In the last few weeks, I have already made a rough route planning and did some research about the visa question.
The visa question has turned out that Africa is surprisingly expensive, at least if I want to get most visas in Germany already. With additional fees for sending the documents the visas will add up to 1500 Euro. That's pretty much.
In addition, some visa applications will not be easy, as some countries require a letter of invitation (LOI) and are usually focused on travelers by air rather than on land. For Nigeria, personal appearance in consulate in Berlin is also necessary. There is still some research to do.
Route planning is almost easy. My usual time frame of about 2 months should be enough to get to Namibia. Down to Mauritania I would probably try to make as much kilometers as possible.
Many questions are still not answered. Although I have already identified some companies for shipping back of the motorcycle, but whether that is also possible from Namibia, isn't sure. Also, shipping back the bike will be quite expensive, I guess.
Kindly Matthias Schneider and Florian Dietrich have answered some of my questions. Matthias Schneider traveled alone to Cape Town on the West African route and Florian Dietrich traveled with a friend on two BMWs from Spain to Cape Town in 10 weeks at the turn of the year.
At the moment I'm a bit desperate. On behalf of the financial side, I'm surprised that visa are this expensive. By contrast, my Mongolia tour was almost a bargain. The visa costs were just around 400 euros.
In addition to the financial aspect of getting the visas you also have to consider the general effort (bureaucracy). And then I still have to deal with issues of insurance and customs clearance. Carnet de passage is not mandatory but probably more comfortable. Would be 230 euros at the ADAC, but I have to make 3000 € deposit for my motorcycle.
Then I have to clarify some insurance issues. For some of the countries (countries of the ECOWAS) you can buy an insurance card "card brune" or "card rose". What this card is really covering seems quite unclear. The insurance broker Tourinsure in Hamburg and apparently other vehicle insurers offer worldwide liability insurances. But these are usually quite pricey.
Then I would also have to get an extension of my health insurance, since mine only covers max 56 days and the planning is to continue on a round trip with Brigitte and friends in Namibia, so I would get a total of about 80 days.
I did a lot for research about visa applications.
Basically, I would like to get all visas already here in Germany. This saves me detours to the embassies in big cities somewhere along the way and thus a lot of time.
In order to determine when I will arrive at the earliest in the countries on the way, I also did some route planning. For most visa applications, I have to provide a date for the (earliest) entry.
With the exception of two countries (Angola and Cameroon), I can not submit visa applications until 3 months before the date of entry. Cameroon with 6 months in advance is a pleasant, Angola with unfortunately only 60 days an unfortunate exception, especially since it is at the end of the journey.
There a two approaches concerning Angola:
- applying for the visa so late that I get it just before start of the trip, then I will arrive in Angola in time
- make an electronic visa application on the Internet. You only get an electronic notification (no visa). The visa is then paid and issued on entry (within 30 days) at the border. Cons are: More expensive than the normal visa and a bit uncertain.
As people say, the visas for the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Nigeria are the hardest to obtain. But also Congo and Ghana are not easy. For the Nigeria visa you have to appear in person at the embassy in Berlin (for a hefty surcharge of 250 € you can spare that, according to a visa agency).
For the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the use of a specific visa agency is compulsory. All other visas can be applied for directly.
Basically, as an overland traveler, you should attach a travel plan to your visa application so that the embassies understand what you are planning. It is also advisable to attach a return ticket and a copy of the Carnet de passage. With these documents, it should actually be possible to obtain all visas, but this has yet to be proofed.
I still have to think about the order in which I make the visa applications. Currently, I tend to the following order:
- Cameroon (already possible 6 months prior to entry, perhaps helpful for Nigeria application)
- Democratic Republic of Congo (with mandatory visa agency)
- Republic of Congo (with mandatory visa agency)
- Nigeria
- Ghana
- Gabun
- Guinea, Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin (order doesn't matter)
- Angola (short before the start of the trip because of limited validity for 60 days)
Today I have dealt with visa issues again.
Unfortunately, the visa for Nigeria is only valid for a period of two months from the issue date of the visa until entry [Obviously this was a wrong information, 07/10/2019]. Actually, I hoped to apply for the difficult visas as early as possible and then for all the others. Unfortunately, this plan does not work. But at least I can apply for the visa for the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) a few months in advance, as this is valid from the date of entry specified in the application.
After intensive research and phone calls with the Embassy of Nigeria and the mandatory visa agency accepting the visa applications (you have to bring them personally at least on your first entry to Nigeria), I could now find out that the normal validity for tourist visas is 3 months. A longer visa validity can be obtained with a visa for multiple entries, however, according to the Agency a maximum of 6 months.
Both indicated that a letter of invitation is necessary. On my comment that I know no one in Nigeria, I got the information, I could also write a letter myself, in which I take responsibility for myself during the stay (sic!).
After further research, I actually found travelers from the Netherlands who have written something like this before. About this contact and some other contacts, I may have further progress regarding the visa issue for Nigeria. Let's see.
Last night Andi came to visit us and talked about his experiences during his trip through Africa. It's been around 3 years ago, but it has not changed fundamentally. It's very interesting to hear about his experiences, but of course it also makes you realize what you are getting into. The mental strain is probably much higher than I experienced in my Mongolia/Pamir tour two years ago. There I never felt insecure and almost never got the impression to be ripped off. That will definitely be different in West Africa and I can't predict, how I will be able to handle this.
Today I continue with the visa for Togo, which I apply for at the Honorary Consul in Bremen. The communication with the Honorary Consulate has been very enjoyable in advance and it has by far the best and most informative website of all African countries on my route and, moreover, the visa is even the cheapest.
I am still waiting for my passport from the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Congo. The consul had told me a processing time of 7 working days. Unfortunately, it has already been 12 working days since the application documents were received. By telephone I could reach nobody so far and on my mail I received no answer. If I do not get the passport back immediately, then my planning will burst.
Spontaneously, I decided to apply for the visa for Cameroon, and I decided to do it once again with the visa agency Bridge Corporation, as the Embassy of Cameroon can not be contacted by phone or e-mail, and I don't want to send my application documents and my passport to a kind of black box.
After transferring the fees and visa costs, I did send the documents to the visa agency as a mail in advance. When I was on my way to the post office to send out the originals, I received a call from the agency: To apply for the visa, it is necessary to submit a Carnet de Passages and a copy of the vehicle registration form.
Once again a bureaucratic absurdity: As confirmed by the ADAC as a CdP-issuing institution by phone the next day, officially no CdP for Cameroon is necessary. So it's just another chicane.
In the afternoon, I picked up a fourth rabies vaccine in Reisepraxis Hamburg, which is in the shop at Globetrotter.
On this occasion, I have also had a vaccination consultation based on my vaccination book, which I will go through with my family doctor.
The Reisepraxis Hamburg hast many rather uncommon vaccines on stock, which are often not available in pharmacies.
Today I had a health check from my family doctor. She also looked through my first-aid kit and I got some additional vaccinations.
She also issued the prescription for malaria prophylaxis, which I want to do with malarone generica. A quite expensive pleasure: 72 tablets (2 packs of 36 each) cost € 196.00.
The end of a journey before it starts
Unfortunately, I have to bury my travel plans for a ride along the west coast of Africa. Some important, unpredictable matters make it inevitable that I'm in Germany this autumn.
I'm very pity about the many efforts I had already done. I probably would have managed to do all the necessary visa matters. Unfortunately, I have to write off the all the financial expenses completely, but I was always aware of this risk, although I always hoped that it would not happen.
Well, we still will have a round trip through Namibia in a 4WD with roof tent. But I will not have another opportunity for a tour along the West African coast.
To all of you, whom I met during the planning and who helped me with answering questions, I want to wish safe travels and many wonderful memories.
All the best!