yeh the embassy was straight forward enough. I made the mistake of taking advise from a French overlander that I could get the Visa at the border in Gogui. rode 1000km and the Mali border said No and turned us back to Nouakchott to get the Visa at the embassy - so 3000km to get a bloody Visa but frankly it was my stupid mistake taking bad advise.
Its not the most attractive route in my view and has some challenges. next time Ill do the Senegal route. its a pretty barren route with decent enough road for the most part and uneventful towns. my main comments are;
- if its petrol you will need to carry as much as possible. my bike capacity is 23 ltrs and I carried an other 6. not enough. The French guy was in a car and carried a 20 gallon tank for me. he was diesel and was able to get a few fills
- you wont find accom and frankly I wouldn't have felt comfortable camping. the police stations are really the best options. they were very helpful and I think were happy that we were safe with them. they'll put a mat down for you outside, where they sleep too. its warm so you don't need tent or bag
- you will need about 25 fiche each for that route (you'll need 40/50 for Mauratania); lots of checkpoints and youll be stopped at everyone but fortunately no requests for bribes.
- you wont meet another overlander......
- do not drive at night. there is bandit activity. I think the threat of terrorism is grossly exaggerated.
you still in Ireland? call me if you need any more advise 0868554647

Hi Brian, thanks a mil. We might give you a call over the next few days..... What was the ride like from the border to Bamako, where did you stay? How long did it take? Road conditions? Etc.... Thanks in advance, David