Simon, great photo. Particularly like the look on the face of kid with the red tee-shirt.

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Sorry if this is a stupid question but can any Garmin GPS download the West Africa maps or is there certain types of GPS that are limited to certain regions?


That's amazing, I'll check out the blog in more detail.

Did you always carry cash for situations like this? I am wondering what sort of money should Ihave on hand? Don't want to carry too much if possible but wouldn't want to get stuck for cash if there were no ATMs for miles.

Yes you should always have some cash but note that there are working ATMs in all the African cities and most towns, or else someone willing to change USD to the local currency, so it’s easy to top up during your travels.

I usually carried reserves in various places on bike/person.


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These T4A maps can be loaded on a range of Garmin GPSs, using the Gsrmin software. Probably worth researching Garmin map loading and looking at the Garmin motorbike GPS models. I uses a Zumo 550 model and later a BMW Navigator 5(made by Gsrmin and similar to the Garmin 660 model).

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Thanks for the responses thus far lads.

I was hoping to go late December but its not looking like land borders will be open by then. It gives me more time to prepare though

Hi all, some very familiar names in this thread

Need to look up Jimmy (can't remember his handle on here) but he and 2 friends bought bikes here in Cote d'Ivoire (Stephen, no to Cacomiaf!!!). At the time one of my team bought them on his behalf and he eventually rode them back to the UK

They were brand new 3 Chinese bikes, you'd need to ask him how good/bad they were and issues of taking them into EU/UK. We had a hitch this end with registering them but it worked out with a bit of scare tactics!!

Occasionally I see neighbours here in Cote d'Ivoire put their foreign bikes up for sale, if you're interested I could let you know!

As for cash, get a trouser belt with a zip in the back, I've never used GPS here, TBH it doesn't help, some people who came to stay here were sent up a 'B' road where they went through hell but the GPS sent them that way despite my mentioning it would be easier & quicker to do 2 sides of the triangle of 40km which eventually took them over 8h!!!

Message me if you need assistance, been here for years, now living (& was working) here

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http://www.west-african-views.blogspot.com

Hi Chloe (Creer). Hope you are keeping well


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Hey, just to add my 2cents.

I bought a 125cc Chinesium powered motorcycle out of the box in Cote D'Ivoire (Boake to be exact, as they come down from Burkina Faso, so are cheaper the further north you go in the country.) I had never motorcycled before (August 2019). I rode it 3000km until Benin and then sold it and bought a F 650 GS (October 2019), which I shipped to Gabon and rode to South Africa (needed a bigger bike for Angola and Namibia). I am still on my GS, which has Nigerian paperwork (despite being bought in Benin, long story), in Botswana, having done 19,000km on it since then

There's loads of Chinese bikes in CDI, and Togo. For big bikes you will need to try Ghana, Nigeria or Benin (but Benin will probably involve some type of cross border importation from Nigeria).

It is incredibly easy to buy a bike. It is a mission to register it (especially a brand new box bike). You will have to speak very nicely to the vehicle licencing department in whatever country you choose to buy the bike, or make a plan with a bike dealer. You will need the carte grise (vehicle registration) in your name before you can cross any border. Although, having a local bike and local papers, makes all the Carnet nonsense redundant (thank goodness).

I have got the details of the licencing department in Boake if you need, or the incredible guy who got me the BMW in Benin. Just send me a message if you're interested in either.

Just to add to the useful post by fleur du desert, unlike their experience it was very easy to get a (new) bike registered in Congo-Brazzeville......a temporary registration document was arranged by the dealer, and the finalised one came some time later. Jim may be along to correct me, but I don’t recall him having any problems on our route south to Capetown as a result of the temporary registration document.


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Yes, the temporary registration document from Congo Brazzaville, valid for 6 months, allowed me to enter Angola, Namibia and Botswana and back into Namibia. I left the bike, a Suzuki 125, in Namibia for 6 months and I then got the full registration document DHL'ed to me in UK, before I returned to collect the bike. With the full papers I then toured SA and Lesotho and again left the bike in SA for 6 months. In January last year I returned to SA and went to Botswana, Zam, Malawi and Tanzania. Sometimes there was a query at a border between my Irish passport, UK address and bike papers from Congo but it was always resolved quickly. And of course no Carnet was needed.

By the way you can have a very successful trip in this region on a 125cc bike and even escape a charging elephant in Botswana. I did 20,000km touring these countries without issues.

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