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North Africa Topics specific to North Africa and the Sahara down to the 17th parallel (excludes Morocco)
Photo by Lois Pryce, schoolkids in Algeria

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Photo of Lois Pryce, UK
and schoolkids in Algeria



Trans Sahara Routes.

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  #1  
Old 7 Dec 2009
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Chris

When you say that you would not do the Mori Border to Choum route alone is this because of security concerns regarding crime and terrorism or because of difficulty?
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Old 9 Dec 2009
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Hi,

I would not recommend doing R2 alone for both reasons, but especially the piste is hard for a solo rider. Also, I would bet that kidnappers crossed this region to get to Mali. But probably, this could mean that the area is secure for the next times...

Cheers,
José
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Old 9 Dec 2009
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... crime and terrorism or because of difficulty?

Primarily the difficulty IMO.

The kidnappers would have zipped across R2 somewhere around Ben Amira and cut a corner of the PFZ before heading east for north Mali (or so José and I have speculated). But I doubt there will be much added security along R2. Where would they start?

Regarding difficulty - even if you head for Choum and not direct to Atar (as R2 does) on a bike you have to carry a fair amount of fuel through the low dune sections. Sure you can ride the rubble between the rails to avoid the cordons, but there are 2 trains a day and getting up on the tracks can be tricky. It's all so much easier with someone to help or a 4x4 to carry the gear.

Ch
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Old 16 Dec 2009
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mauratania stuation
i came up from senegal week before hijack
couple i met in maroc a few weeks ago went thru no convoy no problem to senegal last week they confirmed to me yesterday from zebrabar near st louis only problem i encounted in road thru was boredom and only petrol every ...100 miles

watch out going from nuokchott to kiffa east mauri petrol can be thin on ground at times no problem after turn off road of hope for mali and beyond
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Old 16 Dec 2009
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Conspicuous tours and rallies are a different thing but I would not dump a long-planned adventure in West Africa just because part of it is on the FCO blacklist and so some travel insurance is not valid. It's often not valid just for plain motorcycling in Africa and as we know much of the time the road insurance we buy at borders is only a bit of paper. Western Sahara was blacklisted for years during the convoy days not so long ago. That's why it's all an adventure. We are talking about a theoretically tense one-day ride: WS border to NKT here (and then avoiding Timbuktu area - no great loss). Most people tend to shoot through Mori anyway.

Algeria has been blacklisted as long as I've been going there but people on my tours managed to get reasonably priced moto travel insurance and I myself have both had and dealt with moto accidents either without insurance or in a place they could do nothing to help - we all used our common sense and got home fine to ride another day. Shop around - try World Nomads or Europ Assistance). If it's about peace of mind for the family back home I would have thought the Spot bleeper that someone else has mentioned will do the trick.

Ch
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