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sub-Saharan Africa Topics specific to sub-Saharan Africa. (Includes all countries South of 17 degrees latitude)
Photo by Lois Pryce, schoolkids in Algeria

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Photo of Lois Pryce, UK
and schoolkids in Algeria



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Old 10 Jul 2020
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Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Colombia,(when not travelling)
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Our preferred route - notes where we have personal experience:

Morocco - fine no problems
Gabon - no concerns
The Congo - no problems, access roads can be tough.
Angola - Some tensions in Cabinda, however I wouldn't worry too much. Roads improving (south of Luanda for example now has an excellent road, they deteriorate further south, personal contacts tell us that corruption is now a bigger issue in the south. I've never had a problem with corruption (anywhere in Africa).
Namibia - safe and worth lots of time to explore.
South Africa - haven't had any problems - main highways very good, others can be good. Lots of good national parks.
Malawi - good roads, slow going because of population density. How are you going to get there?

I suggest including Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. If you're going to Malawi you could also head into Tanzania, maybe, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya...

Can you advise on the following;

We plan roughly 2/3 years, can be longer if needed - what do you think? We do not want to just drove through places and want to do a little exploring. Our experience with similar travel is to plan on 170 Km/day on average - some days as much as 500 Km, others no movement at all, just enjoying places.

Is it possible to get Insurance to cover all Countries along the way? Possible but very expensive. We've bought legal minimum at borders.

Is it dangerous in some Countries? As others note, road traffic accidents - can be, however never drive at night, drive defensively, and take local advice. Stay away from the inland areas in West Africa. Some cities have some street crime to use SA and common sense.

What will our main obstacles be? Make sure your vehicle is one for which spares are available. Note that there are some myths here - for example those who tell you that you can find spares for Toyotas everywhere are only partially right - unless it's a new vehicle the dealers will be able to get spares from Japan and it'll take two months. You can find some, but not all, spares from local shops, but take care to get OEM. You can ship in via agencies (amayama.com for example), but it may still take 1-3 weeks and you need an address somewhere. If you have a vehicle which has not been sold in the countries you visit, spares can be a major issue. Police checks are not a problem if you obey the rules and have the proper papers, however some people are intimidated by checks.

Is it possible to get Visas along the way. Depends on your passports and where you go. For us, for example, we had to get some visas before leaving home, or at certain specifec consulates (we had to fly to the USA from South America to get the Botswana visa, were supposed to fly to Brazil for the Namibia visa, although they bent the rules and allowed us to get the visa in the UK. We could have obtained all our visas by mail/courier, but by the time we would have received the last one the first one would have expired!). Some visas are e-visas and work fine, others are VOA and no problem. You'll have to check every country.

What vehicle do you recommend? We are happy to camp putside where possible and stay in hostels/hotels where not. We now use a Mitsubishi Montero, converted to sleep inside, and it's great. On our last Africa trip we used a Series 80 Land Cruiser, also converted to sleep inside. Nissan Patrols are also excellent. Any of these would be good option. If you can afford a Gelandewagen (and don't need any spares) it's another good vehicle.

Have fun!
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