Hi Guys
I am living in South Africa and am planning to do a trans Africa trip by motorbike this year. I can't really be away for longer than 6 weeks in total which seems to mean that it would have to be an Easy coast trip.
The question is whether to ride North (start in Cape Town and send the bike back from Egypt) or South (start in Cairo and ride down to Cape Town).
Unfortunately I keep hearing about custom delays in Egypt. Some people apparently have struggled for up to 3 weeks to get their bikes out of customs in Egypt after sending them there by plane or boat. It seems as if riding north and trying to ship the car back to South Africa can be equally problematic.

Is it possible to ride north but through Egypt into Israel or alternatively by ferry to Jordan and ship the bike back to South Africa from there?

Does anybody have any information about this, or any other option?

Thanks very much
Etienne

So far as I know it hasn't been done!

BUT - should be doable. Flying out of Israel shouldn't be an issue. Question is, is there a flight at all to SA from Israel - check into that first! If so, no reason there should be a problem. Sea freight - might be a little cheaper, but much more hassle.

When you find out and do it, please add to the Shipping database!

Shipping the Bike | Horizons Unlimited

Good luck!

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Hi Grant
Thanks very much for your reply! I'll start looking into it tomorrow. I was hoping that somebody might have the name of an Israeli shipping or clearance agent. Anybody out there with any ideas?
Thanks!

Hi Limpopo,
we just finished that trip, Cape Town-Cairo and are busy with the absolutely unnerving customs in Egypt.
Here's the route we took:
CT-Windhuk-Grootfontein(Maori Camp is great)-Caprivi Strip-Vic Falls-Lusaka-Lilongwe-Nkatha Bay-Tanzania-Iringa-Singida-Arusha-Nairobi-Isiolo-Marsabet-Moyale-Addis-Kombolcha-Lalibela-Gonder-Gedaref (don't stay there, if you don't have to)-Khartoum-Kabushiya-Karima-Abri (stay at Nubian guesthouse)-Wadi halfa (Cangan Hotel is quite good)-Aswan-Quena (not recommendable)-Safaga-Sokhna-Cairo (Isis Garden camp is nice)

Some basics: The route took us just over 2 months (covered about 400km per driving day, took some days for relaxing and visa-stuff), exept of the 180km stretch between Marsabet and Moyale and some parts in Tanzania it was all tarred. The Moyale road is getting better by the day.
Fuel problems you will get in Ethiopia and Sudan as a lot of gas stations don't have benzin or are closed and may be in Egypt, where some gas stations only sell 80 Octane. So make sure, that you fill up in the bigger cities and take an extra jerry can (10l did the job for us) with you.
Spare tires: Best is, if you take some with you, in Nairobi (jungle junction) you might get some, but they might be those cheapos, which don't last long. Best is, if you put on Heidenau Scouts, they last the longest and are good on all terrains. Make sure, you got a puncture fixing kit and the required tools with you.
If you wanna go with on of those GS with the tall, narrow shocks, make sure you exchange that and the bearings beforehand for a more solid ones. In any way, take a spare rear shock with you.
Ethiopian Visa: Get it in SA, as you don't get it in Nairobi
Sudan Visa: Takes about 3 days in Nairobi, may be you can get it in SA.
Egyptian customs are as bad as you heard. We are currently in the process of getting the bikes shipped back to Germany, hopefully we will finish it today, which means it took us about 2 weeks. To avoid the heavy Egyptian customs I suggest, you take a ferry to Jordan or Saudi Arabia and ship from there, prearrange it, if you wanna be fast.
Another way to avoid it is going via Libya to Tunis and ship it from there. Libya is supposed to be amazing, we really regret having the shipping prearranged and thus not being able to go there. Visa can be arranged in Cairo, find out about the countries situation with travellers you meet on the way, coming from there.
Israel is a possibility too, but at the moment it is not advised to go in the northern Sinai. And at the Israeli border and at customs you have to unpack your whole bike and scan all you belongings (took some guys 8hrs and more).
Hope, those infos are of use for you, good luck with your trip.

Mulle

Thank you Mulle, for the fresh informations about the east

Surfy

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Hi Mulle
Thanks very much for your e-mail and the valuable information! It sounds as if you had a great time. Egyptian customs seems to be the biggest concern and ways to avoid having to spend too much time there would be awesome. So, it is either Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Tunis or Israel as end destination? I really can't be away from my business and family for more than 6 weeks so careful planning will be needed.
Are there any places apart from the ones that you mentioned that you would recommend visiting or staying at? Would you mind explaining why you would avoid Gedaref and Quena?
What would you do different if you were to do it again now?
Thanks again!!!
Take care and good luck
Etienne

Dear Mulle, we're planning the same trip for next December.
How did you cross the border from Sudan to Egypt: as usual by ferry or by road?
We heard that there is a new East border operating near the village of Taskal but information are uncertain, we wanted to avoid the problem of the ferry from Aswan that runs one a week only.
Thanks!
Hunter

This is really nice information. Does anybody else have anything to contribute? Any other places to avoid or stay at that anybody could recommend?
Thanks!

Sorry about my reply coming a bit late.
@ hunter: There is a road but it is only for trucks, as far as we heard is there is no way to avoid the ferry
@ limpopo:
"Are there any places apart from the ones that you mentioned that you would
recommend visiting or staying at?"
Windhoek: Cardboard Box
Divundu: Ngepi Camp (you'll love the toilets&signs there, Welcome to Ngepi Camp Lodge - Namibia!)
Lilongwe: Mabuya Camp
Nkatha Bay: Mayoka Village
Ngara: Floja FloJa Malawi: Home
Nairobi: Jungle Junction
Marsabet: Henrys & Rosannas Camp
Addis: Holland House
Khartoum: Blue nile sailing club has not the cleanest toilets, but got cult status! It is an experience for itself
Aswan: Keylani

"Would you mind explaining why you would avoid Gedaref and Quena?"
Gedaref is a dusty town and the hotels there are far overpriced
Quena is very noisy and got only one overpriced hotel

"What would you do different if you were to do it again now?"
Take more time, stay longer at some places, ride thru Lybia to avoid Egyptian customs, get decent tires in Nairobi (may be you can get Chris from JJs with a downpayment to organize some for you), ride through the north of Ethiopia, take decent warm gloves with me, visit Zanzibar and the coast, ride though Rwanda.

Let me tell you one thing: You can do it in 6 weeks, yes. But it is a very, very tight schedule and if you have just one serious breadown or get a little sick or got problems with shipping back, your schedule is gone. And to be honest, you won't see much, you won't enjoy it. We were already to fast, doing it in 2,5 months. Rather do it in 2 steps. Take 4-5 weeks off in this year, ride to Nairobi or Addis, leave your bike at the Jungle Junction or Wims Holland house in Addis and fly back, take 4-5 weeks off next year and do the rest of the trip. Believe me, you won't enjoy it otherwise, because you are always in a hurry,. And if you are in a hurry, you make the wrong choices. It's a once in a lifetime experience, you shouldn't spoil that.
One thing I would recommend: Contact this couple: Amsterdam to anywhere, maybe offer them to stay at your place, they are really nice and will surely share their experiences with you. Say hello to them from me.
Good luck with your trip!

Mulle

Nearly forgot to give you some important information:
In Egypt try not to go along the Nile, try to go along the Red Sea. The simple reason: at the beginning every smaller or larger town you will be stopped by the police, they have to phone their boss whether you are allowed to drive through the town (it's for your own safety, it's not for hassling). The process takes at least 20min. The same happens when you are leaving the town again, even if you drove right thru. So for every town it's like 40 minutes at police stop. They are really nice, don't get me wrong. They'll offer you tea while waiting and chat with you. But it is time consuming and nerve wrecking. So, when leaving Aswan take the desert highway to Luxor, sleep in Luxor and then go via Quena to the Red Sea. At the Red Sea they are far more relaxed, we didn't have a single police stop there, they always waved us straight trough.
And try to avoid Cairo, it's horrible!
If I haven't written it already: Take a 2nd rear shock and some material for fixing punctures with you, not the spray but the real stuff, gum and glue.

Or the oasis road kharga dahkla frafra baharea amazing road if are in to desert seens you will pass thr white desert black desert amazing

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So glad to read this thread. I am Australian and flying to Cape Town in November to ride north to Norway. I have an unlimited time frame so expect to take about 6-9 months to do the trip (there are many things I want to see while I am actually over there in Africa).

Will note down the accommodation and other tips you've given.

Am still at the research stage so haven't got to the actual planning. I'll be riding a Honda XR125L (I like small bikes) that will be registered in South Africa.

Did you need a carnet for your trans-African journey?

Yes, we needed a Carnet. But we heard that you can get it in South Africa quite cheap. Sorry, don't have further information on that.
For up to date information on the route and what expects you, may be have a look at Amsterdam to anywhere, those 2 Dutch are currently on the way south.