I shipped my LC from Mersin to Alexandria at the beginning of this month.

It takes a lot of time and money in Mersin to find a decent agency, vessel and container (we needed an open-top; a RoRo would save some time and money, but is very, very risky). All together, Mersin costed us about EUR 1650 (including everything (also a small sum which ensured that our car would not be inspected)) and more than a week.

When we arrived in Alexandria, our vessel turned out to be delayed 2 days. On Marinetraffic (Live Ships Map - AIS - Vessel Traffic and Positions) I subsequently found out that our vessel did arrive in Alexandria, but was not allowed to access the port for 5 days (no priority).

When it was allowed into the port, we needed 4 days for the custom clearance (1: make sure in Turkey that the car is registered in your passport and subsequently deregistered at the customs, 2: make sure you have an original bill of lading, or, if this could not be provided to you in Turkey, a certified copy from the agency, 3: get another stamp from the automobile club for EP 500, which is absolutely rubbish, but very necessary according to the Egyptians, 4: make sure your custom broker (timely) arranges an id-card to get access to the port (mine took almost a day, while it originally was only valid for one day...), 5: enter the magical world of the Egyptian custom clearance, police and traffic).

Like in Turkey, the customs in Egypt were extremely slow, ineffecient, non-professional, etc. You need to have lots of patience, you should make sure you have no alcohol/explosives/etc. in your car and need to make sure that every single detail on all forms filled in before are correct.

Our costs in Egypt were about EUR 1000, including everything (among which a 6 kg (!!!) fire estinguisher, while we already have a smaller one in our car). Please note that our open-top container added quite an amount to this bill and that our agency charged us about EUR 500 for non-distinct things (copy bill of lading, the actual transport of the container from the vessel, etc.).

So we were ready for about EUR 3000 (including 2 tickets from Istanbul to Cairo...) and in more than 2 weeks. I never, ever, again want to be confronted with the Turkish and Egyptian custom clearance. No lawlessness, though.

Did I already mention that our container was opened without my presence in Alexandria, and that we had a few scratches on our LC, that our roofrack was damaged and that a tube of our extra fuel tank was slightly damaged?

Personally, and I don't want to be rude to some of the friendly Egyptians, I think the Egyptians give you a very unwelcome feeling and are very annoying and do not care about much (at least in Cairo and Alexandria; the Sinaï seems to differ). And by now, I get irritated by the words "insha'Allah" and "baksheesh". Still, we were expecting all this hassle, but if you don't, you will have a though time.

A very important final mark: never give anyone the keys of your car. We had more than one tough discussion because we were ordered to hand over our keys several times, but we never did (and yes, paid extra). If you do, they WILL enter your car and they WILL get stuff out of your car and they WILL find things which are considered to be illegal.

Still, I think this is the best option for an overlander, considering that our feeling at the Syrian border was far from good, a RoRo may ruin your car and no attractive alternatives overland are available (the only one possible now is via Turkey/Iraq/Iran/SA).

Thanks for posting Anaconda. Having tangled with Alex port before nothing you've said surprises me. Well done for coming out the other end. The rest of your trip will be a breeze!

For all others out there wanting to travel the east coast facing the same dilemmas I'd suggest considering shipping to southern africa and driving back. It cost us around 2000 euro to ship to Walvis Bay and was very easy. It is a lot easier to get back from NorthAfrica/Middle East than to get to there. We and the car went on the Grimaldi ferry from Israel to Italy for around 1,100 euro (5 days travel all inclusive - good cabin good food, even wine). I know south to north won't suit everyone's plans but it's worth a thought.

Very accurate info!
But is there no problem to enter Israel from Egypt with your car when coming from East Africa?
Or there is something I don't understand well...

RR.

No, problem at all. You can drive straight over at Taba or come in from Jordan (which is what we did). The problem is having the Israel stamps and then wanting to travel to Sudan, Syria etc.

Entering Israel with a car is no picnic (they make you take out everything and put it through the scanner, and I mean everything) but they do that no matter what the car or where it's come from.

Also I should have made it clear that the prices for the shipping were for a container for a car, as was the price on the ferry. Obviously if you can just sublet some space in a container it will be much cheaper.

Thanks Itchy...
How much time for inspecting your car and all the items? I know it depends what you have in your car but It's just to have an idea...
Another question: I believed that diesel engines was not authorized for tourists people in Israel (but it was a long time ago).
No problem now?
Also, to be clear about your route (I'm planning approximatly the same next year): You came back from East Africa (Ethiopia?) across Soudan then Egypt.
After did you take the ferry to Jordan before entering Israel?
Why didn't you enter directly Israel from Egypt (to visit Jordan, I presume)?
And 1100 was the price for 2 people and a car (4wd?)...
Sorry for all these questions and thanks in advance for your replies.
RR

No problem Roro.

Entering Israel took about 8 hours. We got there as the border opened but had to wait a couple of hours on the Jordan side because they weren't ready to search the car. Other tourists on foot were going through.

Then the scanning. This took probably 4 hours. Every box came out and everything was emptied. The fridge came out - all contents scanned. Pages of books leafed through - you get the picture. They were perfectly civil and professional though and doing exactly the same thing to the bags of all the foot passengers. It's just we had a car full. Then we had to hand the keys over and they inspected the car. They took off spare wheels, opened the tent - probably another hour or so. A dog searched it for explosives.

They wanted to do the same thing on exit. We had just got everything out when the shipping agent came along and said that we'd miss the ship. They waived the search and everything went back in again...

No problem with diesel cars (ours is diesel) except the price of fuel (European prices).

Our route was as you said - Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, Jordan, Israel.

Yes we wanted to visit Jordan (and very glad we did - Petra and Wadi Rum were highlights of the whole trip). We took the Nuweiba ferry. When crossing from Jordan to Israel you have to cross at Eilat in the south or at the Jordan River in the north. You can't cross at Allenby Bridge with a private car.

BTW I'm glad we went to Israel - Jerusalem was amazing and it has some fantastic scenery/camping/walking. We had wolves around our desert camp, howling.

Yes 1100 euro for two people and the car (Land Rover). Ship is huge (capacity 5,000+ cars). Carried cranes, boats, all sorts. Plenty of room for the car and we could access it at any time. It was strapped down. There were also various port costs ($200 for a forwarding agent (mandatory) and $100 for the shipping agent ($25pp and $50 per car). Ship was a good experience. 3 course meals, wine, Italian crew very nice. Good clean en suite cabin. Trip took 5 days.

Info and current prices here

http://www.grimaldi-freightercruises...medEnglish.pdf

As you can see a bike is quite a bit cheaper, but if you are one person you may have to share a cabin or pay extra for one to yourself. Not sure how that works. I have contact info for the people we dealt with if you want it. Very helpful, good english and we paid by card over the phone.

Any other questions let me know.

Thanks a lot for all these infos, I'm going to to study all tese points.

RR.

Anacondor,

Ha! The Egyptian exitinguisher racket is still there!!! It was said that the compulsory purchase of extinguisers in the port was introduced by the former minister of transport, who had a stake in the company making extinguishers. Until last December the same guy was the head of the national governement. 'Elf 'nd safety - Egyptian style!

Vleis (and Toby, if you are reading this), I have bad news for you guys - there's no market for second hand, brand new extinguishers in Alex :-)

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Roman (UK)

Hi everyone!
Thank you very much for all the information!
We are actually around Antalya and we are looking for a solution to go to East africa with our VW bus.
From what we understood, there are three solutions:
- Take a ferry boat from Mersin to Alexandria (expensive, complicated customs)
- Take a ferry to Cyprus and then Israel (trouble with Israel?)
- Drive to Iran and go to South Arabia (long road)
What do you think is the best solution (pro, cons, cost)? Any other alternative is welcome!!

Thank you very much in advance!

David, Daniel and Julien

Hi,

Re option 1: see my post above, this option is slightly irritating and expensive, but at least it is a real option.

Re option 2: entering Israel is no option if you would like to drive through Sudan, even if you do not get a stamp in your passport. By the way, crossing Turkish Cyprus/Greek Cyprus is very difficult too, if not illegal.

Re option 3: Iraq, Iran, SA may be possible, but visas are difficult to obtain, and you will have to drive a lot of km's extra and finally also have to take a ferry.

Depending on a lot of things, a RoRo vessel may be a good alternative (try the coastal places in Turkey, like Mersin). RoRo's depart once in a while and are less expensive.

Good luck!

In addition to all the replies, please note that headquarters of all shipping companies are in İstanbul and ships are embarked according to the programme fixed by headquarters.You may not be able to find a space,or may need some time and make several calls to get confirmation to the port to be accepted to the ship.
There is no regular service between Turkey and Egypt ports yet.Thats why
" İnsallah" commonly used in the area.
Anyhow things started changing very fast in mideast and sure we will inform you when regular services start or Syria option to Africa is safe again.

Best Wishes

Hi again,

About option 2 I don't understand very well why it's not possible to have Israeli Stamp on a separate paper to enter in Sudan.
How they can know you are coming from Israel?

RR.

Firstly it isn't a given that Israeli immigration will stamp a separate piece of paper but even if they do it will be very easy to see that you have come via Israel from your entry stamp into the next country. So if you cross into Jordan at Jordan River or Eilat it will be obvious you have come from Israel. Same if you enter Egypt at Taba.

The problem is exacerbated if you have a car. Firstly Israeli customs will record it in your passport (no separate piece of paper option here) and the hebrew text will stand out a mile. Secondly your carnet (which you will need to enter Jordan or Isreal) will clearly show your point of entry.

They know exactly what they are looking for so it would be something of a miracle if it were overlooked.

Too bad.... but thanks Itchy... I've forgotten they can look at the carnet and also that car will be registrated on my passport.
RR.