mali, burkina faso, niger, nigeria, angola and DRC

[ozranger]

hey everyone

i will be heading from ghana down to south africa and was thinking of going burkina, mali, niger down into nigeria and will be passing through drc and angola.
how safe are these countries? the aussie travel advisory says to avoid most of them or other parts, but these advisories are always so conservative.
has any one passed through any of these countries recently??
areas to avoid? areas not to be too concerned about but have a bad rep??

thanks

[noel di pietro]

Hi Ranger,

If you follow official advise you're not going anywhere! I passed through all of the countries you mention (except Nigeria) and loved them all! It was a few years ago (2006) but situation is only different in northern Mali, north of Timbuktu (Al Qaeda Maghreb) and Northern Niger (same). There is enough information in the Sahara section of this site about actual situation but from Cameroon down south seems daunting but is good fun, if you manage to keep away from the rainy season. No worries in Gabon, Congo Brazza, DRC, Angola. Only visa issues. Difficult to get Angolan visa and can't advise there because the situation changes regularly! There is also enough info on in the sub Sahara section.

Just go and you see you'll be fine!

Cheers,
Noel

www.exploreafrica.web-log.nl
YouTube - ‪Crossing Africa full version part 1‬‏

[ozranger]

thanks noel.
yeah i always think the travel advisories are very over stated, and i have been looking through the previous posts in the sahara section to see what its like.
wondering if anyone has been through there very recently? cote de ivore is a great example of how quickly things can change, so i was after the most up to date situation.

ps you movie is great.

[noel di pietro]

Hi,

Thanks.

Just put some inquiries up in the relevant Sahara and Sub Sahara sections about recent experiences and many people will reply, for sure!

Cheers,
Noel