The
following suggestions are from our experiences travelling the West
African route north from South Africa. It will be different for
others but these musings may help. Not many people are using the west
route due to troubles that flare up in the various countries. Mali
and Nigeria are the present problem spots. But we passed through both
these countries with no problems. We missed out on Djenne and the
Dogon country which was a shame and in Nigeria we kept away from the
north.
There
are many blogs from people heading south but few from people in the
last few years heading the other way. Ray and Avril from
www.aimlessinafrica.blogspot.com
helped us a lot although their 11 month wanderings were different
than our more frenetic trip.
Visas.
If
possible get Angola, DRC, Ghana and Nigerian visas in your home
country. Some embassies now refuse to issue visas for people not
resident where the embassy is. This is more important for people
heading south in the case of Angola and DRC but advisable heading
north. We met a Spanish couple who flew back to Madrid to get their
Angolan ones and heard of people who had to fly over DRC & Angola
and others who shipped their vehicle from Point Noire to Namibia.
Expensive.
We
picked up visas at:
Ghana,
Cameroon; Australia (Refused Nigerian)
DRC
(took 1 day) Angola (8 days) ROC (2 days): Pretoria. A good place
to get others as well
Gabon
(30 minutes); Brazzaville
Nigeria
(1 day); Libreville
Benin;
on border. Should have but lazy bloke didn't stamp it. Minor problem
when we left Benin. They issue 2 day visas that you extend in
Cotonou if necessary.
Togo;
on border. 6 day visa.
Burkina
Faso (1 hour); Accra. Can get at border but $37 compared to $180??
Mali
(30 minutes) Senegal (3 hours); Ouagadougou.
Mauritania
(1 day) Dacca
Most
consular officials were very helpful as long as you had the paperwork
filled in correctly. The Angolan lady made us write a letter
addressed to the ambassador setting out why we wanted to visit their
country, where we wanted to go in Angola and what our itinerary was
before and after Angola with approximate dates of entering each
country. In English was OK. We used this basic letter with
alterations in other applications as well. Give them more than they
asked for. They gave us a 30 day visa, we had asked for a 5 day
transit. The Nigerian crowd wanted the same.
We
had flights booked back to Australia from UK which we always gave
them a photocopy of.
We
often could get our passports back earlier than they first said so as
to get it into the next embassy. Or call back earlier than they say,
often they are sitting there.
Get
a multiple entry for Angola if possible. Means you can go through
Cabinda bypassing Brazzaville/Kinshasa although we didn't mind either
city. Don't turn up at the Cabinda border expecting to get through
the enclave with a single entry visa, more than likely you will be
turned away. Don't expect Overlanders to receive special treatment.
You may be lucky but don't factor it in.
Visas
are expensive.
Pick
your seasons:
There
are two sections of road that are difficult or impassable in the wet.
Guinea and the Mamfe/Ekok road in Cameroon. Going through Mali
bypasses Guinea and soon the Mamfe/Ekok road will be sealed. Chinese
should finish that work in 3 years we were told. In the meantime get
through it between Dec and May. We went through mid May but the
rains were late. Torrential rain hit us at Ekok after getting
through. Hit Mamfe road up on youtube if you want to see how bad it
gets. The Chinese are using parts of the old road to get their
equipment from one area to another, they might need to keep it usable
in their own interests.
Will
be hot in some of the countries but it's always hot in those
countries. We were in Central Africa in the rainy season but usually
we would experience rain for a few hours every 2nd
day or so. Not as bad as we expected.
Fiches
We
thought a waste of paper until we hit Mauritania and then Morocco.
Have all the info on them that you usually put on visa application
forms. I will show ours on a separate page. English & French.
There are police entering almost every town in Mauritania, handing
over the fiche is much easier than going in and filling in forms each
time.
Congo
River.
Check
out the Luozi crossing if not in wet season or with others. $20 for
the ferry compared to about $120-150 Kinshasa/Brazzaville. Also check
water levels of river. We had to barge our bakkie across because too
low to put on ferry. Expensive. Oliver at Hippocampe Hotel in
Brazzaville may let you know the situation if you email him.
Insurance
Carte
Rose for Central Africa excluding DRC, Carte Breune for ECOWAS
countries. We got our Rose Card in Brazzaville ($100) and Brown Card
in Lome ($80). Didn't take DRC ins but advisable. Green Card for
Morocco/Europe we organised through Alessie Ins in Rotterdam
alessie@alessie.com
Not cheap 259 euros 1st
month then I think 150 for each month after. I believe you can get a
3 month insurance for Europe in the immigration area at the Ceuta
ferry but haven't been able to confirm. You will still need Morocco
ins though. Should be $30 or so but one couple paid $269 I think it
was but that may have covered Europe as well.
Vehicle
Type.
Not
necessarily 4X4 but was a help crossing into Gabon in the sand and
also beside the train track in Mauritania. Depends on what you want
to do and how adventurous or foolhardy you are. Our Nissan bakkie
served us well. Landrovers and Landcruisers are the most common
types used but Nissan has agencies all through these countries and
the Hardbody model seems to be the most popular of them. I will list
expenses on the road on another post. Remember, you can get through
this route almost the whole way without getting off asphalt. May be
potholed and no maintenance in 50 years but still hard top. The
Chinese are working hard to cover the outstanding stretches
Our
vehicle was right hand drive. It is illegal to drive such vehicle in
Cameroon, Nigeria and I think Ghana. Police will stop you and demand
something or other but just say you are a visitor in transit. Speak
to higher authority if necessary, it's usually the juniors who get
excited. There is a UN Declaration that allows you to pass through
these countries, if you can find it and print it off it might save
some hassles. Keep your cool.
We
have BF Goodrich All Terrain fitted to the vehicle. Have extra ply in
the side walls I believe. Served us well. Fortunately didn't have a
puncture the whole trip.
Security
The
only thing I thought might have been handy was a can of Mace in case
of any awkward situation. We had no such situations apart from the
bloke trying to nick my briefcase in Nouakchott and Joan handled that
well. We got a bit lax in locking the bakkie as we found the local
people so honest. A siren or something you can set off might be
useful as well. But trust the people and they will treat you well.
Money
ATMs
all over the route. We used our 'Plus' and “Maestro' cards mainly
as we paid little or no fees on them. Only in Nigeria, Benin &
Togo (I think it was) we had to use visa to withdraw money. For cash
Euros are the most popular with the exception of DRC where US$ was
necessary to pay for the barge. Forget T/Cs, a thing of the past.
Take a good variety of cards, both credit and debit and scout around
until you find the bank that accepts your card. By a long shot not
all do. In West Africa the banks with orange/yellow signage and also
red/black signage seem to be good. We have ended the trip with a fair
bit of dollars and euros left over. Good for the next venture.
Take
Your Time
Unfortunately,
starting so late in the season we couldn't especially before reaching
Nigeria. By that time we were exhausted. After that we were able to
enjoy the trip more and stay a day or two longer in places. There
are not many national parks of note on the west route and the scenery
is not as varied but it is the people that make this route so
interesting. The colour, lifestyle, chaotic cities of the populace
that we will remember for a long time.
Free
Camping
We
weren't too hung up about free camping. Met a group of 3 Spanish
couples who had hardly done any, they felt unsafe and that with three
burly blokes in their group. Very difficult not to be seen, I can
only think of a couple of occasions we can say we weren't seen. The
locals may be inquisitive but it usually end there. If near a village
ask the chief if it is ok. By doing that it will ensure your safety
as you become his responsibility. Just use common sense and get the
feel of the situation. We would have free camped at least 30% of the
time I would say and had no awkward situations apart from one caused
by a language misunderstanding.
Fuel.
Available
everywhere in most countries. Western Sahara and Angola have the
cheapest. We carried extra diesel filters as a precaution but didn't
use them apart from the regular service. Tried to stick to Total and
Shell servos. A bit dearer in some countries but being multinationals
thought could have better quality. Nigeria is amazing with the number
of servos and the range of brands.
Water
We
have a 50 litre water tank that I fill by bucket. Used to use a hose
until I once saw the colour of the water that was going to go into it
in Wadi Halfa. At least with a bucket you see what it looks like. We
use sterilizing tablets in the tank. Bottled water is available in
all countries and now that the PET bottles are being recycled in many
countries didn't feel bad buying them. We also carry a 6 litre bottle
on the roof rack for free camping. It saves using sterilized water
for washing up, sponging down etc. We suffered no crook stomachs on
the trip.
Other
Overlanders Tales
We
read a lot of blogs before our trip and were expecting things more
difficult than what we experienced. Perhaps other Overlanders did
have bad experiences and we were lucky but on the other hand perhaps
a little embellishment was added in the telling. We didn't strike any
situations that we felt unsafe or fearing for our safety. Accidents
on the road are more probable than being hijacked. Our near miss in
Nigeria is a good example.
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