visa trouble
 

First a big hello to all my fellow b.m. as I`m new to this forum, Hi.
My dilemma is that 6 others & myself are driving down the west side of Africa, North to South to raise money for S.O.S. orphanages, as we are planning on camping on route we are having a problem pre-booking campsites as we can`t find any on the net or in any guide books & as you know to get the visas ( we are applying from the U.K. ) you must have proof of accommodation beforehand. Do any of you have any ideas how to get around this or any prior experience, any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks Discodriver

Hi DsicoDriver,

If you're thinking of pre-booking campsites in the west of Africa like you can do in Namibia, Botswana, South Africa etc, I have to tell you that, as far as i know, it simply is not possible. I sincerely doubt you'll find any on the inernet. I stand to be corrected on that though.

The only exception I can think of off the top of my head is the couple of The Hubb who set up a campsite/hotel in Bamako.....but as you don't need a LOI for the Mali visa this hardly helps.

The camsites in West Africa are more than adequate, but dont expect the luxuries of the other side of Africa, and I have never heard of pre-booking? Just turn up jobbie.

I persoanlly would advice that simply obtain the visas on the road. There are plenty of threads here on The Hubb detailing where you can get the visas. Ivory Coast can be an issue with a letter of Invitation required, but the rest are all perfectly possible (Algeria you will need a LOI and compulsory guide perhaps depending upon your route).

Thanks for advice
 

Cheers Dave for your help & advice.
The big problem is getting visas for Cameroon as we don`t really want to drive around large cities in Nigeria, are these obtainable in either Algeria or Niger, thanks again for any help given

You can easily obtain the Cameroon visa in Calabar without any accomodation details, just make up an addresss they dont sem to care.....if youre crossing into Cameroon from Nigeria in the south Calabar is only a short deetour, and Calabar is very chilled out by Nigerian standards.....nothing like the fun to be had in Ibadan or Lagos!

However, if crossing into Cameroon from Nigeria in the north via Maidiuguri then Calabar is a bit out of the way.