Road conditions in East Africa
 

Previously I described on this bulletin board road conditions in West and Central Africa, from Morocco to Cape Town. Now I will describe the road conditions in East Africa. I traveled from Cape Town to Cairo but as most people do the Cairo to Cape Town trip I will describe the road conditions in this direction. As road conditions change over time and are depended of weather, I will mention time and weather for each country during my trip. Keep in mind that I traveled by motorbike.

A GENERAL ADVICE: don't pay (or bribe) police or other officials at checkpoints and at the borders. They ask sometimes for money but I never experienced serious pressure. If you have to pay, insist on a receipt. I never paid. By paying you make it more difficult for locals.

Egypt (January, February 2011; mostly dry weather)

Alexandria-Marsa Matrouh-Siwa Oasis (-Bahariya).
Alexandria-Cairo-Beni Suaf-Zafarana-Quseir-Qift-Luxor-Aswan.
Primary roads in Egypt are in good condition but secondary roads, which usually connects the villages, are old and less well maintained. However, no problem for driving. In recent years Egypt has developed a system of dual carriageways of good quality. The road from Matrouh to the Siwa Oasis is paved and in good condition. According to locals in Siwa the road between Siwa and Bahariya Oasis is in bad condition and partly covered with sand and sand dunes. Not recommended for motorbikes. You need a permit for that road.

Sudan (January 2011; dry weather)

Wadi Halfa-Dongola-Karima-Atbara-Khartoum-Wad Medani-Gedaref-Metema (border)-Gonder (Ethiopia).
Due to oil revenues in recent years Sudan has developed an extensive network of tarmacked roads of good quality in the northern part of the country. The road from Wadi Halfa to Dongola and Atbara is completely reconstructed and does not follow the original road so your GPS will tell you you are driving off road. The road from Gedaref over Metema (border) to Gonder (Ethiopia), which is indicated on most maps as 'earth road' and 'partially improved', is now tarmacked and in good condition.

Ethiopia (December 2010; mostly dry weather)

Metema-Bahir Dar-Gonder-Axum-Adigrat-Woldiya-Lalibela-Woldiya-Dese-Addis Abeba-Dilla-Moyale.
Ethiopia has in recent years greatly improved its road network. All major roads are sealed and in good condition. The road between Gonder and Axum till the town of Shire (about 60 km west of Axum) is still a dirt road but not too bad as long as it does not rain; road works were going on. The road from Axum over Adigrat and Woldiya to Addis Abeba (the eastern part of the historical loop) is tarmacked and in good condition, except for some sections between Axum and Adigrat and near Debre Birhan were road works were going on and detours exists. The road to Lalibela from the village of Dilbe near Woldiya was unpaved and very bad but might be better now as improvement had started. I took the road to Lalibela from the village of Gashena (between Woldiya and Bahir Dar) and that road was unpaved too but in much better condition. The road between Addis Abeba and Moyale is completely paved and in good condition. A warning: when I traveled in Ethiopia there was a serious fuel shortage (petrol). It might be temporarily but fuel up as you can. Be also warned for the massive amounts of cows, goats, donkeys, children which all want to cross the road.

Kenya (November 2010; rain season)

Moyale-Marsabit-Isiolo-Nairobi-Eldoret-Kitale.
The road in northern Kenya is of major concern to most travelers. It is unpaved and in bad condition. The section from Moyale to the village of Torbi, where the road turns to south, the road surface is loam, sometimes covered with sand, muddy spots and corrugated but this is still the best part. In Torbi is a basic hotel and opposite is the Small World Bar, were you can get a beer. From Torbi to Marsabit National Park the road surface consists of sharp edged stones; difficult to drive and punctures are the main risk. It is a desert so take water with you in case you get a puncture. In Marsabit National Park the road surface changes to loam, with spots of large boulders which are not difficult to pass by motorbike but might be nasty for cars. During dry weather the loam surface is hard and easy to drive but in wet conditions it is a terrible mud pool. I was there during rain and it was not funny. From Marsabit National Park southward the road is sand, sometimes deep sand, and loam and corrugated as between Moyale and Torbi. This will last until you reach the southern boundary of Losai Nature Reserve about half way between Marsabit and Isiolo. There the tarmac starts all the way down to Nairobi. The road from Nairobi to the Ugandan border is tarmacked and very buzzy. West of Eldoret until the border the road is in bad condition, with deep spurs. Although the army was largely relocated to the Northeast, to the border with Somalia, and locals warned for banditry, I had no security problems in the north of Kenya. It was safe, at least during day time. However problems might exist at the end of the dry season when the nomads become desperate.

Uganda (October 2010, rain season)

Eldoret-Tororo-Mbale-Tororo-Kampala-Murchison Falls National Park-Kampala-Fort Portal-Kasese-Mbarara-Kabale.
The roads in Uganda are generally in reasonable good condition. The Ugandan government has started an extensive road reconstruction program so expect road works. The road from Kampala to Murchison Falls NP is tarmacked till the city of Masindi. From Masindi to MFNP it is a loam road (murram). Very good in dry season but might be impossible to pass by motorbike during rain season, especially later in the rain season when the road body is soaked with water. The road from Kampala to Fort Portal is tarmacked and in good condition except for the first fifty kilometers which were under reconstruction and very dusty. From Fort Portal I crossed Queen Eliyabeth National Park over Mbarara to the Rwandan border. This road is good and nice to drive; beautiful landscape. Don't take the shortcut to bypass Mbarara during rain as this shortcut might turn into a mud pool.

Rwanda (September, October 2010; rain season)

Kabale-Kigali-Gisenye-Gitarama-Butare (Huye)-Cyangugu-Butare-Kigali-Rusumo (border with Tanzania).
The main road network in Rwanda is in good condition. No problem, except the road between Butare (Huye) and Cyangugu, through the forest of Nyungwe in the south of Rwanda. This road is tarmacked but covered with potholes. It is okay to drive but you have to be aware of this. In Butare I recommend hotel Mont de Huye. It is easily the best place in town to stay: cheap, comfortable, friendly and with a courtyard to park your car or bike. Location: S 02.36.177 E 029.44.543.

Tanzania (September 2010, dry season)

Rusumo (border with Rwanda)-Kahama-Mwanza-Nzega-Singida-Arusha-Moshi-Dar es Salaam-Iringa-Mbeya-Kaporo (Malawi).
Road conditions in Tanyania are in general not that good. In sixty years of independence and billions of aid this country has not succeeded in constructing even a paved road network which connects the major cities. The road from Rusumo, at the border with Rwanda, until Kahama is tarmacked but under reconstruction with detours and temporary side roads. From Kahama to Mwanza and back to Nzega till Singida the road surface is in good condition; new tarmac. From Singida to Babati, at the junction with the main road between Arusha and Dodoma, the road is under reconstruction and horrible: sand, loam, deep potholes, boulders, corrugation; everything most people don't want. The main road between Arusha and Dodoma, from the village of Makuyuni on, is under reconstruction too but not as bad as the road from Singida to Babati. From Makuyuni to Arusha the road is tarmacked. The road from Arusha over Moshi to Dar es Salaam is okay, tarmacked but with potholes. The road from Dar es Salaam over Iringa to Mbeya is very buzzy, quite dangerous due to murderous truck and bus drivers and between Mikumi and Iringa under reconstruction. There are small detours and traffic jams. From Mbeya to Kaporo in Malawi the road is good. Halfway between Mbeya and Kaporo, in the village of Tukuyu, is a good and reasonable priced hotel. It is named Landmark Hotel; you can't miss it. Locals warned for the security situation on the road down to Kibondo and Kigoma near the Burundi border due to banditry. Many refugee camps exist near the borders with Rwanda and Burundi.

Malawi (August 2010, dry season)

Kaporo-Mzuzu-the lakeside road to Cape Maclear and Liwonde-Blantyre-Mwanza (border with Mozambique).
The main road network in Malawi is in good condition. Be aware of cattle and people crossing the road. The road from Chitimba up to the missionpost of Livingstonia is very steep, hairpinned and in bad condition. There is not that much to see in Livingstonia, other mission posts in Malawi are more interesting. If you visit Cape Maclear at Malawi Lake, do a bit of bird watching with Steady Jalie. He is an excellent guide and a pleasant guy. You can contact him through Fat Monkeys Lodge or by phone (+265 999 313 509).

Mozambique (August 2010, dry season)

Mwanza (border with Malawi)-Tete-Changara-Mutare (Zimbabwe).
I just crossed so I have little experience with road conditions in Mozambique. The road from the Malawi border to the Zimbabwan border was good but there was a fuel shortage.

Zimbabwe (august 2010, dry season)

Mutare-Masvingo-Harare-Chirundu (border with Zambia).
All roads were good. Old and repeatedly repaired tarmac but okay. Not much traffic. Decent traffic behaviour.

Zambia (august 2010, dry season)

Chirundu-Lusaka-Livingstone-Kazungula (border with Botswana).
The road was okay, tarmacked, sections with big and deep potholes.

Botswana (May and July 2010, dry season)

Mahango (Caprivistrip)-Ghanzi-Gobabis (Namibia). Kasane-Katima Mulilo-Mahango-Maun-Nata-Francistown-Gaborone-Lobatse (border South Africa).
The main road network in Botswana is in good condition; tarmacked, some potholes. No fuel problems.

What do you think your top and average speed on the sealed roads is/ was?

speed
 

80 km/h on average. I am quite slow. :D

Sorry, what is a 'loam' road?

ie: From Masindi to MFNP it is a loam road (murram).

Loam / laterite / murram is an earthy red clay surface.

Good in the dry, but horrible in the wet.

Nairobi is best avoided as the traffic is dreadful, grilocked and made worse by the massive re-engineering going on with new flyovers and roundabouts, the tarmac improvements going north are to extend further in 2012, not as far as Marsabit, but there will be a lot less dirt-road next year. There are improvements planned for the "road to hell" through the desert north of Marsabit to Moyale in late 2012, this has to be one of the roughest roads in Africa.

Got through in an early Freelander (!) on fairly ordinary van-type tyres, (5 ply casing, 2-ply sidewalls) with no punctures, but met one overlander who had 14 and a biker who had 9. Take a tyre compressor so you can lower the tyre pressures on the corrugations (50 km south of Moyale if you are heading north, all the way to the town), and increase them for the seriously rough stuff.

Sudan following the Nile is now brilliant tarmac (as is the road to the border through the mountains of Ethiopia, a stunning drive).
Diary is up at www.londoncapetownrally.com

The Egypt ferry is just shocking, given there are three very good roads to the border and the Sudan-side are keen to see them open to normal traffic and trade.

There is a little known hostel in Wadi Halfa called the VIP House, you have to ask for it, a single storey building on the southern edge of the town, and its five very good bedrooms with good facilities, and vastly better than any alternative, inside a walled courtyard and very secure.

Completed London to Cape Town in six weeks - no bribes given, or, asked for, not even a biro.

The "police permit" or authorsiation in Wadi Halfa is a scam, if they wont give you a receipt, walk away (and they wont try to stop you), not convinced this is necessary as it was never asked for in the whole crossing of Sudan (via Khartoum, best place to stay is a small hotel behind the Lebanese Restaurant in the one-way-system part of Africa Street), very friendly helpful people everywhere, and so much more "modern" than Egypt, where locals seem to be more industrious and working hard to make a success of their lives instead of sitting around.

The road from Arusha south to Dodoma is hard in places but do-able, the first 150km is all new tarmac which is steadily being extended. Dodoma immediatelty south is also a go-er, tricky mountain climb in the middle, the alternative of going east almost to Dar is a busy road full of trucks, nothing like as interesting.

Roads
 

The reason why the roads are being paved and improved in Sudan & Ethiopia, has nothing to do with Oil, it is all being done for them by the Chinese who are gradually taking over more and more in Africa. The reason the Chinese are doing it......they don't ask questions, the West always were trying to put conditions on them (We'll do this for you....but you must do this etc.)
I have just rode down thru there myself and saw a lot of chinese workers, and I suspect they will continue into many more countries as well.

Cheers
Paul:thumbup1:

Phillip,
Here's some links to maps of your route recce for your information.

Part 1 goes to Venice, Ferry to Egypt
Part 2 goes from Alexandria, to Aswan, Egypt, boat to Wadi Halfa.
Part 3 goes from Wadi Halfa, to Cape Town.

LtoCT - Google Maps

LtoCT-2 - Google Maps

LtoCT-3 - Google Maps

:thumbup1: JB

Wadi Halfa
 

Also I thought the best Hotel in Wadi Halfa would of been 'Kilopetra'
Road report up top is great I will be doing Kenya down in May so this info has come at a good time. It is also nice to see people take the time for these things, that is what this site is all about.bier

Thanks
Paul:thumbup1:

Hi, i think you really really have had very crucial moments while going through the roads and the journey quite have had become very tough for you. the roads in Kenya and Tanzania are very bad and its quite tough to cross the distance.

The Chinese aspect.
 

In southern Ethiopia last year I met an Ethiopian Archeologist and chatted a while.
During the chat his mobile rang - it was obviously good news. When he hung up he told me he'd been waiting for the call, it was confirmation of his sponsorship for his PhD course in Italy and Spain.
So I guessed he was pretty well educated, and what he then went on to say stuck in my mind.

He was convinced of two reasons for the Chinese taking over the construction of infrastructure in East Africa.

Their prices are cheaper than anyone elses, including, often, local labour. (I found that hard to believe).

They forecast to not be self-sufficient in food in China some years hence (don't remember the timescale).
So they are building a modern road network, stretching inland, to facilitate the transport of food to East African ports.
That wasn't so difficult to believe.

Further west in Africa the Chinese seem to be very active in mining as well.



Sorry, a little :offtopic: but thought you may be interested.

Hey McCrankpin,

Still off topic, but thanks for passing along the interesting comments by the archeologist. To quickly comment on the cost of road construction, I guess I can understand his comment about the overall cost of using Chinese labour being cheaper.

A couple of reasons, the wages in rural China are indeed low and there is such an huge pool to select from that finding people willing to work at competively low wages is certainly possible. I have heard anecdotal stories of some of the Chinese labour in Africa even being prisoner labour, but don't know for sure.

The second issue is productivity, whereby the productivity per Chinese employee exceeds that of the locals. Even if the hourly costs are comparable, the units of production (eg. miles of road) are going to be greater and the cost per unit is cheaper.

Seems reasonable as their work ethic is impressive and they also have been honing their infrastructure building techniques for the last couple of decades in China and have pretty efficient systems.

One big question in my mind was what's going to happen in the long term. There were a few places like Angola where you can see that the roads had been repaired and paved a couple of decades ago, and for many reasons had fallen into a state of disrepair. Sustainable improvements and development, probably a question for an entirely separate thread on it's own:)

Happy riding.

Do you have tracks of it ?

Track NE Africa
 

I attached to this message the track of northeast Africa. Points are made every 5 km.

Mart

Nice ! Thank you :thumbup1:

You drove from south to north. Where and how did you get your visas ?
My bike is now in Cape Town after driving it south from Belgium at the west side.
In August I will drive it back home at the east side.