Equatorial Guinea? Any joy?
 

Been looking in the archives but nothing since 2001 - anybody have any joy riding / driving thorough EG?

Went to the border from Cameroon in 2007, we were turned back at the border without the guards even checking our paper work or speaking to us.

Pointed guns, and waved us away.

We were on bikes though and there may have been a recent coup or something, all the Camerounian gendarmes on the stretch of road (fantastic smooth road with curves) leading to the border told us to turn back that we will not be allowed in.

Give it a try and update. Things may have changed for the better. Helps if you speak Spanish as nobody even answered our hello, good morning, hi there....

Did anyone have any luck with this? We tried to get a visa in Angola to cross overland from Gabon into Equatorial Guinea in June 2013 but it was impossible. They only seem to want to let you in at an international airport (Malabo or Bata). I am heading there in November and keen to hear any success stories!

While I wouldn't exactly call it a success story, user bkester over at the Thorn Tree managed to get over the border overland (or over the river) at Cogo from Gabon last year. It all went wrong from there:

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntr...-guinea-a-scam

http://www.traveladventures.org/cont...-crossing.html

Likewise, Heinz (username 1viajero1) over at the Thorn Tree managed to get over the same Cocobeach / Cogo crossing from Gabon, and also didn't have a great experience (the URLs say it all!)

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntr...d-at-all-costs

Things could, possibly, be changing soon.

I and a few other tour and overland companies were invited to the Eq Guinea embassy in London last week for a meeting with the ambassador.

The line they are taking is that they are very keen to kick start the tourism industry in the country.

However, I believe this initiative is only for registered travel companies.

I did express that we, as an overland company, would need to cross the border with our vehicle. I mentioned the CDP (the ambassador is checking if this is recognised)....she did say a pass avant can be issued at the embassy.

The visa is going to be relaxed (for those on group trips).

I expressed the need for the new situation to be recognised by those manning the borders.

So, promising signs, things may be starting to change in the not too distant future.

Yeah, sounds like very few people are willing to cross into EG these days.
If I make it up to Gabon I will definitely enquire in Libreville.
Sao Tome is also on my agenda and maybe getting the EG visa there will be easier, who knows...
Levelo.

I have flown in from Sao Tome to Malabo, then to Bata and overland to Cogo/Cocobeach (Gabon) in November last year. With all the latest stories I expected a lot of hassle but surprisingly it was smooth and relatively trouble free trip.

Two years ago I took the coastal road in Cameroon from Douala to Kribi and afterwards to Campo from where i´ve crossed the Campo Ma´an nationalpark and joined the main road going from Yaounde to Gabon. A fantastic alternative for the boring and beaten main overland route, avoiding a lot of tarmac and crossing beautiful rainforest !

In Campo there is a a cameroonian immigration post, as you can take small boats over to Equatorial Guinee. The border is a roughly 500 meters wide rivermouth. I didn´t have a visa and had no intentions to cross as i knew about the trouble but for fun just went to the immigration and asked about if it was possible to cross. The officers told me no white guy crossed into Equatorial Guinee as long as they remember, a french guy with valid visa and motobike once tried but they sent him back as that border was only for locals. Was pretty funny, the cameroonian side was a wood shack and on the other side there was a pretty modern looking concrete building and the place looked very busy.

From Kribi on the tarmac becomes a good piste, the onward piste through the nationalparc is good too due to the logging industrie which uses it for their trucks. I didn´t have to pay to cross the nationalpark but had to obtain a permit at the conservation office which I had to show on the entrance gate.

http://s7.directupload.net/images/14...p/fd822egg.jpg


greetings from Germany,
Chris

One of the view people I remember to have actually visited Equatorial Guinea with a vehicle are fellow HUBB'ers Pete and Kay Forwood. Their report, though dating a few years back, gives at least some valuable ideas.

Pete and Kate Forwood Trip Around The World On A Harley-Davidson - The World's Most Traveled Motorcycle

I personally liked the island of Bioko with the capital Malabo and the little port of Luba at the time, but that was as a backpacker.

It seems that there is a lot of road construction happening with the revenues from the oil industry recently, especially on the mainland:

ECOCSA - Autovia

Greetings,
Achim

I think alot of the new roads on the mainland will be to help connect the new capital city OYALA to everywhere else, a massive project:

BBC News - Equatorial Guinea: Obiang's future capital, Oyala

I spent a lot of time driving around the country in November 2014. Went up to Ebebiyin to check out the border, and also over to Mongomo. If anyone has crossed either of these recently (in from Gabon or Cameroon) please let me know, I have some questions!

Here's my trip report and photos:

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntr...-november-2014

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=f860d5fa35

While planning my route through Africa I decided to not even try to enter EG - I used to rent a cottage on the Inchmery estate in Hampshire. My landlord was Simon Mann.

Simon was the man who allegedly :) put together the attempted coup, commonly known as the wonga coup.

I don't know how much research they do when you apply for a visa but decided not to take the risk.