Hello,
We were in a similar situation to you about 3 months ago.
We decided to go from Yaounde to Kano Nigeria. In Kano you will need to get the visa for Niger. From Kano we went to Zinder Niger then about 150 miles north of Zinder we joined a military caravan to Agadez (the caravan was very very loose and at no point did we feel threatened) In Agadez we got the visa for Algeria in one day, very very very easy. We got a recomondation from MotoEdde to use Akar Akar for our invitation letter. This is hands down the best agency go through, trust me I contacted about 50 of them. The visa will about 100 euros or so. The best way is to have them email you the invitation print it out and bring it to the embassy.
Donccha was incorrect, you will currently only have to ride about 500 kilometers of desert piste and bad roads the rest are in great shape.
From Agadez we rejoined the military caravan heading north to Arlit. In Arlit you are now free to wander about on your own. In Arlit the paved road ends and you have to do some desert driving for about 200 kilometers. At the Algerian border your guide will meet you and take you to Tamanrasset. In Tamanrasset you can use the same guide to take you to the North of the country which is about 1500 kilometers of paved road.
In Algeria you will have to have a guide (at least in the southern part) if you are on motorbike expect to pay in the range of 100 euros per day for a guide and a landcruiser support vehicle. If you are in a truck it will be much cheaper as he can ride with you.
In Algeria you can take a ferry from Algers or Oran to either Spain or France for about 300 euros for a person and a bike.
I have traveled both routes (the Atlantic through Morrocco, Western Sahara, Maurtania, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria) and then the second far shorter route Nigeria, Niger, Algeria. You will save lots of time and even more money by going through Algeria.
If you want more info check out our website
Welcome to www.quadsacrossafrica.com
Cheers and good luck
Josh

Niger-Nigeria
 

Is it easy to get a visa for Nigeria in for example Niamey? Do they issue tourist visa without invitation? How much are they?

wow, this was a close one! We already gave up on Algeria (too complicated, and not enough time... and then there is the pricetag!)
Only saw these last replies in Zinder, and decided to give it another go.

We called and mailed akar-akar: no response
Tanezrouft voyages did reply (fast) and we will probably go with them.

I will post all details when I know them.

Locals here in Zinder are pretty scared of the north of their country though. I hope security will be allright there. Very little in the news about niger lately...

Thanks for the responses!

By the way. We want to take a ferry to northern Italy (Genoa, La spezia?), I don't think it is possible from Algiers, so we will be going trough Tunis.

Should this be booked in advance? Or can I just show up and take the first one that leaves?
This would be around the 13th of june, holiday season hasn't started yet, right?

Just came back from Niger. Made a roundtrip Niamey-Zinder-Agadez-Niamey. The Air mountains near Agadez are a war zone right now, where the military is trying to defeat MNJ rebels. Is looking a bit like Darfur, I hear. The city itself seems safe. If you take photo's you might end up in prison for a night. Better ask permission at the governor's office first.

Many ferrys from Algiers, to Marseille and Alicante among others.

Just asked around a bit in Zinder. Police says traffic is possible upto Tarlit in military convoy. From Tarlit to the border is apparantly forbidden.

We are trying to get this confirmed, everything people say here seems to be "I think that... " but nobody wants to give official advice.

gvdaa, were you in your own vehicle? Did you take the convoys (they seem to be obligatory)?

I traveled by bus. I suppose once in Arlit you will finally get permission tot travel to Assamaka. But it could take some days of waiting.

The offence of the army: AFP: Niger: l'armée décidée Ã* mater la rébellion, mène des offensives d'envergure

Talked to the local 'smugglers', they say everything is just fine as long as you stick to the main routes.

Sorry to hear...
Did you email the address I posted above and mention that I pointed you there? That WILL get a response.
Unfortunately the contact form on their website is useless as they don't know what email address it goes to, nor can they figure out how to check their voice mail consistently. Algerian phone service is not reliable...



Another note, Algerian roads when paved are great. BUT when unpaved, are rough. The route between Tam and Insalah isn't paved for the most part...they're working on it...

I emailed them on both the official adress and the address you supplied. And I tried to call them on both numbers stated on their website about 5 times during two days. Can't say we didn't try! ;-) We did not mention your name in our mails though...

Anyway, too late now. We will be going with Tanezrouft. There are hubb people behind it as well.

We talked to just about everybody (from very official to very dodgy) and there is no consistent information to be had. We will go to Agadez tomorrow and try to make it to the border.

Akar Akar doesn't normally deal with the overland crowd as they cater to a wealthier clientele that fly into Tam, ride around in cruisers for 1-3 weeks, and then fly back to Paris, etc.

Because of the nature of their clients, their contacts with the gov't is pretty tight. Which can come in handy...ask Josh!

Anyways...best of luck with the crossing...and take plenty of pictures...

We are a few days in Agadez by now. Very quiet here, no sign of any trouble whatsoever. Just a lot of shiny new army landcruiser driving around town. All people in tourism are very unhappy, a lot of hotels (some foreign-owned as well) and restaurants have closed for good.

Anyway, we got our Algerian visa. Just like quadsforafrica said: very very very easy.
Consulate is at: N16° 59.131 E7°59.905 (not far from governerate). Open monday to friday and saturday morning. Apply in the morning and pick up in the afternoon.
You need the letter of invitation/booking from the Algerian agency, two pictures and 24.000CFA
We only applied for a 7-day transit visa as we did not want to push our luck. But they said we could have applied for a 30day tourist visa as well (same price).

As for convoys: The convoy from Zinder to Agadez is a bit of a "phantom" convoy as we did not see any army vehicles at all during the trip. The actual convoy does not really start in Zinder, but about 50km north of Tanout. Convoy days are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Buses leave Zinder between 5 and 6 in the morning to get to the convoy before 8.

Convoy between Agadez and Arlit is on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Leaves at 6 in the morning.

Convoy is compulsary for buses and tourist traffic. Private cars seem to be excempt and I guess you could easily travel on other days outside the convoy. Considering the situation in northern Niger I wouldn't recommend it though.

There is no convoy between Arlit and In Guezzam. We will try to join some local "bussines" people and form and ad-hoc convoy. We talked to some people in Arlit and there are about 5 Landcruisers a day that do the drive to the border.

thx fred for all this info. particularly interested as we'll be doing the same route the other way late september...
do I assume then that the convoys run the other way every other day?, ie arlit agadez monday thursday saturday ?

cant wait to hear from you guys in the next few days!

best

jerome&benedicte
the south african frogs!

convoys in the other direction run the next day indeed.

Again , thanks a lot fred for your infos about Niger .

RR.

We are in In Saleh now, the base of Tanezrouft Voyages whom I can recommend as guides for transitting.

The convoy between Agadez and Arlit was very serious bussines. Lots of heavily armed army. Mobile missile (ground-ground) platforms, snipers, etc... They don't joke around there. Took a very long time as the convoy goes as fast as the slowest vehicle. Left at 8 in the morning, arrived in Arlit at 4PM.

Registering in Arlit requires permission of the "prefect". Took another 3 hours or so, but no problem. We could continue to In Guezzam.

We followed local transporters (smugglers really) to the border, which is a pain to arrange as they leave irregularly, drive fast and take small pistes instead of the main route (which is easy to follow). Watch out as most smugglers (obviously) avoid the border post of Assamaka where you need to get stamped out.

We had no problems whatsoever. There is quite a lot of traffic between Arlit and the border. And as people put it there "you need a bit of luck". I guess it has always been like that, the odds might be not as good as usual though.

Once in Algeria: no problem. Our guide actually took us in the dunes for the night just a few kilometers from the border. So it can't be all that dangerous.

Thanks for your useful info 2C, good to hear a first hand and very recent report.
What was the extent of the tarmac between In Guezzam and Tam - most of it or about half?

thanks

Ch

Road between In Guezzam and Tam: Smack in the middle is a part missing of a bit less then 100km. Most of it is fast-going gravel, only the northernmost part (about 20km) is very dusty sand. Work is still going on there. They seem to work from Tam down to In Guezzam.

All of the old asphalt is removed and replaced by shiny new smooth tar. Very easy going.
Depending on your foot you can do the 400km stretch in 4 to 6 hours.

The rest of the trans-sahara hway is in good condition. Tar all the way.

As for security in Niger: I would rule out Air mountains for sure. Tenere (bilma region) is not too sure. Local people say there is a lot of local traffic there without any problems. Police even recommended us to go via Bilma to Libya instead of going to Arlit. It is supposed to be safer. Although I can't really say that comes from a reliable source.

Zinder and Agadez are just fine. You'll have the city for yourself.

The southern road from Kiffa to Niamey is as safe as it has always been.

Check again before you leave!

thx for the updates fred!

how bad is the 20k sand? bike friendly?
where are u heading now?

cheers
j

There are about a million pistes next to each other on the sandy stretch, it's just a matter of finding the good one :-) It's the kind of very fine dust that kicks up huge clouds. You'll eat some dust but you'll be just fine on a bike.


We are going home now. Two years on the road now, no more money, car is falling apart... Time to go home (and fix up the car and leave again!)

Looks like quite a trip, even if it wasnt in a 2CV..

Ch

fred: thx for all the info.. we're shipping the bikes to paris end of august.. bru is not that far... maybe we'll shoot up for a few gueuze lambics!

hape a safe rest of the way and keep us posted!

jerome

More then welcome! Drop us a line if you are close

Travel in northern Niger
 

The info. on this thread is great, it is good to have such up to date information about Northern Niger. I am intending to drive South through Algeria and into Niger at the end of this month. I read on a US department of state website that a travel plan needs to be approved prior to driving (see below). I was wondering if this had been your experience or whether you just tagged onto a convoy. I don't want to find myself being turned back at the border. Thank you for any advice you may have.

Niger

Foreigners who elect to travel in northern Niger despite the current security situation must submit an approved travel plan through the office of the Governor of Agadez. Travelers should first contact the Syndicat de Tourisme in Agadez (telephone: 96 98 78 81) to enlist the services of a registered tour operator, who will formally coordinate with Nigerien government and security officials on tourist safety and security in the
North and who can facilitate the submission of the required itinerary and intended route.

... Travelers should first contact the Syndicat de Tourisme in Agadez (telephone: 96 98 78 81) to enlist the services of a registered tour operator...

I suspect this advice is old news loosely adapted to refer to the current situation. It originally (and maybe still) relates specifically to travel in the Aïr and Tenere where a travel plan and recognised guides have been mandatory for 20 years or more. Of course to try and visit the Aïr and Tenere now is nigh on impossible or very risky and in Agadez I imagine the Syndicat de Tourisme is boarded up. Why not give them a ring.

The trans-Sahara route down from Assamaka to Arlit (piste) and Agadez (highway) was never subject to this itinerary/guide rule and all that has changed now is the mandatory convoy along the highway between Arlit and Agadez (3 times a week as 2CV explains below).

Sounds like you can do the 210-km piste section to Arlit on your own, although with what's been going on around Arlit lately, I'd try and team up with other reputable travellers for that stage - if there are any on the road at this time of year.

Let us know how you get on.

Ch

thx chris. dont want to hijack this pertinent thread, but would you know where i can get info/confirmation on the Geerewol festival in Ingal late sept? we'd like to time our crossing to be there...
also, just wondering, what if, just what if you show up in Agadez without having taken the military escort from Arlit?

cheers
jerome

Hi Jerome, I wouldn't know about the Geerewol. Like someone suggested elsewhere here, it's not been much of a year for celebration down there so it may not happen. Track down Irma Turtle in Arizona - she used to take groups there and may have a contact.

...what if you show up in Agadez without having taken the military escort from Arlit?

I take you're planning to follow the old trans-Sahara piste from Assamaka down to In Gall (never done it but on bikes I suspect it will get tough) and then the road into Agadez.
If there is no convoy laid on then there is none to take, that would be my line at a bemused Agadez checkpoint. Anyway, if you've come from the Geerewol you'll have a good excuse.
But this region west of Agadez has long been rebel country AFAIK and I suspect, the first govt patrol you meet south of Assamaka may send you on to Arlit or Agadez.

Ch

Chris,

Thanks for that. That was pretty much my understanding but then a friend send me the link to the US website which muddied the water slightly. I have chatted to the tourist office in Agadez and I don't think there will be a problem although they suggested I discuss it with the embassy when I sort out the visas which sounds reasonable.

Tony