I am in the early stages of planning a solo ride from South Africa to France, with the exact route yet to be decided. I realise if I had more information to hand, the answers would be easier, so my sincerest apologies in advance if these seem stupid questions!

I am a dual national (Australian by birth, and French), and intend to travel with both passports, which obviously makes the European leg of the journey simple for travel. Another (and compelling) reason to do so, is to ensure that I always have one passport safely tucked away in case of problems at a border/immigration/customs/corrupt officials. It also gives me the reassurance of having two foreign affairs departments looking after me should I require their services.

I am curious to hear peoples opinions regarding any potential issues I may have throughout Africa because of my nationalities. I am also wondering whether displaying both flags on my bike will be an advantage or disadvantage? I would prefer to, but will be guided by your wisdom on that topic!

I should also mention that my name is French, which I wonder may raise issues at certain borders dependant upon which passport I use. Are there any former French colonies going to be a pain for me given all these factors?

Thanks for your time in advance, and am looking forward to reading your replies!

Hi Duderino

some countries check on the exit-stamp from the country you just left - so better not swap passports unless you are sure they don't. Because having two passports could look conspicious (spy, james bond, international crime and more).

I have spent quite some time in westafrican countries and yes, they don't generally like the French very much. But I guess you speak french with a somehow english accent - then everything is ok, else you just have to prove that the French can be nice.

Generally I found people to be "positive racists": i was always waved to the front of a queue, served first - because i'm a whitie. I really felt bad when I thought how blacks are treated in Europe!

Karinmoto

We tried to swap between South African and british passport between turkey/syria/jordan. They didn't want to know about it. Exactly what karinmoto said about entry/exit stamps. Even though we left the one country 10min earlier, they wanted to use the passport with that exit stamp to enter us into the next country.

We managed to do it on the jordan/egypt ferry. I think the only reason why we managed it was bcause we already had an egyptian visa in our SA passport.

It's not as easy as you think to change at land borders.

I also have a french name and surname but with british/Sa passport. they couldn't care less to be honest.

All will be good - don't worry about it.
Cheers

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