Hi,
Just got a very sad email in reply to our attempt to obtain visas for Libya. Can anyone please confirm the below?
Looks pretty genuine to me if someone living off this business says that it doesn't make sense to travel anymore.
Camiel

QUOTE
To the kind attention of Mr. Ron. I would like to thank you very much for all the E.mails you have sent and also all the phone calls regarding the trip to Libya .
Only yesterday a district rules have been issued from the touristic police office regarding the guidenes of the tourists.
So from three persons and more ( a touristic police)must be with group the whole trip and we must pay for his accommodation ,food , transport etc ,, So just imagine that three of you will have a guide + driver +T.P. And how much will be the coats of that
So I am terribly sorry to inform you that I cannot assist or hold this trip for a such small group like you and when I calculate it I found that without my
services fees an amount of at least (190) Eu. Per day are to be paid .
So really I am willing to help but it is too much even to mentioned .
So in case of changing these rules I will let you know immidiatly
Please stay in contact
Best regards
Asad Eljamal
Blue Sahara Com.
UNQUOTE

Do give Arkno a call (Jamal Fteis), azar tours no go, however, if all else fails there may be a solution for you - I have three other people who seem genuinely interested in going to the Akakus with me next Spring - I'll keep you informed, and there may also be an opportunity to meet up with some germans who are going too.
Just a cheerful thought - don't worry, things WILL work out in the end.

hello. I'm trying to get a visa for Lybia also. Thought it might be of use to share what I've found out. If you can manage to get a contact in Lybia (ask around - it's amazing who knows who) - send them your pass port details, then they need to go to immigration in lybia, fill in some forms, write a letter of invitation - they will then get a reference number. They need to fax all this to the Lybian embassy in London who will then call immigration to check. This is what the tour guides charge for , although with Arkno you get your carnet and someone to meet you and help you translate the forms at the border included in then fee. I'm waiting for a reply from jamal, as although i have a contact in Lybia, it seems worth the price for the help at the border. Anyone with any other info, please feel free to mail me!

Once you have a invatation letter call this guy.He was very helpfull and we got our visas in 1 WEEK.He dose all visas for Africa and agency work and translations.
Mohamed Al-Souss 07956214521 just say you got this number from Henk and off the horizons website.

Ok, but what if you are american? Has any american had recent experience trying to get a Libyan visa if you desire to travel independently, and hire transportation when you are there?

Dear Camiel,

You know we have been going through the same (e)motions before we departed on our trip from Amsterdam To Cape Town, which did take us through Libia as well.

During our preparation we did get the same kind of messages. What triggers me is the fact they write about "since yesterday new rules apply....."

To me that is all BULLSHIT! BULLSHIT!

We got the same replies as well but in the end the four of us (two motorcycles and one vehicle) did travel freely through Libia and enjoyed it very much (but that you know already).

We did make arrangements via a company called "Suati Sahara" or something, they do have a website and are based in Germany. Have you tried them also? If they tell you the same then I will take my words back and admitt that I am wrong but untill that time.....

At the time we were preparing we found out that companies that send you these replies are usually not accredited by the Libian government (we managed to get two invitations from two different companies at that time, and both were turned down by the Libian Ambassy in Holland, only the third one was ok).

I will email you personnaly and send you our mobile phone number, if you can then SMS yours we will go to our files and look up the address of this company for you.

Keep your spirit up! I am (still) convinced you will travel through Libia!


Jan Nouwens
(at the moment enjoying Cape Town very much and getting ready to go back to where you are now!).

------------------

That is the homepage of Shati in Zuara:

http://www.angelfire.com/ab/BAHRERRIMAL/

Hi Camiel!
there is another page:
http://www.brightfocus.com.ly/visa_formalities.htm

http://www.wtg-online.com/data/lby/lby040.asp

The right internet address for Shati-Zuara in Germany is:

www.shati-zuara.de
shati-zuara@yahoo.com

I have contacted them this morning for further clarification in this matter and will keep you all updated once a reply has been received.

Jan Nouwens.

Jan, and all others,

Many thanks for all your spirited advice!

Perhaps I should try again after all. When back in August I tried (I believe) Shati Zuara both their website and their phone number had gone dead. I realise that times change.

I've got three weeks to go before departure so I guess I should try and find out once again. Have to admit though that it's also a matter of finances: we don't need to go to Lybia at all cost. If we don't make it this year then we can always try again next year.

Thanks again,
Camiel

Be warned: Whatever you do, do it in plenty of time... If you are planning to go in December and have not started the invitation process, it could already be too late.

I asked for an invitation a month ago from two sources, 1 a well respected Libyan tour co. mentioned earlier in this thread and 2 a business contact. I agreed to having guides etc. etc. I was told last week by the tour co. that the invitations would be here in a few hours... nothing, I checked the LPB and keep trying to contact the tour co but get nothing.

Two departure dates that I had set have come and gone, plus there's a further 15 working days for the visa itself (or 5 if you pay the extra GBP20 in London).

So now I am throwing away my year of research and preparation on Libya (I have been 6 times already on business) and have applied for RIM visas.

Good luck,

Ian

Here is the latest information we received from Libya.

I am sorry to say that the situation is indeed quit bad. Let's hope the improvement goes quickly.

Jan.

Quote:

Dear Sir

Thanks for your E-mail, unfortunately yes it is correct that without a guide-regulations is not possible to visit Libya at this time, but i think it'll be changing in one months or tow, becuase in the last month there was some tourists, they smuggled some antiques from Libya, of course it was abig problemm for us too, anyway if you would like that i send an offer for our servics please send some information about the group( how many persons, and the plan) so i can try to find the best prices, as i did for other groups.

my best regards

Majed Ben Kalefa

Unquote.

Hi,
Im just back from Algeria and talked to two teams (1 swiss car/2 pax and 3 german cars/5 pax) which just returned from Libya.
Both had a very pleasant trip.

The swiss got their invitation from Saro in germany, the germans from an libyan agency.
Actual practice seems to be: a guide is required for more than 1 car or 2 pax (not sure which applies).
The germans payed 80$ a day for the guide after rejecting an offer of 200$/day!!
The price seems negocatiable.

Have nice trips, Yves

__________________
Yves

Hi Camiel

In March we traveled ti libya with Shati Zuara Tours www.shati-zuara.de. actually it was a nice trip. very good orgnaziation, good price. Try to contact Mr. BenKalefa in Germany or in Libya to getting all the informations which you need.info@shati-zuara.de

Bedro