Visas for North to South Africa, via West Coast

[grizzly7]

What a headache figuring all this out is! So many conflicting comments on so many websites, even the embassies in each country (where they bother to reply), telling me they dont know themselves!

By my reckoning, this is a summary of what you can get and where you can get it from (assuming you're a UK bod). I'd love any comments from anyone on any of this - we head off to Morocco in a week or so's time and the whole visa situation is still way up in the air...:

Morocco - no visa required
Mauritania - visa required, costs about £20, 15 days on the border and an extension for up to a month available in Nouakchott. Can also get beforehand in Rabat, Morocco.
Mali - visa required, around £20, 1 month from the border and can extend up to 3 months in Bamako or at a police station. Can also get in Rabat.
Burkina Faso - visa required, costs about £30 for 3 months at the border.
Ghana - visa required, can get at the border with costs varying from £30 to £45 depending on who you talk to, for 1 month.
Togo - visa required, costs about £15 for 2-7 days depending on the individual, can extend in Lome for up to a month.
Benin - visa required, costs either £30 or £35 for 30 or 90 days, can get at the Togo border or at embassies in Ghana or Niger (or Nigeria, assuming you can get in there!)
Niger - visa required, costs around £45 for 3 months. Possibly able to get in advance in Mauritania or Mali? Also must get exit permit in Niamey before you leave, and stamps from the police station every time you pull up overnight??
Nigeria - visa required, near impossible to get one without invite letter from a resident...
Cameroon - visa required, about £35 for 3 months. Can get in Mali or Niger.
Gabon - visa required, costs about £50 for 3 months. Can get in Yaounde or Douala in Cameroon.
Congo - visa required, can get in Cameroon or Gabon
Angola - visa required but damn tricky to get. 30 day tourist visa only granted if you have an invite from a resident, otherwise you're looking at a 5 day transit. And if you're following the coast down, you need a double entry visa (even harder to get) thanks to the odd layout of the countries boundaries. Hmmm....
Namibia - visa not required for up to 90 days
Botswana - visa not required for up to 90 days
SA - visa not required for up to 90 days

The more I read on the Hubb, the more I get the impression that Nigeria and Angola are going to be our biggest problems. Both of these countries are a long way away as far as our trip goes, and lots can change in the meantime, but having this hanging over our heads isnt a pleasant feeling.

Us and the Unimog head off in a week or so from Barcelona to Tangier - we fancied a leisurely 24hrs on a boat before the madness of Tangier, and the cost difference for Barcelona vs Algeciras was about £20 - so if you're travelling down Africa via the west coast and fancy meeting up along the way, give us a shout

[sockpuppet]

Thanks for this. I've also compiled a list for my round Africa trip and has pretty much the same as this, I have some different places to get visas from as I'm taking a slightly different route.

I'll post the list. You've set off now. I'm leaving in Jan. Maybe we'll meet for a in the sun somewhere!

[Toby2]

I've not come across anyone having a problem with a Nigerian Visa. Not saying it can't happen but wouldn't be too worried. Also options to go round if you have to although means Chad which can be a challenging country. Angola may be harder as limited options if you do have problems. When we were down in West Africa, there was a regional grouping visa that I think gave Ghana, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, not sure on the full list. Pretty sure we got for Ghana and also covered Burkina Faso.