Getting offroad/off tarmac in Africa
 

I havent left yet, but am planning a route around africa. I've heard that a lot of the main roads are paved now. Is there an easy way to plan a route that minimizes pavement, or at least, to know what surface a road is in advance?

Thanks
NY-Lon (aka Philip)

It is not hard to find an adventure ;-)

I just left the African continent today after more than one year of driving around, and I honestly have to say that I am happy to drive on tar roads again. In other words: you'll find more than enough pistes/tracks/potholed tar roads in Africa. Nevertheless, a lot of roads are being paved indeed in a fast tempo, but I assume that the next few yours at least you can absolutely get all the offroad experiences you could think of in Africa.

Anaconda - roughly what route did you take? I'm looking at the FCO travel advisories, and can't figure out a viable route up and down.

Just don't look too closely at those advisories and you'll be fine.

Haha, I'm just getting underway myself. In Dahkla now and about to head down Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea and most of the rest of the countries on my way south.

Which advisories seem to be hampering your plan?

Those travel advices always made me nerveus, and afterwards I always have to conclude that they are formulated to general and not quite to inform independent travellers fully and correctly.

I encountered no problems at all with regard to safety/security during my travels. And I'm not a navy-seal-kinda-guy.

It's quite difficult to provide you with my exact route, but I crossed these countries from March 2012 - March 2013: (Turkey-->) Egypt-Sudan-Ethiopia-Kenya-Uganda-Rwanda-Burundi-Tanzania-Mozambique-Malawi-Zambia-Zimbabwe-Zambia-Botswana-South-Africa(+Swaziland&Lesotho)-Namibia-Angola-DRC-Congo-Gabon-Cameroon-Nigeria-Benin-Togo-Ghana-Burkina Faso-Ivory Coast-Guinea-Senegal-Gambia-Senegal-Mauritania-Western Sahara-Morocco (-->Spain)

It's Mauritania and Sudan that "block" me going around at the moment. According to the FCO website, they are both no go zones.

From your list: Burundi is also essentially a no go area, based on the FCO site.

Everyone has to decide for him-/herself, but as far as I am concerned, these countries aren't entirely no go zones, to say the least.

In Mauritania you can just drive along the coast via the coastal highway, like many many other tourists did last month when I was there (and do every day). If you go there, you will - among others - see 100+ seniors per day touring with their camper van.

In Burundi I did not notice a situation which should cause any concern and also there I met quite some tourists/expats (I think the travel advice is based on sporadic rebel activity - it's highly unlikely that you will meet these rebels in the areas where you would be); nevertheless Burundi is not necessary to visit, you can easily drive just from Rwanda to Tanzania.

And then Sudan... Many people ask me about the safety of Sudan. Why? Because of Darfur or because of the troubled past with South Sudan? You won't notice anything from the war in Darfur and most likely the same applies to the trouble with South Sudan. Look on the map again; the country is huge. When we were there, we only met very friendly people, drove on beautiful tarmac highways through stunning landscapes (including many pyramids) and enjoyed the capital Khartoum, a not too busy place without hassle. At that time, I read on internet about the tensions between Sudan and South Sudan and the negative effects thereof on the daily life in Khartoum. Huh? That was so much not what I experienced. Probably written by a journalist from Reuters in Nairobi, based on ...? If you really wanted to, you can cross Sudan in just a few days, but I bet you don't once you are there. It took us about 8 days.

I also checked the travel advice for "my" country, the Netherlands. I couldn't believe my eyes; it turned out that I also live in danger out here :wink3:. So far for the credibility of these travel advices.

You should be worried about traffic in Africa in stead of the undefined dangers mentioned in the travel advices; that is without doubt the largest safety problem for tourists (and locals - during peace time).

Hi,

Dont worry you will find many unpaved roads and even if they are paved you will have so many potwholes that you have to be very carefull while riding:

http://afrikamotorrad.eu

enjoy it, Tobi

I share others opinions (of having enough rough roads without planning) but if you really want it, go from Kinshasa to Lubumbashi. Other stretches that you can not avoid is Gabon/Congo and DRC/Angola. Put on top the rainy season and you will be happy.
On the east side you can have difficult roads only going form Nairobi to Ethiopia. But if you like, you can also go first to South Sudan and cross to Ethiopia form there - guaranteed extreme off-road.
This is all about main roads, you can as well take minor roads elsewhere - just study some maps and pick your route. :thumbup1:

This RR might be of interest to you: Tour d'Afrique - and then some - ADVrider
Great report, lots of information and brillant pics!

I crossed Mauritania this past week over the course of two days. Went through Noudibhou and Nouakchott during the day and wild camped off the main road both nights. Felt perfectly safe the entire time.

thanks all.

i look forward to re-reading this thread once ive done the trip, i'm sure ill give myself a laugh as i worried that the roads wouldnt be "hard enough"...

After few days of driving in South Sudan friend of mine who resides here told me "now you know why I do not like off-roading back in Europe" :)

If you want enough "off tarmac" to last a lifetime, just go from Bissau to Conakry. :funmeterno: