For the past few months of researching I've always been of the mindset that for my trip from London to Cape Town, passing down the W coast of Africa and then back up the E coast before heading back to London, the visas I would need I could generally apply for as I passed down through the continent. i.e. in the capital city of the country I am in, bordering my destination.

Following a good long chat with an experienced African traveller last night which involved EVERY aspect of the trip, it alarmed me to find out that when he'd been travelling some 15 years ago virtually all of the visas he required were obtained from the relevant embassies within the UK before leaving.

Now the situation may have changed somewhat since then but for peace of mind to me and as a useful tool to others also planning this route (below) I'd be really grateful if people could contribute to this thread by adding the relevant details to each country I'll be travelling through.

My situation is 2 people, 1 Landrover, UK citizens. Route is:

Morocco,
Mauri,
Senegal,
Gambia,
Mali, Burkina,
Ghana,
Togo,
Benin,
Nigeria,
Cameroon,
Gabon,
Congo,
DRC,
Angola,
Namibia,
South Africa,
Mozam,
Malawi,
Tanzania,
Burundi,
Rwanda,
Uganda,
Kenya,
Ethiopia,
Sudan,
Egypt,
Libya,
Tunisia

I appreciate that this topic has been up a few times and I have trawled through for the information, but an uptodate discussion may be relevant here!

Thanks for any help given,

Ben

__________________
www.bensouthall.com
www.bestlifeintheworld.com

Hi have a look at the lonely planet guide book just updated,the truck trips only get ghana in the uk b4 leaving.Going south you can get a transit visa for mauri at the border and an extension in nouakchott,most look ok at the previous country.

There has been mention before that getting hold of visas for Cameroon and Ghana could be more difficult than the rest of W Africa, as I'm about to leave the country in 10 days whats the best way to get round these issues?

Thanks, Ben

__________________
www.bensouthall.com
www.bestlifeintheworld.com

Ben

Could the reason why people get them on the road as opposed to in advance be because many of the visa;s are only valid for a certain period after issue - normally 1 or 3 months?

If you're only away for a few months then OK, but if on the road for a long time then they would expire...

Would need to check my passport to see what some old visa say..

Niallo