From Morocco to South Africa March-May 2010
 

Hi all! I will drive from Italy to Cape Town march-may 2010.
Anyone on the same way at the same time?
Any suggestion for the best route From Senegal to Angola?
Anyone knows an insurance that cover west african country?
(When I rode through east africa I used the yellow comesa, but it doesn't cover west african country).
Thanks!
Ciao Matteo

I'll be doing the West Coast route, but from March to September.

From my research I've gathered that as far as West Africa goes, you'll have lot's of different routes you can take, i.e along the coast (Ivory Coast -> Nigeria) or the Sahel countries further north, or any combination, depending on your preferences and security sensibilities.

Angolan visa can be a hassle to get.

Julian

Finished a trip London to Cape Town, went via France, Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, DRC, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa. The Angola visa take around 3 weeks to get a tourist one how ever if you are lucky you can get the Transit 5 day one ( easily achievable if nothing goes wrong) issued the same day in either Nigeria and DRC on certain days of ther week. Mon, Wed and Fri if I recall. Things change all the time in those countries in regards to visas so my experience may not be the same for you and it also depends hugely on which country you are from, Im a New Zealander so it was easy since most didnt even know where that was. There were 3 of us on the trip and had no major break downs, all on XT yamahas, fairly new ones. As for insurance we used a company in Netherlands called Alessie, alessie@alessie.com covered all states of africa.

Thank you, this is a very usefull insurance tip!

Mauritania and Mali
 

I am also in the planning phase of a trip from the UK through west africa and down to the cape. What are you hearing about safety issues in Mauritania and Mali following recent incidents there ?

Guys in the Sahara section are talking (speculating) about this a lot these days.

But what can you really do? You have to cross Mauritania. Exercise some common sense and hope for the best. Maybe avoid northern/eastern Mali (South is supposed to be much nicer anyway).

Merry Christmas,
Julian

Yep, I guess that is the bottom line. Have heard from a good source recently that two travellers have gone through Mauritania in the last few weeks without any issues. Agree that northern Mali is best avoided.
Was wondering whether it may be better to go through Guinea and Ivory Coast...know anyone that has done that ?