What do you do when you are waiting for several days in a boring city for visas to get processed?
Well, I organized all the “bureaucratic” information that I gather along the road in a visual format.

Here you will find:

• Detailed summaries of border crossings and visa applications, etc.
• Overview map of African visas
• Overview map of African temporary import permits
• Country summary of visa costs, TIP costs, gasoline cost, border requirements, etc.

Just follow this link: Beyond Borders

The information is in progress as I am currently travelling around Africa on motorcycle and it will be updated as the journey proceeds.
If you find obvious errors, don’t hesitate pointing them out.

__________________
/Anders Bråhn
www.voodoochile.se

Would be very nice to have such info.
Good luck, and ride safe.

I very much like the new possibilities offered by new infographic means to display key information, congratulations and thank you! If you had a PAYPAL button for voluntary contributions to support this work I'd definitely chip in something, small but I'd support it for sure. Keep it coming please!!

Anders that is great work! Should be very valuable for others to map out requirements.

Looks like you're bound for South Africa... from there, are you heading up the east side?

__________________
http://ridefar.typepad.com

I'm in Senegal currently but when I head out towards South Africa I hope you're a bit further ahead of me so I can use your great website. Thank you!

I would only add that I have entered Mali twice and never had to purchase a TIP. I have asked both times but it was never mentioned. Nor was I ever asked for motorcycle insurance EXCEPT when entering Ghana (well, Senegal asked for it but let me through without it). Maybe things are different on a 125cc?

Anyway, great work!

wow, thank you

Jordan, what is your route south from senegal regarding hone current border closure of Nigeria?

Thank you all for the encouraging words. I will be updating the information as I go. I’m currently in Accra with a leaking cylinder top gasket. Any suggestions getting it fixed are welcome. I have contacted Toni’s KTM shop in Togo but it is still weekend.

Ride Far,
My plan is to head for South Africa and then up the eastern side. But first I must find a way to cross the border to Cameroon and get visas for DRC and Angola… and fix the cylinder gasket.

Jordan325ic,
Thanks for the input. I have added a note about smaller bikes.

__________________
/Anders Bråhn
www.voodoochile.se

Good luck Anders. I will be in South Africa in late September to ride north to Egypt so who knows, maybe I will see you there.

For the gasket, a bike or auto shop in Accra may have sheets of generic gasket material that can be cut to fit your bike. You’d need to have the cylinder head off and custom-cut the gasket sheet. This guy walks through making a gasket for a KTM. Lots of how-to’s for gasket making on the web.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PY3owDijPU

An easier fix is the use of high-temp RTV silicon gasket sealant like the stuff linked below. This should work if you have one or two areas of leakage. If the gasket failure is pervasive, probably best to replace the whole thing.

Even though Accra is a well developed city, I imagine it may be tough to find high-temp gasket sealant. But if you can find it, it’s an effective fix. I rode through Accra and visited a bike shop but no hardware or auto stores so who knows if the stuff is available.

Scrape out areas of the degraded gasket material. For best results, clean the area with electrical contact cleaner – so clean you could eat off it. Yeah, I know, another item that may be tough to find in Accra! Failing that, soap and water couldn’t hurt – idea to make the area as free of oil as possible. I think brake cleaner could also be used but not sure.

I blew a gasket on a KLR and fixed it with high-temp RTV gasket sealant and contact cleaner and it was still fine when I sold the bike 10,000 km later. Some guys use the sealant to make a full gasket.

Gasket sealant
Amazon.com: Permatex 81160 High-Temp Red RTV Silicone Gasket, 3 oz.: Automotive

Electrical contact cleaner
CRC Industries 05103 Qd Electronic Cleaner16oz. Autoplicity.com | Discount Performance and OEM Auto Parts, 100% In Stock

__________________
http://ridefar.typepad.com

Thanks for the info, it's much appreciated. I'll be in Cape Town in 2 weeks heading north. Maybe we'll meet.
Safe travels

wow this is amazing. and so useful. I cant even express how much help this has been.

Hi all motoafricans,

I’m sorry to say that I have been forced to fly home to Sweden for knee surgery after a minor accident in Congo. I’m fine and I plan to continue my journey as soon as possible but it will be several months of healing and rehab before I will be able to return to Africa. Further information on my web site will therefore be on hold for a while.

The information is updated as far as Congo and I have also added a few new pieces of information, among them an overview of weather conditions on the African continent that can be useful for pre-trip planning and a collection of documents including an editable hotel reservation (in MS Office Publisher format) that have already proved useful at visa applications.

Until later,

__________________
/Anders Bråhn
www.voodoochile.se

I checked your website two weeks ago to help me with my own paperwork adventure. Happy to see it's updated.

Sorry about your accident. I'll be in Brazzaville/Kinshasa in September (inshallah!). If we cross paths there I would happily buy you a for your hard work.

Did you not require a stamped letter of invitation for the Democratic Republic of Congo? For both US and UK citizens the DRC requires a stamped invitation letter from the immigration office in the country. This is my big hurdle now. I have a friendly embassy here in Dakar but they won't budge on this and I can't find any way to get one.

Hi

I applied for my DRC visa through a visa agency in Stockholm which is always easier (but more expensive) than doing it yourself. They have a streamlined application process and the right channels to work with. The visa requirements for both DRC and Angola were quite reasonable. Initially they asked for a flight booking confirmation but as I travel overland they settled with a personal letter including an itinerary. There was never any talk about LOI´s. This of cause depends on where you apply and perhaps also your nationality.

I have not really seen any visa agents in Africa but when I was traveling in Asia a few years ago I got a LOI from a web based travel agent specializing in central Asia for a visa to Turkmenistan (I think it was). Not sure if you can find anything similar in Africa.

I will not be back in Africa in September, that is for sure. Otherwise I’d love to share a few cold ones. To have any time frame to work with I’m looking at the beginning of November but it all depend on my recovery process.

Good luck with the red tape.

__________________
/Anders Bråhn
www.voodoochile.se

which agency did you use in sweden?