mee too
 

Hallo everyone,

I am planning a similar journey in roughly the same time and am currently looking for travel companions.
Following this thread, this seems to be a good place to find someone.
I am 32, living in Berlin, being german, riding a 950 adventure, planing to leave within Oktober this year for cape town.
In contrary to most of the posts I want to take the eastern route down. Why? Much less countries means less stress at borders and during preperation. The security announcements of the german foreign ministry suggest not to enter countries like mauretania or nigeria, so eastern route seems safer. And I dont speak french. This is not a major problem, but eases things a bit. Experinecewise both routes will be great I suppose.
But I still can be convinced change to my mind and frankly I belive traveling in a group the western way might be better than alone the eastern way.

Anyway if any of you is interested in sharing this experience, my ear is wide open for anyone.

have a nice day,
migo

email written
 

@ride far:
wrote you an email, please drop me line in case you didnt receive it.

Most countries officialdom err on the side of caution, the British FCO like many others DOES NOT recommend half of Africa, but hey, as long as you go there with you eyes open, stay out of the dodgy areas and don't piss people off then why not?
As for the French......... "ou est le petrol station/pub/toilet, pal?" and louder!! Only joking! A few phrases will help you out, the willingness to learn and a little phrasebook helps enormously. I'm worried about the Portugese in Angola, now that should be tricky. but fun to learn nontheless

Ride far I've Pm'd you buddy, look forward to hearing from you.

security
 

I suppose you are right about the official security announcements. But when as roughly deciding about the route as in terms of east or west and considering that both routes are an equally great experience, why not take these information into account?
Anyhow, I already got in contact with ride far and have expressed my wish to join in. As I here from him you are as well considering to do so. So maybe we will meet each other in october too.

Meeting in Africa
 

Hey guys. I gave up an idea to ride via Algeria. Noone want to join me. I plan to be in Morocco at the end of October. If the everything will be alright I will obtain a EU visa from Oct, 15 till Nov, 15. What do you think, how many weeks will it take you to reach SA?
I need in SAR visa. I want to obtain it in Moscow. But I don`t know how long I will be riding...?
Hope to meet you somewhere in Gabon or Congo.

Alex

We leave UK 7th October
 

Hi all

My girlfriend and I leave the UK on the 7th of October. We will be in Morocco around mid-October, spending a couple of weeks there and then heading down into Mauri and beyond.

Look out for our massive blue truck called Songololo! It's got a bunch of African flags around the top and Songololo over the top of the windscreen. Come say hi and let's have a beer! The beauty of driving a truck is the availability of cold beers! :thumbup1:

Our route is here (subject to change at the slightest whim, naturally!) We are seriously considering going south from Senegal through Guinea into Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ivory Coast. I've heard it's safe to do so, and the beauty of the countries is unsurpassed. What actually happens remains to be seen.

We anticipate getting to South Africa some time around mid April 2009.

Hope to see you en-route.

Cheers
Steve
www.overafrica.org

caravan
 

It looks like we will be traveling in a caravan if we continue to gather more travellers starting to cross africa in october.
Cold beer and a truck sounds very good as well. Hope to see you on the road Steve.
Have a good journey til then..

migo

It looks like there will be a real danger of a pile-up. :oops2:

My own plans now seem to be developing along the lines of a late September departure on the ferry from UK to Spain and then across to Spain to Algeciras and ferry to Ceuta or Tangier. Gentle bimble through Morocco picking up a Mauritanian visa in Rabat (Thanks Bart). On to Mauritania (hope it's safe after coup!) and Nouakchott (pick up visa for Mali).

Probably back up to Atar (though might do this on the way back) and then back to Nouakchott and Djema crossing to Senegal and St. Louis. Hopefully Dakar to Bamako and Mopti (anybody know what the road is like?) and then back west to Guinea (hope it's safe by then) to explore (any knowledge on roads there?). After that I head back north through Senegal and the Gambia and home.

Will keep in touch through this thread. It'd be good to meet up and/or have company.

Enjoy yourselves:thumbup1::thumbup1::thumbup1:

Some of the things to look forward to:clap:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9096451...7600750420190/

Algeria in october
 

:thumbdown:Might be a little late by i just came across this thread today.

We are 2 danish guys on xt660z's leaving from Copenhagen to Spain and then Algeria Niger Nigeria.....

We plan to arrive in Algeria around the 14th of October and then croos it to Niger as fast as possible as the mandatory guide is 150 euros a day :thumbdown:

if anyone wants to join us around that date we could share the const of the guide and maybe even spend a little extra time..

If that fails at least it looks like there is going to be a lot of us heading down the west coast in October-November.

I speak fluent portuguese so if we do happen to meet some of you just before Angola i'll be happy to help.

Gunnar Krohn

Algeria
 

Hi, unfortunately I can not be in Algeria so early. My EU visa will be opened from Oct, 15. That means I can reach Algeria by the late October. Do you have an Algerian visa? How did you get it? What`s about guide? Did you find a travel agency in Algeria? Who told you this price for the guide? Is this price for each person or for the whole group? So, If I will be starting Oct, 10, it will take me a couple of weeks to reach Algeria...

You can write me by e-mail: rubtsov_alexATmail.ru

Alex

Jealous
 

Hi All,

I am so jealous, My Husband and myself traveled through West Africa last year but we were thwarted in Brazzaville due to issues with access to DRC in Feb 2008 and had to return home.
I will be following your progress this year I hope if you make it to Angola you can call in, we are now living in Luanda, although we can't really help with the visa issues we would be happy to help with a hot shower, obviously a cold beer and any route info!

Good luck to you all

Linz
:thumbup1:

Luanda
 

Hi Linz. You may arrange your contact information in Community. We will be able to see your location, e-mail address etc for contact with you.

Alex

Hi Linz,

I followed your ride at Going Somewhere -- great stuff. And Dan gave me some valuable feedback on the DRZ 400s you guys rode when I was deciding between the DRZ and DR650. (I went with the 650).

So thanks for the offer, hope to see you in Luanda. If you have any ideas on anyone or any outfit that can supply the “Letter of Invitation” supposedly needed for an Angola visa, please post. I’ve written like a dozen places and still don’t have one.

Looking forward to seeing everyone else on the road ~~ :thumbup1:

Mark

Hi People,

Looks like I will be taking the ferry to Spain on 5th October and in Morocco by 8th. Apart from getting Mauri/Mali visas in Rabat I'll be flexible about route south after that.

Given the number of people heading generally in the same direction at the same time does anyone want to suggest a particular place/date to meet up and swap information etc? For me, apart from the 2/3 days in Rabat, anywhere between 8th and 15th would be fine.

meet up
 

Hi petcul,

I roughly decided to leave Berlin/Germany around 1./2. of october traveling to southern spain and eventually morocco. So I should be around somewhere near once you hit spain. Lets check back here to figure out where we are then and see whether we can have a chat and a beer or share a couple of miles on our way :) .

I wish you a good ride till then!

migo