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Planning to cross Africa to Middle East, which route should I take? Planning to cross Africa to Middle East, which route should I take?
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Photo by Alessio Corradini,
on the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia,
of two locals



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  #1  
Old 14 Sep 2022
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Planning to cross Africa to Middle East, which route should I take?
Hi Everyone,

Would really appreciate your help with this trip. I am planning a trip from Morocco to Morocco. Crossing Africa, Asia, and Europe. I would like to pass through Africa in the fastest way possible. any recommendations please? my initial thought is to go through the following countries, but im concerned with safety. please let me know:

Morocco>Mauritania>Mali>Burkina Faso>Benin>Nigeria>Chad>Sudan>Saudi Arabia...




Thank you for your help
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  #2  
Old 14 Sep 2022
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Hi and welcome to the forum,
I have never heard of anyone crossing Africa by that route, to the best of my knowledge Chad is a no go area due to conflict as is Northern Nigeria, most people travelling in Afrca are going north to south or vice versa using either the east or west route and there are no fastest routes in Africa, all of them require patience and time.
Last edited by mark manley; 14 Sep 2022 at 08:40. Reason: Corrected my geography mistake
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  #3  
Old 14 Sep 2022
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There are occasional reports of people crossing through Chad/C.A.R. and Sudan/South Sudan. I don't remember one recently, but I'm not paying close attention. And yes, there are some serious safety concerns.

There is also a seldom-tried land route through DRC, but at last report it sounded....arduous at best. Plus unsafe, of course. And it's sometimes been possible to transit North Africa, with a couple of ferry rides to circumvent the closed Algeria/Morocco border. Oh, but: more safety issues.

Currently, most people hoping to transit Africa from west to east head all the way south to Angola or Namibia, then across through Botswana, Zambia, etc. There is nothing speedy about this route, and I don't think Ethiopia is passable at the moment anyway.

With efficient web searches at our fingertips, I'd suggest that if the OP can't find trip reports about an area, that probably indicates a no-go zone. Of course, someone's got to be the first to establish a given route, but it's not usually the person asking general questions about millions of square kilometers of little-known terrain.
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  #4  
Old 14 Sep 2022
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A year or so ago I was looking at a route going from Egypt to Morocco avoiding particularly unsafe countries. It turned out that the route took me

Egypt,
Sudan,
Ethiopia,
Kenya,
Tanzania,
Malawi,
Zambia,
Zimbabwe,
Namibia,
Uganda,
Angola,
DRC,
Congo,
Gabon,
Equatorial Guinea,
Cameroon,
Nigeria,
Benin,
Togo,
Ghana,
Cote d'Ivoire,
Liberia,
Sierra Leone,
Guinea,
Guinea-Bissau,
The Gambia,
Senegal,
Mauritania,
Morocco

Now some of those I could have skipped around but I wanted to go to but on the whole the route is relatively safe - though currently Ethiopia is looking a little challenging. The route is going to be flexible as troubles flare up and block routes - a year ago there would be no trouble going from Ukraine to Russia but now it is a no-go route for virtually everyone.
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  #5  
Old 14 Sep 2022
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Three or four years ago a member of this group drove from Chad to Sudan. I think it's quite possible, just that few people have the wish/nerve to do it. It's high on my bucket list.

A member also recently toured Chad and CAR independently and posted some magnificent pictures - should be easily found with a search.

Maybe four years ago, a motorcyclist I know to the old Bangui - Zongo - Ituri overland route through CAR and northern DRC. That was not a trip for the faint hearted. Also not passable with a car according to him.

So it is definitely possible, but as Mark mentioned, none of these routes would be anything like 'fast'. These are all arduous overland journeys.

If you want the fastest route to Saudi and the Middle East, that would be a ferry to Europe then a few day's drive to Turkey from where there should be a ferry to Saudi (and certainly is one to Lebanon).

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  #6  
Old 15 Sep 2022
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Thank you everyone for your replies, this is really helpful. will keep searching and determine which route is the safest for me.
quick clarification: I know crossing Africa won't be fast, but Im looking for the fastest one even if it's very long to do.

I am watching a couple guys on YouTube one on a motorcycle and the other on bicycle they both recently (2021 - 2022) crossed most of the countries people consider unsafe (Ethiopia included.

Thanks again.
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