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North Africa Topics specific to North Africa and the Sahara down to the 17th parallel (excludes Morocco)
Photo by Sean Howman, The Pamir highway in an unseasonably cold late October, Tajikistan

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Sean Howman,
The Pamir highway in an unseasonably
cold late October, Tajikistan



Trans Sahara Routes.

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  #1  
Old 8 Jun 2005
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Libya - Niger - Nigeria - Cameroon
Hi,
we just came back from our recent transsahara trip. We (3 people, Landrover 110) took the route Libya - Tumu - Madama -Dirkou - Agadez - Diffa - Maiduguri - Mora - Ngaoundere - Yaounde. As we were on a pretty tight time schedule we needed all in all from Europe 16 days to Yaounde, except for the extreme heat which is normal in May, we did not have any big difficulties.

Regards
Tobias

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  #2  
Old 14 Jun 2005
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Toby,

As of Australia??!!

Sam.
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  #3  
Old 16 Jun 2005
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Could you give more details on your trip, particularlyy, the toughness of the route and paperwork/guides in Libya and Niger?

I'm planning on doing this route next year and want to book a guide for Libya ASAP, any recommendations?

Thanks

Nathan
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  #4  
Old 16 Jun 2005
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hi Nathan
there is a very helpful story from Camiel on the net
http://www.amsterdam2capetown.com/Trip%20to%20Libya
Ursula
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  #5  
Old 16 Jun 2005
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Quote:
Originally posted by T:
Hi,
we just came back from our recent transsahara trip. We (3 people, Landrover 110) took the route Libya - Tumu - Madama -Dirkou - Agadez - Diffa - Maiduguri - Mora - Ngaoundere - Yaounde. As we were on a pretty tight time schedule we needed all in all from Europe 16 days to Yaounde, except for the extreme heat which is normal in May, we did not have any big difficulties.

Regards
Tobias

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  #6  
Old 19 Jun 2005
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Hi Nathan,

we got the invitation, guide and visa through a german tour operator (libyen-tours, is on the web). Finally we got a guide from Ghadames Agency which was ok, we needed 4 hours in Ras Ajdir and the guide accompanied us to Al Katrun (2 days), Mohamed Tahar from the italian fort helped us quickly and efficiently for the exit formalities in Al Katrun. I

n Niger we organized a guide from Bou Bakar (mayor of Dirkou) as we intended to go through the Erg the Bilma to Nguigmi, however we had to turn back from around Zoo Baba as our half shaft in the rear axle broke, so we decided to go via Agadez.

The pistes (Al-Katrun-Madama-Dirkou-Agadez)were in parts sandy, the main difficulty are the deep truck tracks which you should avoid.

Concerning paperwork we got from the niger embassy in germany together with our visa a paper called "authorisation de passage" which was rather often asked for and checked.

Regard
Tobias
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  #7  
Old 21 Jun 2005
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Tobias,

I read in your OP that you were 3 people in a single vehicle. Did you do the complete route in a lone vehicle? Or did you join other vehicles for certain sections?
Crossing the grand erg de Bilma in a lone vehicle sounds quite adventurous to me, to put it mildly.
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Cheers!
Michiel.
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  #8  
Old 22 Jun 2005
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Hi,
yes we travelled with one vehicle, as all pistes are used by local trucks rather frequently, this is ok.

Concerning the Erg de Bilma we hired a local guide (with us in the car) and we had a satellite phone with us (for the worst case).

Regards
Tobias
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  #9  
Old 9 Aug 2005
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Hi Tobias
1.Can the route you took be done in a 2 wheel drive.
2. How much of a problem was it entering Nigeria
3. And what is an estimated total cost for the guides or is one allowed to go without a guide.
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  #10  
Old 9 Aug 2005
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Sam, different Tobias, I'm still under Toby2 although would be nice to free up the time to go trans sahara again. Currently in Egypt but only for a week.
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  #11  
Old 11 Aug 2005
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Hi,

the route from Libya via Tummo to Dirkou and onwards to Agadez is a rough truck piste where you cannot stay in the tracks with a normal car, even we had to leave the piste with the LR Defender very often.

I mean I read from people who did this route with old Peugeot´s, so it is doable, but bear in mind that it will be very tough with probably numerous repairs and a certain risk to loose the car.

In Libya you need a guide from the border to Al Katrun, our experience was that if do not reserve this beforehand you simply won´t get into the country. So we arranged guide (for 3 days), Visa and invitation together via a german agency. The total costs for 3 people were around 750 Euros.

Hope that helps you.

Regards
Tobias
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  #12  
Old 11 Aug 2005
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Hi again,

sorry forgot your question concerning Nigeria, it was a matter of one hour to do the formalities. Make sure you have a valid visa and a carnet de passage for the vehicle, that´s it. We crossed from Diffa to Maiduguri.

Regards
Tobias
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  #13  
Old 7 Oct 2007
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kind request
Ursula has written:
hi Nathan
there is a very helpful story from Camiel on the net
http://www.amsterdam2capetown.com/Trip%20to%20Libya
Ursula

But this net address does not work. Can I have this story in some other way?
Thanks, Jan
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  #14  
Old 8 Oct 2007
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Cost of journey
For the whole trip, how much have you spent on;

1. Guides
2. Fuel

Thanks
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  #15  
Old 8 Oct 2007
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things change
Libyan southern borders have been 'closed' for a year or so now - you might want to check this before going too far with your planning.

Sam.
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