Route from Noukchott to Bamako - Any tips?
 

Hi all,

We are currently in Rabat working on our route from Nouakchot to Bamako which we'll be undertaking in the next few weeks.

Most likely we'll go through Diama-Dakar and then N1, but since it's election time in Senegal which makes developments unpredictable, we would appreciate all tips or alternative routes.

Best regards, safe travels,

Maarten & Vincent

I'd avoid Mali as it looks like things have just kicked off. Reported coup ahead of next months elections.

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ko-after-63338

What is your final destination?

Thanks for your reply. Our final destination is Capetown, if possible along the westcoast. By the looks of it though it seems quite difficult to accomplish this without passing through Mali. So for now we'll go for Mauritania and Senegal (if possible) and see what our options are when we're in Dakar. Once again, suggestions are more than welcome!

Ps: Funny thing is, we picked up our Mali visa's in Rabat today. Borders may be closed, at least we got the paperwork in order!

Missing Mali
 

Sorry about your bad luck,

A possibility is to go via Senegal (Diama not Rosso), Guinee (Koundara, Labe, Mamou, Kissidougou, Lola), Cote d'Ivoire (not so bad now I believe) (Man, Gagnoa, Gand Bassam (avoid staying in Abidjan)) and the border at Elubo to Ghana, from where you are OK to carry on!

Good Luck,

Peter

Chances are that it will calm down within a couple weeks, so if you can allow it, spend more time exploring Morocco (where I am: it's cold but it's a great country).

The route through Senegal, Guinea and Cote d'Ivoire is the one I've just taken (backwards): it's very nice (especially Guinea) and completely safe - just wait until Wade concedes the defeat. The only problem is the visa for Cote d'Ivoire..

Cheers,
Laurent

Thanks for the input Peter & Laurent. The suggested route seems like a good idea, we're going to look into it. We might spent some more time in Morocco, but waiting for a post-coup country to calm down comes a little to close to 'A watched pot never boils' :)

What problems did you encounter with the Cote d'Ivoire visa? Expensive? Lot of required documents?

Thanks again,

Maarten

We are in the same situation - we are looking to get from The Gambia to Ghana. Does anyone have GPX tracks of the route through Guinea and Cote d'Ivore? It sounds like a possible option - we have a little time, so we will watch the situation in Mali. Is the border and area around Man ok?

lbendel - did you have any issues in Cote d'Ivore? Any issues with Carnet or Lasses Passes?

Kayden on News | Global Wheeling - Part 2 seemed to have a few issues on this route on his bicycle.

Down2CapeTown - it sounds like you aren't too far behind us - when do you think you will reach Guinea?

Hi,

I would aviod Senegal and travel from Mauretania directly into Mali. This way you save a lot of hassle at the so called worst boarder of africa. At least that was what i did:

Riding the rough west coast through Africa part 3

Greetings from Venezuela, Tobi

We'll be leaving Rabat tomorrow morning, hopefully in Guinea in around 12-14 days. Let's try to stay in touch, maybe we can meet up somewhere? We'll let you know when we have a little more exact planning.

Best regards,

Maarten

Are you on a car/truck or bike?

I passed through Mali-Mauritania-Morocco last week

I took Bamako-Noro-Kiffa-Nouakchott

Petrol was not available from the border with Mali to Kiffa then not available till about a 100km to Nouakchott.

If the borders are open, passing through Mali should be ok.

No problem with the carnet at the entrance from Burkina. At the exit to Guinea, at a tiny border post, they didn't even have a customs office... so I never got it stamped out. But I couldn't care less: when they stamped me in, I had to explain them they needed to keep one part for their files...

Cote d'Ivoire was completely hassle free for me. Lots of checkpoints, but as long as you show them a few pieces of paperwork - any paperwork really, they don't know what a foreign driver's license or a green card insurance looks like - you'll be fine.

Hi,

You should not do things like that if you travel on a real carned. If they dont know how to handel a carned dont get it stamped at all or make them stamp entranc and exit at the same time and never leave the paper behind if possible. If you dont have the exit stamps of all the countrys you might onely get your deposit back after 6 years if your bike gets stolen or you are going to import it somewhere else etc...

Travel save, Tobi

Guinea visa in Rabat = piece of cake
 

We were getting slightly disencouraged yesterday after finding out how difficult Cote d'Ivoire has made it to travel through their country. We will see if we can manage in Dakar.

Some good news: getting the visum for Guinea at the Rabat embassy was the smoothest experience ever. We went this morning at 10, picked them up this afternoon at 14.30. So if you're heading in the direction of Guinea and passing Rabat, we can highly recommend getting your visa here. Now back to the matter of getting into CI..

:offtopic:
OT, but just to relax other travelers: it's really no drama if you don't get matching entry and exit stamps on your carnet. What really matters is to get it stamped (on the last page) when you get your bike back into your country. Then the issuing organization must immediately give you back your deposit.

I'm talking about a legit carnet, of course, otherwise the point is moot :sneaky2:

In most countries, your entry and exit will only be written in a big book and never matched with each other. Some will do it electronically and try to reconcile them, though. Once I had a request from my CdP organization for a copy of my carnet - I hadn't retuned it, as I was still on the way - because India was claiming I hadn't exited the country with the bike. In this case though it was bogus and I had a proper exit stamp.

Cheers,
Laurent

Did the original poster take this route? I'm looking at the same route in reverse in the spring of 2013.
Any help on traveling through Mali and eastern Mauritania would be helpful.