Transafrica - 2013
 

Hi,guys
I am planning to go from northern Spain to Cape Town, taking west route.
It'll go something like Morocco,western Sahara,Mauritania,Senegal, Malí, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, DRCongo, Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and then route back Swaziland, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan (Port Sudan- Suakin, boat to Jeddah) Jordan, Israel,ferry to Italy (Salerno),France,Spain.
Starting in mid november 2013,I have four months to the project.
I hope to share with you all the information and experiences, all your advice and opinions will be important, the bike KTM 640 Adventure (2004).
,contact me if you think we can meet/do some part of the road together. .


Esteban

Regards

A bunch of guys are aleady heading down the west coast now. Check out the Africa Anyone thread in this forum. They will be a bit a head of you, but you might be interested. In fact some might be in Spain now actually going south.
Cheers,
CJ.

Ey up. I left home a month ago today to do nearly the exact same route as the one you have. Apart from after DR Congo I'm planning to go up to Kenya and then back down the East coast to Cape Town. I'm in Spain at the moment though, currently trying to sort out this biometric visa that we now need for Senegal. Hopefully it will be sorted soon and then I should reach Morocco in a few weeks. Where about's are you now? I've just been reading border crossings between Mauritania and Senegal and the sound pretty horrific. Would be good to do the Diama one with a buddy. I am travelling on a wee Honda c90 though so I'm quite slow. But if you want to take your time I'd be happy teaming up for a bit.

Liam.

Liam and c90 around the World

[SIZE="<FONT _gt_drjx1h8k8edi="1"><FONT c="656" _gt_drjx1h8k8edi="1" closure_uid_896564520="927">3</FONT></FONT>"][/SIZE]Hi Liam
I also need biometric visa for Senegal , next week I will travel to Madrid (I live in Asturias Northern Spain ) for visas harder to get in the way , in my case . Senegal , Nigeria , Angola and DR Congo .
The border crossing between Mauritania and Senegal is a bit hard, you have two options, the first Diama is a path of about 80 km of mud and sometimes partially flooded , especially now that the rainy season in the west, the second Rosso , sounds pretty bad , want to take your money in any situation ( bribery , fines , documents, even invent new fees ) and try to lose your patience , they will always respond with a " C'est l' Afrique patron" .
In my opinion Diama is more quiet, but in this border , I read the blog of a traveler on a motorcycle, he spent over there in August , 2013 , does not have sufficient infrastructure to read the new biometric visa , had to turn back to Rosso and once there took 6 hours to pass to Senegal .

There is another possibility . - Nouakchott to Kiffa and Kiffa to Kayes ( Mali ) and from there to Bamako .
Anyway, I hope to start my route in four weeks , would be nice to share some stage teaming .
I was traveling in Morocco and Western Sahara sometimes

Cheers
Esteban

I did Kiffa-Kayes in November 2012 during our Transafrica.

It has long parts with deep sand, i don't know how you bikers handle that. For driving with a car it was a lot of fun!

The track is sometimes hard to find, because there are many small ones who vanish - but with an GPS you cant go lost - also when the "track" is NOT correct covered - also not in T4A.

I try to maintain a list of all travelers on the west route from 2012 upwards who have a website or write a Blog - maybe you can pickup some informations there:

Trans-Africa: Gerade Unterwegs...

If you want - add you website using the comment function when you start :-)

Enjoy your time on the roads and tracks - we guys at home will follow your progress envious bier

Surfy

Africa west coast slow movers
 

Myself and another guy, Jonathan, will head for Gibraltar tomorrow to take the ferry across to Tangier. Most of the Africa Anyone?? thread folks are ahead of us, but I will be stopping for some time in Morocco to surf, so you will surely catch up with me.

Hi Esteban.

Yeah, I agree, the Diama border does seem the best out of both of them. I really want to avoid Rosso if at all possible - it seems like it would be complete carnage. I think I will end up reaching Diama maybe late November, so by then the 'road' should be in a more stable condition. It sounds completely stupid though if you can't cross Diama with a biometric visa as then surely it would mean that that border is rendered useless? TIA.

I've been really thinking about going into Mali quite a lot today, I think it would be fun if Senegal isn't an option. I paid for my visa two days ago and haven't heard anything from them yet. Luckily I'm staying with a couchsurfer and the family don't mind me staying whilst I get all this sorted. I do hope to be in Morocco within a few weeks though. I'm giving Africa the best part of a year to do. How long are you planning to do it in?

And thanks for your advice guys, I'll check out those blogs. If anyone wants to get in touch and meet up along the way don't hesitate to get in touch

All the best,

Liam.

@ Esteban & Liam,
I will also be on the way down to West Africa, crossing Morocco in November with my VW van.I'm planning to do Kiffa - Kayes into Mali. It would be nice to meet up somewhere and have a drink, I will try to follow your progress.
Sierra Leone Project - YouTube
Tony

Tony you will have a lot of space, compared to you bike travels!

And it is a good car with much comfort for overlanding bier

Is it your first longterm trip by car?

Surfy

Another for Africa
 

Hi Guys,

I am leaving UK next Monday (21st) heading through France and Spain think I will be in Morocco by mid November, same basic route down, but undecided on way back!. Just read the comments about Senegal biometics required for visa, was planning to get it in Rabat but think I had better do a little better research...
Hope to catch you at some point.
Mike

Keen
 

Gday guys,

Seems like we're sharing a bit in common: I'm also in Northern Spain, keen to get to Africa and on a slow bike!

I kicked off the trip a few months back in the UK on my Royal Enfield and I've since made it slowly down to Spain.

For now, I'm "stuck" in Barcelona for a week and a half (poor me!) but then I'll be looking to head south along the coast and eventually get to Morocco. So mid-November is looking on the money to kick off Africa.

I've only really decided recently (very recently!) that Africa is next on the list as opposed to shipping to South America or braving a European winter. I'm afraid that that's all the thought that's gone into it so far! Lots of ducks to start getting into rows I'm sure, but I figured that I'd get in touch anyway to get the ball rolling.

Cheers,
Spook

Yes the first time on 4 wheels after always traveling with the bike for more than a decade. It will be different and there's a lot that I will have to learn.

So, to all other travelers: mid november; meeting up somewhere in the middle of Morocco? Just pick a place (Essaouira is nice and not too far from Marrakesh for those who want to visit)
It would be a strange mix, a 640 KTM, a c90, a VW van , a tenere and an Enfield.:D

Keen to hook up with you guys at some stage for crossing W. Sahara and Mauritania - I'll be just south of Agadir in Mid-November in Tagzhout village. I'll keep a watch on this thread - anyone feel free to PM me.

Gary

G'day guys,

Quick question: For a trip like this, how many pages would we need for a carnet? Sorry if it's an obvious question, but please indulge the new guy!

I'm not sure if it's like a passport where you can fit a bunch of ins/outs on a page or one per country import/export... 5, 10 or 25?

I tried a web search but no dice, which was surprising!

Thanks,
Spook

I'm actually doing Africa without a Carnet. I know of a few people and they got round completely fine... paying around $100 in temporary import permits for a round drip of down the West and then up the East. Seems fine... unless your going to Egypt. I think you need it for Egypt.

When I was looking in to getting a Carnet the RAC wanted £1500 off me for my little moped which cost me £450. I did some research, saw it was fine to do all of Africa without one, apart from Egypt and thought 'do I really want to go to Egypt that much?' So I changed my route.

Would be a different story for a car/4x4. But if you want to get one you would need a 25 page Carnet.

Check out he thread of people who went without one.

Cheers.

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...0-tenere-64769

I'm up for that. Think mid November will be when I'm floating around Morocco. I'll keep watching to see where you guys are :mchappy:

Easy, it's one page per country. Normally, the carnet has more than enough pages, can't remember how many, but after my trans Africa my passport was full but the carnet had plenty of pages left.

Hi, I'm in around Marrakesh now and considering to stay here for a week or so - looking for anyone keen to do Western Sahara end of Oct/early Nov. Otherwise I might hang around and wait for the group? Send me a PM if you're keen. On a 690KTM, heading south for Cape Town

Hi guys
I'm getting some visas in Madrid, I hope to be on the road on November 8th, so I could pick up the visas Mauritania and Mali in Rabat, Monday 10th.

Liamparkin - Titbird - Ténéré Traveller Mike - Spooka - Garnaro ... maybe someone else? sounds great

I'll be following your respective progress the next two weeks, and as Toni says, Essaouira is a good meeting point!.
I know the south and places to eat and camping.
Keep in touch and take care.

reegards - BARAKA

Esteban

LIAMPARKIN - I'm actually doing Africa without a Carnet.

Do not worry, it's not a big problem, I'm also without the Carnet (CPD)
a friend of mine did all the western route to Cape Town and then made the route east to Israel only about 4 months ago.
My friend told me that is most important for cars, trucks and 4x4.
In some border controls (not required at all) make a document called "Passavant" temporary importation of vehicles.

Sans carnet it is!

Just curious Esteban, which visas are you picking up before leaving the continent?

Hi Kruguer64

Did je cross egypt? Please give us details of his route on the way up bier

Surfy

Nigeria, DR Congo and Angola...

The route will be Sudan (Khartoum) - Port Sudan (Suakin) boat to Jedahh (Saudi Arabia) to the Jordanian border and finally Israel, Ferry from Haifa to Salerno (Italy). Ferry seven days, a little boring.
When you are in Sudan, you have to apply for visa to Jordan, then it goes to the embassy of Saudi Arabia and show them your visa to Jordan, and they give you three days transit visa.
Long enough to reach the south of Jordan.
Not very bad road, about 1500 km. :scooter:

meet up
 

Hey guys - I'm going to be about 150 km south of Essaouira in Taghzout in middle of November, but I will come up to meet you guys when you get there.

Hi Kruguer,
I'm planning on going the same way around that time too but from mauri I will be heading to Mali, Niger, Chad and then Sudan. Will spend some time in Sudan (visit Dinder National park) then head to Ethiopia and all the way down to South Africa. Will leave UK mid Nov. and should be crossing to tangier approx 10 days later, hope to catch up with you on the way!!
Regards
Schenkel

Hey Garnaro
About me, I'm still working on the final details of my bike.
I'm excited and looking forward to the imminent start of my trip, is only the arrival of my passport with visas.
I have no news about the group for a few days, just what I read here.
I think when they are in route they will write their progress here.
when I'm coming to that area (Taghzout)'ll let you know to meet you.

Cheers

Esteban

Hey Schenkel
dates as you say, we will be near or at Tanger I have to stop one day in Rabat, to get my visa for Mauritania and Mali to continue my route south. I know very well the whole road to Mauritania.
If you want we can share road, and then pick up other people to the southern route.
be united makes a stronger team against any adversity.
I will watch the progress of your trip

cheers
Esteban

This guys have start just few days ago for the same trip as yours...It will just ahead of you so you can have some real time infos!

mad about Africa (ταξίδι στην Αφρική και τη Μέση Ανατολή) - mad nomad

Translate | worldvespa

Hey Spooka. Are you still in Spain? I managed to break my bike riding out of Ciudad Real doh :funmeterno: but I have spares on the way and should be on the road again by the end of the week. I might push it to reach Essaouira for bang on mid November, but I'm going to try. I'm curious, how slow is your bike? I can cruise at 40 mph on my little 90 :mchappy:

All the best,

Liam.

Hey Esteban,

I've just arrived in Taghazout - living it up on the beach, pretty cool scene in this little village and good surf.

Keep me posted as you head south. It took me longer than I expected to get here and the detours through the mountains we well worth it.

For the rest of the group, I cruised through Essaoira yesterday and wouldn't not recommend as a meetup spot - seemed like just an overdeveloped tourist hub that would be easy to miss each other, but then again, I didn't have a very good look around.

Sidi Koauki just south of there is small, cool and has a campground and B&Bs, same here in Taghazout.

Hey guys,

Sorry to hear about your breakdown Liam, what are the details? Hope it's not too big a bust up mate!

News from me; I've picked up another Australian who is keen to head to Africa, today we left Barca and made it to Valencia. We'll take a day in Valencia and then keep trucking South. I'll keep you guys posted on progress. Here's hoping the RE is good enough to handle two fully loaded travellers! As for the cruising speed, I like to cruise at 50, but prefer to go slower than that if I can, but she can go 70+ if I really need to (and I never do!)

I'm easy for meet up places and times in Morocco. At this stage I'm just happy enjoying Spain!

Spook

oh bummer, just read about the break down Liam - good luck getting her going again.

I'm on a 650, but since getting off the motorway, I seem to be cruising slow as well, about 50 mph. Don't want to plow one of those cute donkeys or goats!

Ha! I ran into these guys in Ourzazate! My sense was that they are moving very slowly, riding all over the place.

I'm about to leave in about 3 days. I'm hoping of catching some of you guys in Morocco in a few weeks.
@Garnaro, you are right about Essaouira being a tourist trap, maybe Taghazout is better.:thumbup1:

We're at a campsite just north of Taghazout village called Terre d'Ocean that would be a good meetup spot. Its just of the main road, has a pool, big restaurant, and cost 8 euros a night for two of us.

Hi Liam

I'm sorry about your breakdown, I hope everything has a solution and see you soon in Morocco.
Tell me if I can help, anything.
All the best for you

cheers

Esteban

Sounds like a very good idea Taghazout (Terre d'ocean) as a meeting place, quieter than Essaouira, this way point already in my GPS.

Hello. Yeahhh, it was a bit shit. I've had some spares sent out from England and everything is being put together. I might (might!) be on the road again on Wednesday. I'm not sure if I will make it to Taghazout for the middle of November though. Possibly the 20th.

Anyway, thanks for your offer of help. I'll find out tomorrow if things are okay.

Cheers,

Liam.

Hi All,

My bike is getting serviced today, pick up a set of tyres and plan to head to Morocco on Thursday.
Need to do the visa runs in Rabat, so will head there first and get the boring bits out the way.
Liam, if you are on the road by Wednesday we are not that far apart.
Mike

I'd say so - very easy for a bunch of bikes and vehicles to roll in- has great ocean view and wifi. I'll be planted here if folks want to show up and take the place over..

Hi guys,

We're in Malaga at the moment and we'll be looking to cross over from Spain to Morocco tomorrow. Taghazout sounds great as a place to meet up, I'll keep you posted on our progress south!

Cheers,
Spook

I'm crossing to Morocco this weekend.
+1 on Taghazout (Terre d'ocean) as a meeting place

Hi, my son and I arrived in Cape Town from Canada couple weeks ago and bought used 650 gs's, sorted out the registration process, and headed north to Lesotho in a couple days. We are going SA, Lesotho, Zim, Moz, Malawi, Tanz, Kenya, Ethiopia...
Plan is to loop around Lake Victoria after Ethiopia through Uganda, Rwanda, etc. and head over toward Namibia and down to South Africa for flight home end of Feb.

However, my son is open to the idea of going right from Ethiopia to Europe. He would love to go to Israel as he has friends there...

So anything possible.

Lets keep in touch.

Larry and Mike, heading north from Cape Town

hey guys - anybody with an ETA for taghazout? still camping here, but swell is now subsiding - hoping to head south sometime next week.

Hello everyone.
I don't think I will make it to Taghazout for mid November. I'm taking the ferry to Morocco tomorrow, but my heart is set on seeing Chefchouen so I'm going to go there first. Then I need to go to Rabat and sort out my Mauritanian visa. If anyone else finds that they have to meet up later then I'd still be up for it. Hope all your journeys go well if not.

Liam.

Liam and c90 around the World

Hi guys,

We're in Rabat at the moment and going to pick up visas tomorrow. We should make Taghazout midweek next week, all things going to plan...

Cheers,
Spook

Hi Guys,

I'm in the middle of the other group (just left Senegal I believe), and your group. Currently in Laayoune in northern Western Sahara. I'll be hanging around in Senegal for a while so might catch some of you there.

Does anybody know of a place to get a front tyre in Senegal/The Gambia?

Thanks,

Jonathan

There are a lot of travellers on the way :thumbup1:

Therefore you will meet some others for shure...

travel safe and enjoy your trip!

Surfy

I'll hold tight in Taghazout and see you guys next week at camp garnaro jaybee:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/I9...g=w725-h544-no

Hi Jonathan
Is it the same one i met in Maroc a couple of weeks back , blue and white KTM690 ? i was on the Black Tenere with Mark Orange KTM690

If so have a good one mate and only wish i was there :(

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-x...o/IMG_1418.JPG

Phil

Hi guys .


My personal situation is different as it had originally planned , I'm in Madrid with my bike and equipment, waiting for a new document, which must have been invented for my visa RD.Congo . severe bureaucracy will not undermine my high motivation for this trip, only delay it about 4 or 5 days , I will keep patience , just wait for this visa.
When I get my visa in about 7 hours I can get Tanger from Madrid.
Then I need a morning in Rabat for Mauritanian visa ( provided it is not Friday, Muslim prayer day closed all embassies )
From Rabat it take 6 or 7 hours to reach Agadir ( there is a good motorway to Agadir).
If any of you are down this route , let me know and we can go down together to reach Garnaro camp (if still there )
When I'm on the road, will be moving my position in case anyone wants to join me on the way down to the south coast.

I hope to get Agadir in a week in the worst

Garnaro camp has beautiful views over the Atlantic Ocean , looks great ! Enjoy it !

All the best

Esteban

Me(Tony) and Spooka(Luke) and Intergalactic Walrus(Ben) have teamed up and are now near Marrakesh. We will be at camp Garnaro somewhere mid next week, so I think this leaves time for Liam to catch up too. We will be traveling slow though, cruising around 80 km/h (Enfield and my VW van)
Hope to see you guys there!

Hey doods - been without swell for a few days now and I'm getting antsy, so heading off tomorrow morning aiming for Tan Tan, and then Dakhla. You guys are sure to catch me up soon. Post an update here next week and I'll find you down the road!

Hi guys,

We're heading to either Taghazout or Agadir today. Is anyone in the neighbourhood?

Spook

Slightly 'off topic' for this thread but if you guys using GPS with Mapsource would save your tracks T4a would welcome them. That is how T4a produce their wonderful maps etc - they are based on real input from folks who have travelled the roads and tracks.
Contact me if you need more information.

Margaret

That is really offropic here. I`m shure i`m not the only one who is thinking about if it is ok to pay 90 bucks for T4A - but to provide the recorded tracks for free. Why not sharing them to OSM (openstreetmaps), where the user works together for free?

I understand that T4A never got this quality of maps without going a commercial way... But.. Now there are Wiki based projects who are free.

Want to say, i`m willing to pay 90 bucks for T4A - but i`m not willing to record and share tracks for T4A for free.

Some years ago there was no alternative to T4A.. But today, with OSM, GoogleMaps, Google Offline Satellite view... Till now OSM honestly dont have this coverage specially in east africa... But any day the coverage is growing.

For shure - this discussion don`t fits here.

Surfy

I just compleated this trip a couple of months ago
my recomendations are

1. have the 2 mitchalin maps, north and central...gps are good in citys, but out in the bush the maps are better...and dont break ( buying a gps in accra was 3 times the cost of europe and not as good quality, and real real hard to find, only in Accra will you find a garmin in west africa)

2. get a carnet, it will work out cheaper and a lot easyer, we meet guys in west africa who has spent the same money already on bourderpasses than we did on getting a carnet, and carnets refund some of the money on return to the RAC

3. watch out for that fat f##king cop in senegal after st loiue, he likes to screw everyone...i watched him fine taxi drivers about having tintid glass...one tip...if he finds something real ( ed no seat belt on) he will make you a offer...he says....pay now or i start to write and it will get worse....belive me it gets worse....i wish i payed, i heard of a westerner recently who spent 5 days in jail there for nothing.( if you can find a diffrent road,,,maybe along the coast...maybe...just dont get lost)

4. Angola is the hardest visa to get....and its only valid for 2 months ( accra)
Nigeria, can sometimes be had at Bennin, Accra was not being helpfull, and DRC in togo......these are the hard visa

5.Dress nice when going to the Rep Congo visa...or they dont let you in

6. joke ...it always helps with the cops.....if they ask for money in english tell them....my girlfreind.....SHE CHOP MY MONEY...they will understand

7. Dont take to much stuff....most you will never use,90 percent of your cloaths will stay in your bag and just get rotten, elecronic stuff WILL break, im a netbook and gps down, and half my freind had there cameras killed

8. Most important, do your research, find out were to get the visas....if you dont...then you will not make it very far....we met plenty of people who were just going with the flow....and flow they did, back to europe

recently there was a guy who did madrid to cape in 2 months...but he had visas already...it sounds a rush, but everyone likes diffrent type of travel...and no need to worry about visas

Good luck

in Dakhla
 

Thanks for all of this info Gazza, very helpful tips for those of us now on the way down. Just yesterday a guy here in Dakhla told me about the cop sitting just near St. Louie.

I'm planted in Dakhla waiting for a swell due in this weekend...there is an ok campsite here for 35 dirham and rooms are only 40-50 dirham. No wifi and have to pay for hot showers tho.

Hi
i may be thinking of the wrong town...but isent it Dakhla were there is the free camping ( with all the white campersvans) at the wind surfing beach...not the nicest place but ok and free....but its a fer drive to the town...and you have to go past the checkpoint back and fourth

yes the cop...everyone kn ows him ...and he knows it.
it something like halfway from st louie to dakar, it the begining of a small town...dont know the name....maybe arseholeville.
i hate paying.....in the end i was in the main police station, with the police cheif..he did not realy want to be dealing with small stuff like me.....but the arsehole cop wanted to get me ****ed ( because i refused to pay and also the arsehole cop fell of his bike when he was excorting us to the station)

one tip.....if you have a fake licence ( handy to have...next time im going to print a few and laminate them) give it to him and then he will tell you to go to the police station alone and pick up the licence from him latter...instead just dive on to dakar

Hi guys
I'm in Tangier, tomorrow I will be in Rabat for Mauritanian visa, Wednesday hopefully sleep in Agadir (Taghazout).
will try to reach Dakhla next Friday, see you soon

Me and Spooka will be in Tan Tan tonight and in Dakhla by friday.

Dakhla
 

Hey guys - I'm still in Dakhla at the campsite. Swell is cranking :clap:
I'll still be here by next Friday. Coordinates for Camping Touristique Moussoufir are 23.76294 -15.90670

Hi everyone.

How long are you guys planning on staying in Dakhla? I'm leaving Marrakach on Friday morning and heading straight South that way.

Also, I've got a question about insurance... did anybody check when you crossed into the Western Sahara? I didn't get any in Tanger Med and have been travelling without since.

Liam.

Hey Liam, we will be in Dakhla tomorrow and stay a few days, but probably not long enough for you to catch up.
And as for the insurance, they asked for it today, but I never had that happen on previous trips, I think on the moped you will be ok.
Hope to see you further down.

kruger?

same one that hit my 990 S from backwards at La Bañeza just for looking at a pair of boobs? :nono:

mucho cuidado, alicate

and show us how it goes down there :bier

I'm Tan-tan plage, I hope to reach Dakhla Friday, I'm going down the Atlantic coast in KTM 640 adventure, see you soon guys..

I,m still in Dakhla waiting for my tyres, been told they would be here on 3/12/13. I think this is a rest I was meant to have anyway...hope to see you again maybe in Sudan. ride safe and enjoy the views.

Hey Schenkel, where are you going after Dakhla and when? I will reach Dakhla on Friday if you want to team up for a bit? I'm heading to Senegal via Mauritania.

Liam and c90 around the World

Me and schenkel are driving out of Nouakchott tomorrow, going to Mali.

Hi Liam,
Titbird is leaving Nouakchott tomorrow heading to Mali. Me and Kruguer plan to leave Nouakchott going to Mali on 9/12, and hopefully will catch up with Titbird at Diema in Mali. Where are you now?

Regards

Schenkel

I'm in Dakhla now. I'll be heading out on the road again tomorrow.

Might bump into some of you further down... or at this rate the group planning on setting off from Europe in January might catch up with me!

Have a good one!

Hey liaparkin are you really riding a C90 ?
Awesome.
We are leaving Spain for Morocco on 27 Jan, on a XT660R and a Aprilia Caponord and if all goes well i'm sure we will catch up wit you.
Keep in touch

Hey! Yes I'm actually riding a C90, its no joke. Check out my website

Liam and c90 around the World.

Maybe see you guys in a few months!

Liam.

Just a quick note to say hi to those of you we've met on the road. We're now in Thies in Senegal and expect to be in The Gambia in a couple of days. Safe travels and keep in touch, Chris and Janyis

www.thespokeandwords.wordpress.com



Sent from my GT-S5830 using Tapatalk 2

Hi Guys,

Right now Ben and I are in Dakar. Looking to find some surf! Any recommendations Gary? ;)

I'm going to give the bike a clean and a service. If anyone has recommendations for a decent mechanic in Dakar then let me know! (I only need the tools, not the mechanic!)

Spook

Dakar
 

Sent from my GT-S5830 using Tapatalk 2[/QUOTE]

Hey Guys - Where are you staying? I'm camped in the parking lot at Sunugal restaurant. What tools have you got? You're welcome to use whatever I have.

Waves were excellent for a bit, but swell has come down a bit. Wind is from the NE right now, so south side of the peninsula is the go. Excellent advanced waves at Oakham right at that giant mosque left of the coastal highway. Best intermediate/beginning waves I saw were further up the peninsula at a spot called Secrets right in front of a restaurant with a big sign that says Secret (funny, eh? )- they have boards there too. Just head out towards the American embassy/Club Med along the coast and you'll see it.

If the wind slackens some, waves should be good out on N'Gor island - 500 cfa boat ride from N'Gor beach near Sunugal restaurant

New Years in dakar.
 

Hi all,

We are spending New Year's Eve in dakar and are wondering if any other travellers are around.

Maybe we can get the BBQ going and have a few beers.

We are parked/camped near Ngor beach.

Greets team Izzie.

Hi guys,

Rigth now I am in Lome, after three days in Togo, Benin border will cross tomorrow.
I enjoyed riding Burkina and Togo.

Happy new year.

Cheers

Esteban.-

in Freetown
 

hey guys - I'm at the beach in Freetown, Sierra Leone with Tony in the van.. We'll both be here for the next two weeks or so making our way down the peninsula towards Burreh Beach at the far south end.

Hi guys,

We're now in cap skirring/kabrousse parked at bar de la mer and we are allowed to stay the night.

Luke,
How did the ferry turn out for you? We went the same day to the other one. In ziguinchor is a campsite called camping casamance. Very clean.
In Bissau is a restaurant called almagui were we'll be camping. We have to applie for our Nigerian visa there.
Hope to see you somewhere along the road.

Team izzie


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Hi guys, I've been following your posts.
I will finally be leaving on Friday heading along the same route as u guys, who knows I might just catch up with u along the way.
Enjoy your travels
Cheers

status
 

Nigeria Visa in Bissau is great - easiest one I've gotten - done in like 2 hours.

Note that the embassy has moved from the location in the city since the riots happened there. It's now on the main road on the right heading into Bissau, not far past the airport. Coordinates are: 11.87587, -15.63581

I'm still in Bureh Beach outside Freetown, still with Tony, but he will turn around to start the journey back to Europe tomorrow. I'll be in Bureh until for another week until next Saturday, they off to Robertsport.

@garnaro

Where did you get the Liberian visa and was it easy?

How's the surf?

Steven&sita


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liberia visa
 

Hey all- Liberia visa is super easy in Freetown, but pricey - $135 USD! And it takes 2 days unless you want to pay $50 extra

Embassy is on Spur road. Coordinates are 8.47146, -13.27100

Great info
 

Been thinking about a trip like this for a while now.
Great info.
I take it that it would be madness to head off on a trip like this during the Northern Hemisphere summer.
Considering getting to Spain and portugal over the summer and moving on from there.
I ride a '91 XT600 Tenere,rebuilt.
Plenty of experience.

W-Europe to Capetown following West route
 

Hi guys,

In less than 3 weeks an Argentinian friend and myself are hitting the road south following the West route towards Cape Town.

Carnet de Passage check, spare parts and tyres check, injections, tools, maps, camping stuff, riding gear check check check...

Starting to get really excited!!!

Might see some of the people on this thread on the road!

Greetz, Bart

Hi guys, sorry for not checking in for a while!

I've been heading South with JayBee since Cassamance and we are now in Freetown. Seems like we're the slow ones in the group!!

I'll be heading in the Liberia direction tomorrow. I can confirm what Gary said about the Liberian visa but that's for US citizens, I used my UK passport and was charged $120. There's a price list at the embassy.

Getting a Ghana visa has been difficult so far... Does anyone have any advice of where they picked it up and how?

Cheers,
Spooka

Hi Spooka, we had a problem with Ghana visa in freetown, your next bet would be Abidjan or just do what we did and show up at the Ghana border pay $50 for transit visa and just travel straight for Togo where you can get 7 day transit visa at border.
Cheers JC

Only thing to add was that the us$50 (or 40,000CFA) Ghana transit visa lasts only 48 hours and is issued at discretion of immigration people... they didn't like haggling!
Charlie

Luke and Jonathan -
If you can get a transit visa at the border, probably don't bother trying in Abijan. The French fellow I was with, Francis, got it there and they would only issue him a 48 hour transit visa.

You guys are hot on my heels!

Going to try for Angola and DRC here in Accra. Over the city already, get me back to the beach!

Hi guys. I'm in Ghana now. Staying on a beach in Korkobite 30 km outside of Accra. Can't stand to be in big cities anymore!

I got my visa in Bamako but they stopped issuing to overlanders after we got ours.

Looks like I'm going to be in Ghana for a long time yet as the clowns at the Benin embassy have lost my passport... :stupid:

Got DRC in Lome... should be same day. Can post coordinates and process if that's useful.
Charlie

Accra
 

Hey guys, I'm in Accra staying at the Pink Hostel. Probably try the DRC visa here since its right next to the hostel. Put in for the Angola visa today - they said check back Friday - fingers crossed!

Liam are you at Big Millies? Think I'll head that way this weekend. Traffic in Accra is mad - would be much worse in a car tho!

Joining the fray.
 

Hi All,
After some delays to repairing my bike here in Freetown I will heading off towards the south soon. I'm still waiting on some documentation from Europe but anyone expecting to be in Sierra Leone or the surrounding region in the coming weeks, let me know. Heading towards DRC with an eye on the Kinshasa-Lubumbashi road.
Cheers, CJ.

Roger that, thanks for the information guys!

I've got my fingers crossed for jagging a visa for Ghana here in Monrovia. I picked up Cote d'Ivoire today which was a breeze. I'll be leaving Monrovia once that's sorted and heading in your direction!

Hopefully see you lads soon!

Spook

Did anyone find a good route between Monrovia and the Border? The obvious way, by the coast, doesn't seem to have any roads...

Don't think that there is one - via Danane is the fastest, but pretty slow going with loads of road construction. Sounds like the road from Zwedru to Harper is in really bad shape and takes longer..

Okey dokie, cheers for the info Gary. I ended up going from Buchanan to Harper via Saclepea/Zwerdru/Fishtown.

It's a massive detour but it was totally worth it. Great scenery and Harper was my favourite for Liberia. The road isn't that bad either, not great of course but not bad.

The Harper border is a canoe, unless you can get on the barge. But there was zero traffic, so the barge was out of action. Canoe it was! You've been warned, JB!

Hey Luke!!

Missed you in banjul after the ferry!! When will you be in Ghana, Accra??
Think we will be there in a week or so!!
Are you going to big Millie's ??
Maybe we'll see you there!!

Also Liam, I hope you got your passport back, if not maybe we will meet again!

Greets from Ouagadougou
Team Izzie