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Africa-North to South via West Coast ..question Africa-North to South via West Coast ..question
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Trip Paperwork Covers all documentation, carnets, customs and country requirements, how to deal with insurance etc.
Photo by Marc Gibaud, Clouds on Tres Cerros and Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia

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Photo by Marc Gibaud,
Clouds on Tres Cerros and
Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia



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  #1  
Old 6 Feb 2013
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Question Africa-North to South via West Coast ..question
hello my friends.

i need to ask some questions about Africa since i have never been there before.

i have a united states passport.
do i need to apply ahead of time for entry visas for each african country ?
what about my motorcycle; does it need to have its own "visa" for each country?

or

can i simply show up at the border of each country and fill out the paperwork needed to get me into each country?
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  #2  
Old 6 Feb 2013
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For the west coast route, you can get by without a carnet (bike visa) by getting temporary import permits at each border. There are some benefits to using a carnet (lower or no vehicle fees at some borders) but this is offset by the carnet deposit requirements.

As for you, there are a couple of countries which are a pain to get visas for enroute and are much easier to get in your home country. The rest you can get on the way, usually in the country prior.

If you want to use the search function at the top, it's pretty good to read up on what the latest is.

When are you heading over?
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  #3  
Old 6 Feb 2013
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At least the Visa for the DRC and Angola - you have to obtain in your homecountry. I suggest to obtain as much as possible - what suits your time plans.

A carnet de passage (customs - papers for your bike) you need for Namibia and Southafrica:



When you take small borders they dont know exactly what you need - and you may have a chance get through without. But each Police Checkpoint can catch you then - so i would suggest to do your paperwork in a legal way. I dont see any reason to cheat there - or do you get in line with that guys who had to pay high bribe's - because of that?

Maybe my blog could help you: http://transafrica2012.blogspot.com

Surfy
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  #4  
Old 7 Feb 2013
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Thumbs up north to south
surfy ,
thanks for the info. surfy i checked out your blog site. interesting. i also looked at the tracks4africa gps site that you mentioned on your blog site. ill be downloading their maps. i've included a link to my ride reports for you at the bottom of this post. you will find some good info for traveling as well as all of my gps data for those trips.

mountain man,
i think it will be better to just buy a carnet de passage for the bike in order to avoid having to carry loads of cash with me as well as avoid loads of paperwork.

not exactly sure when i will be heading over. i just started planning the route, researching, thinking about which bike to ride. however i im leaning towards the "winter" months.

-do either of you know if anyone has gone from North to South, strait down the middle of africa (that has documented their trip)?


Enduro Earth
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Old 7 Feb 2013
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Quote:
Originally Posted by swamp View Post

-do either of you know if anyone has gone from North to South, strait down the middle of africa (that has documented their trip)?


Enduro Earth

the middle as in Libya, chad, CAR, crossing the congo basin then into zambia? Never heard of anyone doing it that way (with good reason).
there are no roads straight through the middle of the congo, so would be a lot of river travel.
as for your visa question, visas at border are few and far between, but most you can get on the road. angola is a must to get in your home country, drc and nigeria can also be trouble some to acquire.
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Old 8 Feb 2013
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ozranger View Post
the middle as in Libya, chad, CAR, crossing the congo basin then into zambia? Never heard of anyone doing it that way (with good reason).
yea thats pretty much the line i drew on my map.

thanks ozranger for the info on visas and roads. have you been to Africa on a motorcycle ? when ? i can learn a lot from those of you who have done this before.

i see lots of people riding / driving africa in 4 months. does it really take that long?
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