visas beyond Mori

[Malcolm Woodruff]

We are leaving for Ghana at the end of Feb. We have visas for Mori and Ghana but wonder whether it is possible to pick up the others, Mali, Burkina, Cote d'Ivoire and maybe Senegal and Guinea, at the borders. We do not want to spend a lot of time hanging around major cities getting visas or have we no choice?

[Sam Rutherford]

Burkina you can get at the border (in theory) - but is one hour in and out at consulate in London.

Senegal did not require visas from UK nationals 18 months ago.

The others you need in advance. No doubt there will be other posts with more information on those...

Sam.

[Ian]

You could get a Mali visa in Rabat in March 2001 - see http://www.sahara-overland.com/routes/atlantic.html
At that time Brits also didn't need a visa for Senegal. Also in May 2001 you could get visas for both Guineas in Banjul. I'm pretty sure there's a Burkina embassy in Rabat also.

[Kevin]

EU citizens do not need a visa for Senegal or The Gambia. A Malian visa is given on the spot (or within 3 hours) in Nouakchott for 1900 Ougiya, I understand that the Ivorian one takes one day. I have received a Malian visa on the border on a number of occassions but I wouldn't recommend doing this. The Ivorian visa takes at least 2-3 days in Bamako and is expensive. The people who work there are pretty shit too.

[Kevin]

Sorry the above information was correct in November 2001. If you want to go through Guinea then there are two ways to do it. You can go first to Guinea Bissau (visa on the spot in Ziguinchor CFA5000) and then get the Conakry visa within a day in Bissau. I got a visa for Conakry in Bamako within 24 hours but this is probably not the ideal route. The problem with Conakry visas is that you have to get the laissez-passer at the embassy too. From experience I know that Conakry visas are expensive, most of the time they cost about Stg25. Does anybody know where they can be got cheaper?