transafrica shipping dilemma
 

Hi,

At the end of this year I'll be leaving Belgium for a journey through africa, destination capetown. I'll be riding along the east of africa. The planning goes pretty smooth but there is one thing I can't make up my mind about. I'm still not sure how I will return my bike. This are the options:

1. I ship my bike from belgium to capetown and ride it back home. cons: expensive! I will be riding an older, cheap bike with big milage (xtz tenere, 1994), so the shiping will be more expensive than the bike. Clearing the bike at south african customs will be a hassle too.

2. I ride my bike to capetown and ship it back to Belgium. I fly
back.
cons: also expensive. Going trough the shipping proces in capetown
looks even more complicated then dealing with it in my hometown.

3. I ride my bike to capetown and try to sell it over there. I fly
back.
cons: selling will be very difficult/impossible (carnet, import tax,...) I
could try to sell it to another overlander going to europe. Finding
someone will need alot of luck and time and it's still not sure I'm going
to see my bike again.

4. I fly to capetown and look for a bike for sale over there. I
return by bike to Belgium.
cons: buying and registering a bike overseas takes alot of time and
energy in paperwork. Finding a proper bike and preparing it will be a
hassle. I'll have to stay a couple of weeks in SA at the start of my
trip.

Which option would you go for? Maybe people with some experience in this matter? I really hope to get some respons folks! Thanx in advance!

Sorry about the bad english, writing is not my biggest quality...

Beguim to Cape Town
 

Hi I just saw your question. I am in Cape Town and want to ride from Cape Town to Egypt. I was thinking that if there is somebody who will be riding to Cape Town and then we can make a deal where I can ride it back to Egypt and then ship it from there. That will save me shipping my bike back from Egypt to Cape Town. Or maybe I ride my bike up to Egypt and meet you there and you ride it back to Cape Town for me.
You can contact me on +27823355653 or email achmat@bergstan.co.za

Or ship your bike from South-Afrika to Senegal and make your way up to Belgium with your bike. One way or the other in the end it's going to cost money to get back to Belgium, why not make the best of it ?!

Maybe a good idea... I'd prefer to ride yours back from egypt to capetown though. What bike do you have? What about registration/insurance/carnet... Do you know how all this works?

Hey, that's an option I didn't think of yet! I'll start researching right away! thanks for the tip!

The only real question here is wether you want to ride north or south.

Having just spent 9 month from Cape Town to Khartoum and having a couple of months left of our trip I can say that going north definitly seems less complicated in terms of visas and paperwork. Not 100% sure on Belgim passports, but with one South African one and one UK one we could get every visa at the border up to Kenya. Ethiopia is a bitch and you have to send your passport to your home country to get that visa, but Sudan costs only $50 in Nairobi instead of $100 in Egypt and takes only 24 hours. Egypt you can get on the Wadi Ferry and then you can take the Alexandria/Venbice ferry to Europe.

As for shipping: As I understadnthings, flying a bike is often worth it as it doesn't cost that much more and is much faster and more reliable.

However, look into shipping to Walvisbay in Namibia as many people have told me that is cheaper than South Africa.

I think it doesn't matter that much if I'll be going from north to south or south to north. Regarding visas, it is pretty much the same, don't except much trouble. Sudan visa is not that difficult to obtain in Caïro (maybe 50$ more). Ethiopian visa is pretty simple too in Sudan and Kenia. I intend to take the visemar ferry between venice and alexandria.

I tried to find a shipping agent covering Walvisbay but couldn't find any. Do you know a company that can ship my bike from or to Namibia perhaps?

zjwannie,


There are a few threads on here now about many difficulties with Ethiopian visas, and paperwork needed in addition to your carnet. Best to check them out I think.

if you serious then contact me on my work email achmat@bergstan.co.za then we can explore this better. I ride a honda Africa Twin xrv 750. This will save me cost to get it back to south Africa. I could start investigating the carnet stuff and the legalities. I do know that you can ride someone elses bike as long as you have a letter of authorization from the owner with you. Let me know. Achmat Salie +27823355653