Hope you have time to update your ride here from time to time. I know you kids love your Facebook and Instagram ... but some of the old geezers here don't use either. But we do check in here on HUBB. You don't need a web site, just post up ride report here with pics, videos, whatever.

I would be interested to know about your KTM's and how those 690's are holding up. What year(s) are they? Mods? How are you carrying extra fuel and luggage? Plan for parts if required?

Lots of travelers are interested in the 690 and wonder how the newest ones do on a long, tough trip. My DR650 is at 60K miles, so considering an upgrade to Orange.

Good luck, safe riding!

We will try and update as often as we can. Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks though Instagram will have you wasting even more of your day online. Hahaha!

To answer questions about the bikes, they are KTM 690s, 2014, both of them. 2014 was the first year of ride by wire throttle I think. My bike I bought with about 10,000kms on it. Richards had ~3k miles.

The mods that we made to the bike are listed on the website.
https://www.nomadikandco.com/the-bikes/

Gear that we are taking is also.
https://www.nomadikandco.com/equipment/

So far we are about 6000kms into it and the bikes have been cruising through Europe, Morocco and Mauritania through the desert. The Sahara wasn't too hot at all, one day of solid heat but the bikes didnt seem to run too hot. A lot of hwy so far so steady 100km/h stuff. We have noticed that we are burning a bit of oil. Richard's we actually put close to a litre in the other day. Mine ~400mL. Not ideal, but we are monitoring it much more closely now. We can't see a leak in either bike. But they have plenty of power and are running smoothly so not an issue there. We have 4L of MotorEx 10-60 in the Rally Raid bash guard tanks between us so good for a while.

Otherwise we hit Senegal and had some great dirt roads from Rosso across to Diama. Hit a few good bumps. Stock suspension is really nice, at least in our experience. Main thing we are stoked with so far is the Enduristan luggage. Without a rack it seems on there pretty solid. Hopefully it stays that way.

The pace should slow down here now so we will see how everything runs going into hotter heat and more stop start riding.

Overall, its been a great bike. Love that snort of power when needed to pass a smoking truck or just get up to speed on the highway.

-Anthony

A quick update on visas and borders.

We entered Morocco off the Ferry from Algecerias-Tangier Med. No issues there other than regular apathy.
Visa- no problem
TIP-
Insurance-
Sim card for 10euro with 3Gb 4G, >100 mins intl calls and 700mins local

We made it to Rabat and wasted a day trying to get a Mauritanian visa which they claimed would take a week in Rabat. They told us to go to the border.
Seeing as our day was cut short we thought we would try Ghana and Nigeria. Neither were any help. Others might already know this, but none residents of a country the embassy is in generally can't get for that country. At least not that far from Nigeria or Ghana in this case. Our original plan was to get these visas closer, but thought we would chance our arm. If nothing else it was a good introduction to African bureaucracy.

Morocco Check out
No issues, just follow your nose.
A few kms of no-man's land.
Mauritanian Border
Sheik, a hustler/fixer introduced himself as the guy famous on HUBB> We got a laugh out of that.
Sign in with the police. No cost or attempt to exhort
Apply for Visa- 55euro. Legitimate and nice guys. Digital photo and visa in passport.
TIP- 10euro
Insurance- 10days was 4286 Ouguiya = 10euro
Sim Card for ~10euro with patchy 3G, but reception all through the Sahara for safety in case of an accident. We heard Maroc Telecom hasa best signal in the south and desert, but found no problems with our Orange sim.

Lots of checkpoints from Western Sahara all the way through to Senegal. Harmless though so have a Fiche ready. print off ~30 and that should be plenty.

We were planning to get the Mali visa in Dakar, Senegal, but read that Nouakchott was the same day. We passed by in the afternoon and got to the Mali embassy at 3.50pm, 10mins before they closed. 30mins later we had a Mali visa. Definitely recommend this for how easy it was.
- 14 day visa = 6500 Oug (16 euro), 30 day = 8000 Oug(20 euro)

Mauritania Checkout at Diama
Sign in with police in a book.
Customs- Signed the bikes out and claimed a 10Euro tax. We went along with it, asking for a receipt until he gave our documents and passports back, then refused to pay. He gave up after 10 mins.
Passport- The police is in with the bridge tax crew. He stamped us out of Mauritania easily enough but the bridge toll hustlers we gave into in the end. 1euro each. Next time we would just ride away. A police offered was backing htem up and saying we needed to pay.

Senegal Border
100m later, at the other side of the bridge was a whole other story. There is another bridge toll. Total bulls%^&. 4000CFA (7euro) We refused, showed our receipt from the other side, they locked the gate. A car came up behind us and we moved to go with it when the gate opened and they called in some muscle to stand in front of the bikes. We stood our ground, moving in front of another car coming the other way to prevent it passing. It basically escalated to the point that one guy started dragging Richard's bike backwards away from the gate by the rear rack. Lots of shouting and aggression but not particularly fearful for our person. We decided that we wanted to see the police and if they said we need to pay, we would pay, just a ploy to save some face, but the police never showed. Eventually we paid and got our dodgy receipt, from a receipt book, but price hand written. They were so mad that they refused to shake hands after it we paid. They were definitely mad.
Not a nice introduction to Senegal, but after that it has been great.
Visa- Free and no problem.
TIP- Easy, really nice young guy. 2500CFA each
Insurance- 17,000CFA from the lady in the cafe behind customs. we got 2 months and covers all CFA countries which is nice. Seems legit and others experience has been the same. She asked for 17500 at first but then reverted to 17000 of her own accord. Later we heard a rumour from a local it should be closer to 5000... but that seems pretty cheap, so don't know if he was serious or not.
Sim card- Get in St Louis- Got ripped off for 6000CFA for a 3G card that doesnt give me 3G. Got another for Richard's phone in St Louis- 1gb of 4G for 3000CFA and worked right away.

We are now good for visas all the way to the Nigeria border. We are planning to try and get Nigeria in Bamako. Meet a motorcyclist going north who had friends that got theirs in Bamako earlier this year. Fingers crossed.

Ghana- We are still not sure if we will make it to Ghana as we dont want to void our VTE visa for BF, Togo and Benin. VTE allows us to go to Ivory Coast so considering that. A Moroccan at the Ghana embassy in Rabat said it is no problem to get the Ghana visa at the border as you enter, but we haven't got a solid idea if that is the case. Which is to say we will update with our experiences as they unfold.

Otherwise, Senegal is a breath of fresh air after the Sahara. Lots of vibrant, smiling faces, colors and culture. We are currently at the Zebrabar which is sadly devoid of any other travellers to swap tales with, but a beautiful spot to recharge.

Plan is to head to Kidira-Kayes border crossing into Mali. If anyone has any good route recommendations from St Louis to Bamako let us know. Looking for some mix of interesting landscapes and offroad without grinding to a halt. Hoping to get across Senegal in 3 days or so.

Thanks guys.

-Anthony

We are now good for visas all the way to the Nigeria border. We are planning to try and get Nigeria in Bamako. Meet a motorcyclist going north who had friends that got theirs in Bamako earlier this year. Fingers crossed.
You have me confused between this & your next statement, where did you get a VTE?

In Barcelona? Bamako was definitely fine in late December for Nigeria, see Phil at the Camel & say hello from me!

Ghana- We are still not sure if we will make it to Ghana as we dont want to void our VTE visa for BF, Togo and Benin. VTE allows us to go to Ivory Coast so considering that. A Moroccan at the Ghana embassy in Rabat said it is no problem to get the Ghana visa at the border as you enter, but we haven't got a solid idea if that is the case. Which is to say we will update with our experiences as they unfold.

By going to Ghana your VTE won't be annulled, you can re-join the VTE countries by crossing Ghana, I've done this numerous times with both a single and multiple entry VTE & I'm Irish too. However, the Moroccan is very far wrong about the border. You MIGHT be lucky and pay US$150 at the CI-Ghana border for a maximum of 10 days entry into Ghana. The Ghanaian Embassy in Abidjan rarely issues visas these days and only for CI residents normally. So don't count your luck there! Try Bamako possibly???


Plan is to head to Kidira-Kayes border crossing into Mali. If anyone has any good route recommendations from St Louis to Bamako let us know. Looking for some mix of interesting landscapes and offroad without grinding to a halt. Hoping to get across Senegal in 3 days or so.

St Louis to Bamako, the best route (a Russian biker was about 12h ahead of me and did the same route, I was in a van) is via Dakar - Tambacounda - Kedougou (30km of roadworks + 90km of sheer nightmare elephant holes) then to Saraya crossing at Moussala. The road then takes you to Kenieba, Kita and then Kati on the edge of Bamako. The first part of this road near the border doesn't even show up on google maps but it's fantastic tarmac with speedbumps on the edge of villages

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

We are now good for visas all the way to the Nigeria border. We are planning to try and get Nigeria in Bamako. Meet a motorcyclist going north who had friends that got theirs in Bamako earlier this year. Fingers crossed.

You have me confused between this & your next statement, where did you get a VTE? In Barcelona? Bamako was definitely fine in late December for Nigeria, see Phil at the Camel & say hello from me!

Ghana- We are still not sure if we will make it to Ghana as we dont want to void our VTE visa for BF, Togo and Benin. VTE allows us to go to Ivory Coast so considering that. A Moroccan at the Ghana embassy in Rabat said it is no problem to get the Ghana visa at the border as you enter, but we haven't got a solid idea if that is the case. Which is to say we will update with our experiences as they unfold.

By going to Ghana your VTE won't be annulled, you can re-join the VTE countries by crossing Ghana, I've done this numerous times with both a single and multiple entry VTE & I'm Irish too. However, the Moroccan is very far wrong about the border. You MIGHT be lucky and pay US$150 at the CI-Ghana border for a maximum of 10 days entry into Ghana. The Ghanaian Embassy in Abidjan rarely issues visas these days and only for CI residents normally. So don't count your luck there! Try Bamako possibly???


Plan is to head to Kidira-Kayes border crossing into Mali. If anyone has any good route recommendations from St Louis to Bamako let us know. Looking for some mix of interesting landscapes and offroad without grinding to a halt. Hoping to get across Senegal in 3 days or so.

St Louis to Bamako, the best route (a Russian biker was about 12h ahead of me and did the same route, I was in a van) is via Dakar - Tambacounda - Kedougou (30km of roadworks + 90km of sheer nightmare elephant holes) then to Saraya crossing at Moussala. The road then takes you to Kenieba, Kita and then Kati on the edge of Bamako. The first part of this road near the border doesn't even show up on google maps but it's fantastic tarmac with speedbumps on the edge of villages

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

The insurance 'carte brun' good for ECOWAS countries

-they have two tariffs one for locals one for tourists, thus the confusion-
they are around 5000 vs 20000 CFA
sometimes, with the right agent, you will be offered the local tariff and save some money.

I'd like to know if you guys have any problems entering the DRC with a visa issued outside your own country. Cheers.

We will know tomorrow hopefully and let you know.


Follow our trip at https://nomadikandco.com and on Instagram at @nomadikandco

We got our VTE in Barcelona before we left. Was an easy enough process. It has "plusiers" written on it which should indicate we can come and go.

We are currently thinking of not bothering with Ghana between uncertainty about visa on arrival or the rigmarole of getting it in Burkina Faso. Our timeline for the whole trip is pretty short and the big goal is the DRC. If we had more time to stop and hang out we would definitely do Ghana. We aren't too worried anymore about voiding the VTE just the time and money for a visa to Ghana when we pass through so quickly.

-Anthony


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You might consider Angola as the road from Kinshasa to Lubumbashi is not safe right now, I was going to do it but had to go through Angola instead.
Best of luck.

Hi Didier. Where did you get an Angolan visa?

Shame to miss you on the road Didier. Would have been great to meet another overlander. We haven't met any other travellers. Safe travels.


Follow our trip at https://nomadikandco.com and on Instagram at @nomadikandco

Hi guys,

Good luck on the trip - you're quite a find for me.

I'm starting to plan a trip for me and m'lady in 2019 from London to Nordkapp (north Norway) to Cape Agulhas (south South Africa) and was looking to travel down the west of Africa. The current UK govt travel advice (especially re Mauritania, Mali & BF) is a bit discouraging, but good on you for taking it on.

Creer, who you've been corresponding with, has been a great source of positive feedback about the area, though.

Will keep looking to see how you get on. Hope it's great!

Simon