Hi Hubbers,

first of all I want to excuse myself, I am not riding a motorbick but a 22 year old Mercedes Benz 300D. So far I made it from Berlin to cameroon, and yes you can pass teh Ekok-Mamfe road with a normal car.
Pictures on my blog: Fab&Vivien – A crazy bet around the world | Fab&Vivien raise money for aid-projects and claim that for each donation of 10€ or more they find 1 person to sing with them in a big mass performance

I have the following question:
My flight back to Germany is leaving from Cape Town in South Africa and somehoe I have to get there. I am now about to get my visas here in Yaounde, question is: Do i need to go over Gabon, or can I go directly into Congo via Cameroon and then save the Visa money for Gabon?
Is the road doable with a normal car? What is the itinerary more or lesS?

If you read this and you know the answer please respon asap since tomorrow morning I have to get my visas.

Thanks a 1000 times in advance.
Fabian

Fab&Vivien – A crazy bet around the world | Fab&Vivien raise money for aid-projects and claim that for each donation of 10€ or more they find 1 person to sing with them in a big mass performance

Extremely unlikely that the road direct to Congo is passable by normal car. Gabon is your best bet.

Have you sorted your Angola visa?

hi, thanks for the info. i still dont have angola visa, where do you think is the best place to pick it up?

Also, do you know if visas for the two congos are cheaper in gabon than here in Yaounde?

Cheers
Fabian

There's loads on info on the Angola visa saga here on the site. Using google makes it easier. (type in site:horizonsunlimited.com and then your search words).

Basically, there doesn't seem to be a good place to get it on the road currently. The general policy is that the visa should be acquired in your home country, which doesn't make much sense for overlanders on a long trip. Some folks are couriering their passports back home, some are trying at different cities enroute, etc.

Sounds like you are having a great adventure. Make sure to post some of your experiences as it is really useful to have current info and your experience would be of great benefit to the next traveller.

I will be driving the same route next year, and im mostly worryed about the Angola visa, i was reading reports that the last place to give out visas has just stoped 1 week ago, ive driven in congo ( brazzi) 15 years ago..and i belive the roads did ot get any better scince then and back then we were using a chainsaw to cut throw the trees and bamboo falling along the road,i got to say in a 2 wheel drive car , it would be prity difficult...i hope you got a few good lads with you and a hand held winch...if you did i think you could make it to kinchasa...if you had plenty of time....and dry season....dont expect anyone eles on the road...just jungal and 1 or 2 cars on the road a day...
They are ment to be building a mega road bridge from point noir to anglol that goes over DRC but thats still a year until completion ( if it happens...but ive heard good things about the chinese builders)

you can put the car on a ship in point noire to Nambia or southafrica
Good luck to you...personaly im going to be going via DRC if i cant get the Angola visa...but then again we will be a group of 15 in a Bedford MK 4x4

MountainMan thanks for the info, I gonna do a little further research about the Angola visa now. About the route: I will go through Gabon, decided.

I just came back from the DRC Congo embassy in Yaounde, they send me back stating that I can´t get a visa if i am no-resident. Some people manage to get it here but for a very high price. I heard it´s possible and cheaper an Libreville, so I guess I gonna try it there.

Regarding sharing infos about my trip: I collected all visa/route/police-handling infos in two posts on my blog:

Traveling through West Africa by car – From Spain over Morocco, Mauretania and Sengeal to Gambia | Fab&Vivien – A crazy bet around the world

AND

Traveling through West Africa by car (Part 2) – From Senegal over Mali, Ghana, Togo and Benin to Nigeria | Fab&Vivien – A crazy bet around the world

Greets from Yaounde
Fab

Hi,

Wow you managed the kamerun road?



Gaboun is a really nice country with good roads and friendly people so its worth geting the Visa. I have heared to go directly from Kamerun to Congo is not possible: http://www.wuestenschiff.de/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=43234

The road to Brazaville is very sand with lots of rocks hidden under the fech fech:



Beople adviced me to use the train track insted.
To get the Visa for Angola was a nightmare too:

Riding the rough west coast through Africa part 3

Anyway if you managed you can be proud, Tobi

For DRC Visa try Libreville, my travelling buddy at that time got a one month visa there for 40.000 while I payed 100.000 in Yaounde for a 2 month with loads of hassle and I had to swear I never to to Kinshasa with it, uppsss ....

The big problem with DRC is, that its possible they reject you at the Brazzaville - Kinshasa border cos you havent been resident in Gabon, happend so a couple of times to travellers. Because of that we entered DRC 3 weeks ago thorugh a tiny border post ( bamboo hut in the middle of nowhere with a guy that had to walk to the next village to get entry stamp ) near Mindoulli. The road going there is terrible, Ekok - Mamfe is a complete JOKE compared with that one, I doubt even a Landcruiser 4x4 can make it without a big risk of getting seriously stuck. The piste is going through Miyamba - Sundi Luttetete - Mangembo to Luozi where you take a barge. From there to Kimpese is again pretty bad and youre stuck if it rains. This road is hardcore and has close to no traffic even maybe just 3 trucks a week, I know it because my chassis broke and I had to wait a week in the catholic mission in Miyamba to find transport to put my vespa on the roof, in the end it was the priests jeep cos non of the 3 trucks that week went all the way. Forget this road in a car with 2 wheel drive and low ground clearance. I did Ekok - Mamfe and in direct comparison its a excellent road, its extremely hilly there and sometimes even the Toyota didnt get further and we had to get stones and shovels to work on the piste ...

I would consider going the Franceville road from Gabon to Republic Congo. The border at Ndende has really really bad sections and if it rained the last week you will definately get badly stuck and the only way to get out again could be hiring villagers or another car ( little traffic ) to pull you out. The tarmac stops at a big before Ndende and just starts again when you reach the junction at Dolisie, the piste is very rocky and pray it doesnt rain.

From Dolisie to Pointe Noire is perfect new tarmac road by the chinese, the best road I have so far seen in central africa. From Dolisie to Brazza is under construction and complete piste with some rocky nightmare sections around Nkaiyes. The locals do it with all kind of cars but oh boy, I never see a chassis suffering and making noises like that, from what I heared Franceville is the overall much better option.

Angola visa on the road is definately impossible in Cameroon, Gabon and the Republic Congo. My friend tried very hard and these guys are complete dickheads with NO interest of you getting into their country, me personally i went to Dolisie and Pointe Noire consulat for translating french for him but not a chance even with invitation letter. Can t comment on situation in DRC but I dont think its better, leaves only the option of sending the passport to Berlin by DHL, best done from Gabon or Cameroon. Dont get stuck in DRC doing that, as the guys already said you can ship the car from Pointe Noire if everthing goes wrong ...

greetings from Kinshasa from a fellow german traveller,

Chris

( Hamburg - Kinshasa on a 1975 vespa scooter )

Thanks for the infos again. I am in Peru now to continue my world trip. I couldn´t get a visa for Angola and thus sold my car in Libreville and took a flight to South America.

Whoever is interested in the Ekok-Mamfe road - I made a video of how I passed it with a 2WD, srarts at minute 06:00. Video here: Webisode #5 – On rough roads | Fab&Vivien – A crazy bet around the world