Visa rules have been changing country to country. He is from The Nederland. He can stay 90 days without visa. I am from Turkey and I need to apply visa which is 150€.
I don’t know why I wrote my notes to Turkish passport doesn’t need visa for Namibia. I was lucky on the border that nobody asked about visa. We told them on the border; we want to stay 30 days and they gave us stamps.
South Africa
I suppose that most countries holder don’t need visa but They have some rules about how long want to stay. They gave stamp to Ferry for 90 days stay. They told me Turkish passport can take 30 days.
When we fly to Holland and came back He had again 90 days and I had 30 days. But when we were coming back to Madagascar He couldn’t get another 90 days. They said that He needs to fly from Holland to have new 90 days. But They gave me again another 30 days.
Lesotho
The Nederland passport doesn’t need visa for 30 days stay, Turkish passport has to apply visa which is 50 USD.
When we were on the border They didn’t ask about the visa to me and we took a stamp to stay 5 days in.
Swaziland
Finally Ferry and I have same rules. We don’t need visa. We didn’t know how long we can stay because they didn’t write any note on the stamp how many days we can be in.
Botswana
Botswana doesn’t want to visa from Turkey and Nederland (also all European passport) for 30 days. But we had to pay road tax. You can look detail here.
Zimbabwe
If you are going to Zambia as well Best way to have Kaza Visa. They run out the visa sticker there fore we got single entry and 30 days visa which was 30 USD. If you want to have multiple entry It is 45 USD.
They have also daily visa which is a little cheaper If you want to visit only Victoria falls. Daily visa is 25 USD. But I saw on the border They were giving 3 or 5 days for daily visa. Maybe you can ask to have it like that 😉
About bribe, road and carbon tax, vehicle insurance detail…
Mozambique
We must apply for visa. Good think that you can do it on the border. They have standard price to visa for everyone. Just currency was a little different. When we look to list was writing 75 USD or 895 R (around 68 usd) or 3.925 Mt (around 65 usd). If you have Mozambique money with you You can pay less. But the border exchange doesn’t good price.
Madagascar
I suppose everybody has to pat on the border. Means visa on arrival. We paid 25 € (also pay 28 USD) each for 30 days.
If you plan to stay more than 30 days You should say on the border.
Original name is Assurance Carte Brune Cedeao but Everybody knows ECOWAS, brown card insurance, which is West Africa traffic insurance. 17 countries accept Ecowas in Western Africa;
Benin
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Congo Brazzaville
Gabon
Ivory Coast
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea Bissau
Guinea Conakry
Liberia
Mali
Niger
Nigeria
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Togo
We get ours brown card motorcycle insurance in Senegal. We passed to Senegal border without Ecowas and get it in St. Lous. We had 4 months for 17.375 cfa (26 euro). Our friends paid 15.000 cfa for 3 months. The office is nearby a bank (GPS coordinates 16.026701, -16.505271) in St. Louis. (The owners of the Zebrabar camping told us where to go).
Don’t buy this at the border!! Because most of then is fake! When we arrived to Senegal border a lot of people came to us and they show their official card, which is show that they work with Ecowas company. It was look like totally fine for us which photo we saw on internet and what we read about it. But we always so careful these kind of things therefor we took one of the insurance paper and went inside. We found chief from the border to asked if the insurance documents fine; he told us not to buy it. Ecowas paper’s looks really good but it’s not! Because you need a stamp on your ECOWAS and you need to carry the bill with you as a prove of the payment. People are walking on the border with documents and nobody has a stamp to put on it or give you a bill to show payment.
From Senegal to Congo (Brazzaville), we passed total 12 countries and only once in Guinea Bissau they asked for our traffic insurance.
ECOWAS is two pages one is writing those 14 countries. Other one writes Cameroon, Gabon and Congo (Brazzaville). We have used it in all those countries. Some people said that we can not use in Congo we have to have an other document to cover Congo. But our Ecowas was writing include Congo. SO, we entered and exit from it without any problem with Ecowas.
Visa applications in West Africa countries to road trip;
Most important thing in West Africa that You need to know which countries visa where you can easily apply and get it? I will try to write up all our visa application around Africa. I will split them up in 3 parts, West Africa, South Africa and East Africa.
I will write our experiences, this is on a Dutch and a Turkish passport. I will write down as well if I have the information about other countries passports.
Our countries we visit in West Africa will be Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea (Conakry), Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Republic Congo, Democratic Republic Congo and Angola.
Morocco
Visa on arrival and it’s free for both of us. Also free for other European passports, also for Australian passport it’s free.
Western Sahara
The visa for Morocco is valid here as the Western Sahara is under control by Morocco you won’t even pass a real border.
Mauritania
Visa on arrival, the price is 55 euro. Make sure you have euro’s, they will give you a really bad rate if you pay in dollars or dirham. We only had dollars and ended up paying 70 dollar each. If you don’t have euro’s make sure you exchange them somewhere in the Western Sahara
Senegal
Visa on arrival, the visa is free for most of the passports. It is free for the Dutch, Turkish, English and Australia.
The Gambia
Visa on arrival, the visa is free for a lot of passports. It is free for Dutch, Turkish and English.
Guinea Bissau
Visa apply in Ziguinchor at the Guinea Bissau embassy, it takes about 5 minutes to get it. He’s just writing it in front of you. The price is 20.000 cfa (30 euro) for a Dutch, Turkish and English passport.
Guinea (Conakry)
We got our visa in Dakar, apply at the Guinea embassy. Costs 50.000 cfa (76 euro) for a single entrée valid for 30 days. If you want 2 entrees the price is 80.000 cfa (122 euro) the visa is valid for 60 days. It takes 1 working day. You need to bring in copy of your passport, 2 passport photo’s. All goes very easy. Better to do! Get it in Bissau, the costs there are 30.000 cfa (46 euro) you also need copy of your passport and 2 passport photo’s. This is all for a Dutch, Turkish and English passport. I don’t know about the multiple entrée in Bissau.
Mali
We got our Mali visa in Nouackott (Mauritania). This goes a little bit strange but easy to apply, you need to give your border crossing for us this was Kouremale as we will enter from Guinea. A single entrée visa valid for 1 month costs 6.500 um (17 euro), your entrée date needs to start within 1 month from the date you apply, otherwise you get a double entrée and visa that’s 2 months valid. The price will then be 10.000 um (26 euro). You need 2 passport photo’s and a copy of your passport. If you apply in the morning you can pick it up in the afternoon.
Burkina Faso
We got ours in Bamako (Mali). Easy to apply, costs 24.000 cfa (36 euro) for a single entrée visa that is valid for 90 days. You need 2 passport photo’s, copy passport and a copy of your vehicle papers. Apply in the morning pick up in the afternoon. This is for all passports Better to do! (see VTE Visa).
Togo
Visa on arrival, costs 10.000 cfa (15 euro). Valid for 7 days, easy to extend it in Lome for 2.000 cfa (3 euro). This is for all passports
We got our visa in Bamako (Mali). The lady there is not very friendly, you need 2 passport photo’s, copy from the first page of your passport, copy of your passpot, copy from vehicle papers and a copy of a reservation from a hotel in Benin. Costs of the visa is 12.200 cfa (18.5 euro), it takes 2 working days to get it. This is for all passports
We got ours in Bamako (Mali). Easy to apply, costs are various. Dutch, Australian and German passport 60.000 cfa (92 euro), Turkish passport 65.000 cfa (99 euro) and English passport 90.000 cfa (137 euro). You need 2 passport photo’s, copy of your passport and a copy from your vehicle papers. First you pay 20.000 cfa (included the price I write above) to their bank account at the bank next door. This is one of the only places to get the visa for Nigeria.
Cameroon
We got ours in Calabar (Nigeria). Easy to apply takes about 45 minutes to get it. The price is 51.000 cfa (78 euro).
Gabon
We got ours in Lome (Togo). They wanted a lot of paperwork, luckily we knew everything we needed to take with us. The costs are 50.000 cfa (76 euro) for all passports. You need 2 passport photo’s, copy of your passport, copy yellow fever, copy carnet de passage, hotel reservation, copy of a credit card, copy of motorcycle papers If you have them all ready it only takes 10 minutes. Pick-up is the next day after 3 pm.
Congo (Brazzaville)
We got ours in Lome (Togo). First of all this was just in a flat building, it looked nothing like a embassy, but other overlanders got it here as well and entered Congo, so it must be ok. The price is the highest one we paid so far 90.000 cfa (137 euro) each. You need copies of 3 other West African visas and 2 passport photo’s. Visa is done in 20 minutes.
Congo (Kinshasa, DRC)
We got ours in Cotonou (Benin). Nice embassy, nice and helpful people here. The price is 50.000 cfa (76 euro) for all passports. You need 2 passport photo’s and they make the copies from your passport. It takes about 1,5 hours to get your visa ready.
Angola
We got ours in Point Noire (Congo Brazzaville). This is one of the hardest visa’s to get in West Africa. You can apply for the visa on Tuesday and Thursday between 9 and 11 am. You need to put 2000 cfa on their bank account before applying the visa at the Bank of Congo. We had a invitation letter from a friend of us who lives in Angola, copy passport, copy Congo visa, copy DRC visa, 2 passport photo’s and a big smile on our face when we applied. The woman working there only wants to speak French, not even Portuguese what they speak in Angola and she’s not helpful at all. We got a paper to fill in what only is in Portuguese, luckily there is a guard around who do helps people with their application form so we filled it all in and went to the woman at the desk, handover all papers and she straight away gave the invitation letter back, she didn’t want to have it! Instead we needed a letter why we wanted a visa for Angola in Portuguese, off course she pointed us out to where we can get it, it just costs another 2000 cfa extra per person. We got the letter and handed over all papers again and it looked she was satisfied. Now we needed to wait for a phone call, next day we got one around 2 pm. They only speak French again and the only thing I understood is they wanted a reservation, this must be a hotel reservation we thought. We made a quick booking online and printed it at a shop and run to the embassy to hand it over, they accepted and told us to wait for a phone call again. The next day we received the phone call at 2:30 pm, we run to the bank to make the deposit of 75.000 cfa each took the receipt and run to the embassy, we arrived at 3:05 and got send away, tomorrow we open again. When walking away they shout at us to come back and did give us the visa. What a relief! We had a multiple entrée visa in 48 hours.
This is a visa what is hard to get! It is a West Africa visa that is valid in Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Niger, Togo and Benin.
It is hard to get it when you are in Africa but you can get it in Barcelona at the Benin embassy. The costs for it are 100 euro, it’s valid in 90 days to stay 60 days. And you can enter each countries one time. We didn’t get it so I don’t know what you all need to apply for it.
If you want to have in West Africa You need to go Ivory Coast or Burkina Faso. Of course, first you need their countries visa to enter. After that you can apply. The cost is around 55 Euro in one of the countries. Some people told us when apply to VTE in Burkina Faso They look your Burkina visa and They want to you have 3 months Burkina visa.
LAST UPDATE : We just learned more details about VTE- West Africa Visa more. (January 2020) They are not giving more in Barcelona. Also it is not easy to get any where else. Looks like visa is official exist but They don’ t want to give or they don’t have visa paper to put on the passport.
You can check all Western African countries visa detail on our website:
We spent 9 months west of Africa. You never know what can happen or what is waiting for you but on the other hand it is amazing experience.
Also, if you have a plan to travel around West of Africa with vehicles also you can read our articles about border crossing and bribes :
Passport – We arrived at the border 3 days before our visa started, a bit tricky of course but we where ready to enter, I don’t think anyone ever looked at our visas as they where signed extremely fast. She went to the office, gave the passports to a woman and she went in front of all the people waiting and stamped our passports.
Import Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage (see our blog about this).
Passport – They asked a lot of questions, just to have a conversation but stamped the passports easy
Import Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage (see our blog about this).
Vehicle insurance – ECOWAS insurance valid here.
Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for.
Leaving Burkina Faso
We left Burkina Faso from the Bitou border.
Passport – Got stamped out easy nothing asked for
Export Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage. I needed to explain the guy what he needed to do for several times, he probably still doesn’t know but he stamped the Carnet the Passage so I was satisfied.
We entered Nigeria through a small border at Idi Iroko. The main border is down the coastline but this is pretty corrupt one so we decided to make a few extra kilometers and cross more easy.
Passport – This took a long, long time but eventually our passports got stamped easy and nothing was asked for. We spent around 3 hours at the border talking to everyone and showing our documents
Import Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage .
Vehicle insurance – ECOWAS insurance valid here.
Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for.
Leaving Nigeria
We left Nigeria through the border nearby Calabar called Ekok to Cameroon. This is a small border you pass over the river by bridge, it´s pretty crowded around and the bridge is not very wide. If you include the sidewalk 2 cars just fit.
Passport – This took a long time, she went in with both our passports. The guy asked a lot of questions where we have been what we have been doing. After half an hour he asked her to leave and wanted me to come in, same questions asked and he wanted a form from the border where we entered. I never received something there so I had no idea what he was talking about, he understood this and stamped my passport and send me out to send her back in again. He stamped her passport as well and we where passing through.
Export Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage .
Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for.
Cameroon
We entered Cameroon from the border in Ekok.
Passport – In this border you pass several checkpoints who all take long time they write down all your information by hand, the first checkpoint did this even twice. No passport stamped yet. Next checkpoint writing everything again and the passports got stamped. You will have 2 more checkpoints where they write down the same information.
Import Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage .
Vehicle insurance – ECOWAS insurance valid here.
Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for.
Leaving Cameroon
We left Cameroon at the border Minkoko, everything is straightforward and there are not a lot of people around.
Passport – They like to write down everything 3 times or so we got used to this, it takes time but everything goes very friendly.
Export Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage .
Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for.
Gabon
We entered Gabon from the border in Mikoko. A border not used by a lot of people.
Passport – In this border you pass several checkpoints what all take a long time they write down all your information by hand. They love the paperwork, the first one called his boss told our story and write a letter that we needed to give to the immigration office in Bitam. Here they wanted copies from everything, our Passport, Gabon visa, Cameroon visa and exit stamp from Cameroon. Of course there was a copy shop at the other side of the street what asked a fortune for a copy 100 cfa each. If you walk 100 meters to the right they do copies for 25 cfa.
Import Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage .
Vehicle insurance – ECOWAS insurance valid here.
Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for.
Leaving Gabon
We left Gabon from the border in N´dende, this is one of the few borders to the Republic Congo. It´s a 280 km long dirt road what is not recommended to ride after a lot of rain as it will be pretty muddy, we where lucky it was dry a few days before we got here.
Passport – You need to stamp your passport in the last city N´dende, the office opens at 8 in the morning. From here it´s approximately 50 km´s to the Congo border. You will stop before exiting Gabon again on the road to write down all your information and they will stamp your Carnet here as well.
Export Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage .
Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for.
Famous N’dende to Dolisie challenge road video :
Congo (Brazzaville)
We entered the Republic Congo from the border in N´dende – Dolisie. A long dirt road needs to be passed for this. The total distance is 280 km and it´s not recommended doing this after a lot of rain and especially not on a rainy day.
Passport – You come to a little place with 4 offices what is the border, again they all love to write down your information so it takes some time. They know what they are doing so it all goes pretty smooth, they ask your route through the country and stamp the passports.
Import Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage.
Vehicle insurance – ECOWAS insurance valid here.
Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for.
Leaving Congo (Brazzaville)
We left the Republic Congo from the border to Cabinda, there is only 1 border here. It´s pretty crowded but all goes pretty fast.
Passport – Passport is stamped easily, just the writing information takes a bit of time.
Export Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage.
Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for.
Angola (Cabinda)
We entered the Cabinda from the border in 36 km down from Point Noire. It´s pretty crowded but all straight forward and they have real official offices and clothes.
Passport – You enter the first building and need to fill in a form for both about your personal details and where you will stay before they stamp your passport. All people are very helpful and will help you with the translation, all is in Portuguese. Also you need a photo copy from your passport and your Angola visa.
Import Vehicle – Since a long time we are not able to use our Carnet de Passage, Angola is not part of it and they know about this. They will stamp it if you want but still you need to buy temporary importation. The price for motorcycles is 3.166 Kwanza. You can exchange at the border but in Cabinda you will get a better rate, at the moment the black market rates are 2,5 times as much as what the bank will give you for your dollars or euro´s. My advice will be to exchange 20 or 30 dollars at the border and then in Cabinda for a better rate. The importation of the vehicle is 30 days valid.
Vehicle insurance – This is the first country the ECOWAS insurance is not valid anymore. The vehicle importation is directly an insurance as well so you we didn´t buy a new one.
Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for.
Leaving Angola (Cabinda)
We left the Cabinda the border south at Tchinganga.
Passport – Passport is stamped easily, takes a bit of time as you go to multiple offices.
Export Vehicle – They took a look at our importation papers and it was all ok.
Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for.
Congo (Kinshasa) DRC
We entered the Democratic Republic Congo from Cabinda to Moanda. The road in DRC are not as bad as you expect, a lot of people told us we needed to go from the Luwozi border crossing. For that border you need to ride a long trail what is all mud. Instead taking this border (you need a multiple entrée visa for Angola to take this border). The road from the border to Moanda is a bit sandy but not too bad to ride, distance is about 30 km. From Moanda you head towards Boma this is a good dirt road with a distance about 100 km. After Boma you will find a good tar road!
Passport – It´s a little bit chaotic but all works fine, it´s easy if you have a copy from your passport and visa makes it a little bit more fast. They will take a photo from you as well and ask where you going to.
Import Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage (see our blog about this).
Vehicle insurance – We didn´t buy any insurance for DRC.
Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for at the border. About 10 km from the border is the first road tax barricade you will find. Just say you are not willing to pay and they will let you pass, at least they did for us as with a motorcycle this is easier. You can avoid this road tax point pretty easy as well like other people with a 4×4 did. Just go to the coast straight after the border to Moanda, it´s a small detour. You will find one more on the road where they let you pass easier.
Leaving Congo (Kinshasa) DRC
We left the DRC from the border at Songolo. This is a really crowded border but the people are very friendly and willing to help you, the officials wearing clothes to recognize them. First you need to pass a road tax office again, this might be a hard one especially for the 4×4´s. If you have a motorcycle just tell them motorcycles don´t pay and wait till a local motorcycle passes, he will open the gate with a smile.
Passport – Passport is stamped easily, they take you in a nice office with AC.
Export Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage (see our blog about this).
Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for at the border itself.
Angola
We entered Angola from the border at Songolo, this is a big border crossing and very crowded but has all official offices so you know where you need to go.
Passport – You enter the first building and need to fill in a form for both about your personal details and where you will stay before they stamp your passport. Also you need a photocopy from your passport and your Angola visa.
Import Vehicle – See Angola (Cabinda) part for this. They want to see the paper again and will stamp it again so you have the 30 days again same is for your visa if you have multiple entrée.
Vehicle insurance – This is the first country the ECOWAS insurance is not valid anymore. The vehicle importation is directly an insurance as well so you we didn´t buy a new one.
Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for.
Leaving Angola
We left Angola to Namibia passing the border at Santa Clara, this is the main border between these countries. It’s not that crowded, there are a few guys hanging around who want to exchange money with you and give you advice where to go, all goes friendly we just said no to everything.
Passport – Passport is stamped after going through all your details and where you have been, and then they take a photo from you.
Export Vehicle – You need to show your importation papers, they keep one of them and off you go.
Bribery – No money or gifts where asked for at the border itself.
First let me explain a little bit what the carnet de passage is. It’s simply said a passport for your motorcycle, when you enter African and Asian countries you have some option but you always need to import your vehicle, either you can do that with the Carnet de Passage or you can do this local, the costs are around 10 euro’s in most countries to import the vehicle, sometimes you need to go to the capital city to extend it. So for us it was just easier to travel with the Carnet de Passage. You cross a border and let the paper stamped and signed, done deal, no money to pay! When you leave the country they will stamp and sign it again.
In which countries you can use your Carnet de Passage?
I will try to keep this up-to-date as much as possible for the countries we are passing.
AFRICA
Morocco – No Carnet de Passage, free importation of your motorcycle. You fill in a paper at the border when you enter and you need to show that again when you leave the country.
Mauritania– No Carnet de passage, importation of the motorcycle costs 10 euro’s. They write the motorcycle details in your passport and write it out again when you leave the country.
Senegal– We used our Carnet de Passage. We choose to take a small border called Diama, they don’t stamp your Carnet de Passage here. You get a Pass Avant what costs 2500 cfa (4 euro) this is valid for 48 hours but when you enter on a Friday you get 96 hours because they don’t work in the weekends (we did this). You need to enter Dakar in the 48 hours what is about 300 km from the border to let your Carnet de Passage stamped at the custom office in the harbor GPS coordinates 14.672178, -17.425022.
The Gambia – Use Carnet the Passage. They sign and stamp it at the border and sign and stamp it out.
Guinea Bissau – We used our Carnet the Passage. They need a little help how to fill in the Carnet the Passage but they sign and stamp it when you enter. We entered from Ziguinchor. We left Guinea Bissau from a really small border (Contabane) where they signed and stamped Carnet de Passage out of the country.
Guinea Conakry– We used our Carnet the Passage. As we crossed into Guinea on a really small border they didn’t stamp or sign our Carnet the Passage (neither our passports). They told us they would do in Dabbis, but that’s wrong. You need to go to Boke (GPS coordinates 10.948341 ,-14.280779) The first officer tried to get 100.000 GNF (10 euro) each from us, we refused friendly then he told us he was going to get the chief and ask him. The chief came and signed our Carnet the Passage with a smile and no money asked. When leaving the country (Kouremale border) they stamped and signed our Carnet the Passage, asked what I have for them, first I just smiled, then he said he was hungry, I told him so am I, he asked again what do you have for me, I said a handshake. I shake his hand he smiled and give me our Carnet de Passage back.
Mali–We used our Carnet de Passage. They signed and stamped really easy nothing asked. When leaving Mali the same easy process.
Burkina Faso – We used our Carnet de Passage. They signed and stamped it without a lot of questions. Nothing asked for. When leaving the country I needed to explain the guy about 3 times what the document was and what he needed to do. Eventually he stamped the document and I was satisfied.
Togo– We used our Carnet de Passage. I needed to explain what to do, but then it got stamped and signed easily. When leaving the country the same I needed to explain it but done easily.
Benin – We used our Carnet de Passage. They immediately recognized the Carnet de Passage and knew what to do. Only thing we needed was a copy of our passport I tried to do it without but he insisted of me getting the copies. When leaving the country through a small border I needed to explain what the paper was, but the guy was very friendly and signed with a big smile.
Nigeria – We used our Carnet de Passage. We crossed into Nigeria through a small border and I needed to explain what the document was for but then it got stamped and signed easily. When leaving the country they know what they needed to do.
Cameroon– We used our Carnet the Passage. They have a special office for the importation of your vehicle and they know what the Carnet the Passage is and stamp and sign it easily. When leaving the country they know what they needed to do.
Gabon – We used our Carnet the Passage. They have a special office for the importation of your vehicle and they know what the Carnet the Passage is and stamp and sign it easily. When leaving the country they know what they needed to do.
Congo (Brazzaville) – We used our Carnet the Passage. They have a special office for the importation of your vehicle and they know what the Carnet the Passage is and stamp and sign it easily. When leaving the country they know what they needed to do.
Congo (Kinshasa) DRC – We used our Carnet the Passage. They have a special office for the importation of your vehicle and they know what the Carnet the Passage is and stamp and sign it easily. When leaving the country they know what they needed to do.
Angola – They don’t accept the Carnet the Passage, see our border crossing and bribery Western Africa writing what to do with the importation and exportation of the vehicle.
Namibia – We used our Carnet de Passage. They signed and stamped really easy nothing asked. When leaving Namibia the same easy process.
South Africa – We used our Carnet de Passage. They signed and stamped really easy nothing asked. When leaving South Africa to Lesotho we did not stamp out the Carnet de Passage as you come back 100% sure. When leaving to Swaziland we stamped out at Oshoek border, we had a lot of trouble with that as they say we are not a Carnet de Passage border we do not stamp them after a lot of talking they did stamp our Carnet de Passage but they where not happy about doing it.
Lesotho – We didn’t use our Carnet de Passage and no TIP (Temporary Importation Permit) either.
Swaziland – We didn’t use our Carnet de Passage and no TIP (Temporary Importation Permit) either.
Mozambique– We used our Carnet de Passage. They signed and stamped really easy nothing asked. When leaving Mozambique the same easy process.
Botswana– They don’t accept the Carnet the Passage, see our border and bribery Southern Africa writing what to do with the importation and exportation of the vehicle.
Zimbabwe – They don’t accept the Carnet the Passage, see our border and bribery Southern Africa writing what to do with the importation and exportation of the vehicle.
Zambia – We used our Carnet de Passage. They signed and stamped really easy nothing asked. When leaving Zambia the same easy process.
Malawi – We used our Carnet de Passage. They signed and stamped really easy nothing asked. When leaving Malawi the same easy process.
Tanzania – We used our Carnet de Passage. They signed and stamped really easy nothing asked. When leaving Tanzania the same easy process.
Rwanda – We used our Carnet de Passage. They signed and stamped really easy nothing asked. When leaving Rwanda the same easy process.
Uganda – We used our Carnet de Passage. They signed and stamped really easy nothing asked. When leaving Uganda the same easy process.
Kenya – We used our Carnet de Passage. They signed and stamped really easy nothing asked. When leaving Kenya the same easy process.
Ethiopia – We used our Carnet de Passage. They signed and stamped after they know the road you will take in Ethiopia, also they will give you a paper with all your valuables on it otherwise they will not stamp your Carnet de Passage. When leaving Ethiopia they stamp after checking the other papers.
Sudan – We used our Carnet de Passage. They signed and stamped really easy nothing asked. When leaving Sudan we did it at the airport as well fly out of Sudan. You can check the article about how you can leave Sudan to Europe with motorcycle.
You pass a bridge from Mauritania what costs 4.000 cfa (6,50 euro), you need to pay this in cfa or he will charge you 10 euro each! After that he opens the gate for you.
Passport – You hand over your passport, they give you a visa (stamp) upon arrival, no money or gift asked here.
Import vehicle – You get a Pass Avant at the other side of the Street this costs 2.500 cfa (4 euro). You get 48 hours to extend this in Dakar (of you go on Fridays you get 96 hours).
Bribery – Here we only got asked 10 euro fort he Pass Avant by one of the guys, don’t pay him just pay the guy at the desk the 2.500 cfa and you have no problems. And just don’t buy the insurance!!
Leaving Senegal
We left Senegal to The Gambia, we used the border crossing nearby Barra, no bribes asked and we got our smoothly.
The Gambia
We entered The Gambia at the Barra border.
Passport – All pretty smooth we got our visas and passport at the border for free, no money or gifts where asked.
We left Guinea Bissau on a really small border not used a lot by overlanders from Contabane.
Passport – Our passport got stamped out easy
Export vehicle – We used our Carnet the Passage.
Bribery – They asked what I have for them when we got write out of the country I told him a handshake, shake his hand and we both smiled and we where free to go.
Guinea Conakry
We used a really small border to enter Guinea from Contabane to Dabbis.
Passport – This was a problem, when we arrived at the border they told us they will stamp it in the next (bigger) village. Unfortunately they didn’t. They told us to go to Boke, the next city at the end of the road. We didn’t push anything and trusted them, our mistake! Push more at the first border crossing they need to stamp you in the country. Eventually we got into Boke riding around trying to find customs, this took a while but here are the GPS coordinates 10.930486, -14.291541 if you end up here as well to get your stamp in your passport. The chief here needed to call the minister of tourism who needed to give him permission to stamp us in the country. This all took a long time, we stayed a couple of hours waiting and waiting. The chief then wanted 100.000 GNF (10 euro) when he had the permission to stamp our passports as always we refused to pay and eventually he didn’t ask about it anymore. When we got our passports stamped and went back to our motorcycles his right hand came to us and asked us for a little money because he needed to use his mobile phone all the time, this time I gave him a little money because it is true he put in a lot of afford for us and made some phone calls, I gave him 10.000 GNF (1 euro).
Import Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage.
Vehicle insurance – ECOWAS insurance valid here.
Bribery – The chief asked us in Boke 100.000 GNF we refused and got away with it, only paid 10.000 GNF for his phone costs and because he put a lot of afford into it.
Leaving Guinea
We left Guinea from the Kouremale border to Mali.
Passport – We got our passports stamped out easy nothing asked for.
Export Vehicle – We used our Carnet de Passage.
Bribery – They only asked a gift when exporting the vehicle, I offered him a handshake and he excepted it.
*** You can watch our Guinea motorcycle trip adventure.
”Travel Guinea Conakry is trouble in protests time also no safe. Is true? :”
I will try to write from every country how the border crossing (and bribe )went and where they where asking for money or gifts.
Morocco
We entered Morocco with the ferry from Barcelona at Tangier Med. We arrived around 7 pm, you need to get your passport stamped at the ferry (this is for all ferries also from Gibraltar). When you leave the boat they check your passports and let you go to customs, this is where it all starts. When you arrive there it’s pretty crazy and crowded, there are some fixers walking around well willing to help you, but you can do this easily on your own.
Import vehicle – The papers are all writing in French, if you don’t know what it says just asked some other people traveling or officials what you need to fill in. They will help you so you don’t need to pay the fixers! You import your vehicle with a form you need to fill in, they sign and stamp it you need to keep this paper with you till you leave the country.
Passport – Like I said before you get your passport stamped at the ferry during the trip from Spain. After the importation of your vehicle they send you to a small office to fill in your details in the computer , after that your free to go!
Vehicle insurance – You need a green card insurance, we both had that from Europe. Nobody ever asked about our insurance papers, hers where expired when we left the country for a few days . But never any problems.
Bribery – No Money or gifts where asked, if you use the fixers they will ask you around 5 euro. Like I said you can do this easy without.
Leaving Morocco
This goes really smooth, they help you where you need to go, no Money or gifts asked.
Mauritania
We entered Mauritania at the coast line near Nouadhibou (I think this is the only border crossing you can take) You ride about 2 km through no-mansland this is a very bad road fort he last kilometre to get to the Mauritania border. after all stories we got a bit scared and used a fixer here. There is 1 guy well known for motorcyclists called Cheick, unfortunately he wasn’t there when we arrived. There showed a small guy called …. up and he seemed trustable, we agreed to pay 10 dollar for him, 17 dollar for 20 days insurance and 10 dollar custom fee for the motorcycle. The visa price is 55 euro’s and he would help us as well to get that fast. Unfortunately there was a whole rally there as well, about 50 Mercedes from Germany, they needed visas as well..
Passport – First you need the visa, make sure you have Euro’s with you for this or they give you a extremely bad exchange rate. The price is 55 euro, you need to go to s small office they take a photo and print your visa, only thing is they need internet for this and they don’t have that all time. It took us about 6 hours to get it, we heard stories people stayed 3 nights at the border to get there visa. Just before the last rope blocking the road they will scan your visa and your free to go.
Import vehicle – Our fixer did this for us, but I’m sure you can do this easily yourself! You need to have your motorcycle papers fill in a form they sign and stamp it, you pay 10 euro and that’s it.
Vehicle insurance – This is basically why we got our fixer, this supposed to be very hard to get and they work with the fixers. The solution is to get it in Nouadhibou. It’s nearby the camping Chez Ali des Levriers, we paid 17 dollar for 20 days at the border but here it will be cheaper. Nobody ever asked about our insurance in Mauritania
Bribery – We had our deal with the fixer at least we thought we had, after finishing all but he took us to a little cafe and said we needed to pay 200 dollars instead of the 80 dollars we agreed on before. Of course we where not willing to pay, here we ended in a long long long discussion, he showed his temperament and everything, luckily we met Cheick (the motorcycle fixer) before and he gave us his phone number, so we called him as he told us don’t pay more then this price. He argued with our fixer as well and agreed on the phone with him but turning his face to us he was going back to the 200 dollars. Again a long ‘fight’ followed, we had a big crowd around us who eventually all agreed with us (this was nice to see)! When darkness fall down she finally convinced him that we where right and he was wrong, he got his 80 dollars and we finally left the border. Be aware about this guy and don’t trust him!! Also this border crossing is doable without a fixer!
Leaving Mauritania
We left Mauritania from the Diama border, this is a small border near the coastline and is not that corrupt yet.. Don’t go to Rosso! First of all the road to the Diama border is fine to ride, you leave the highway Keur Machene where the road even gets much better. After Keur Machene it becomes a dirt-road but this is a good one and especially in the dry-season easy to ride.
Export vehicle – We entered the office and know they would ask for 10 euro’s each to sign our papers, of course we refused to pay this and we have been talking for about 30 to 40 minutes before he signed our papers for free and let us go.
Passport – They would do the same and try to ask for 10 euro each as well to sign, maybe he seen already we are not willing to pay, he signed our passports and give them to us and then softly asked for 10 euro each, we laugh at him and said no and left the office.
Bribery – Like I just said they will ask for 10 euro everywhere, just refuse play the game with them, don’t leave the office and keep talking. He has 2 books, one with all people who passed and 1 with all people who paid.. Ask to see the book and show him not everyone is paying this helps you as well. If you do pay because you have Money enough or you are in a rush please think about other travelers who don’t have the money to pay this bribes because their life get’s more hard like this. – The only thing what seems to be legit is the community fee of 500 um you need to pay at the border, the guy gives you a receipt.
