Hi Per
Your route is the exact opposite of the one I'm on at the moment. We've spent the last 5 months travelling through Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Niger and Algeria. I'm in Tunisia at the moment and we're heading to Libya when we've got our visas and then on to Egypt, through the Sudan to Ethiopia and heading in a southerly direction, zigzagging our way down the East side of Africa. We're planning to be in Cape Town by Christmas. Wish the trip could be longer, but we're limited by money.
A note on the Libyan visa. I checked at the Libyan embassy in Tunis and it's possible to get a transit visa, which enables you to travel across the top of the country (along the coast). You don't need any invitation or guide commitments for a transit visa. You just need a letter in Arabic, explaining who you are and why you need a transit visa. You submit this to the embassy, along with a copy of your passport. They evaluate your request and if given the OK, issue a transit visa for the cost of 31 Tunisian Dinar. I'm in the process of writing the letter and have to find someone to translate it into Arabic. I'll let you know how I get on with this. Watch this post. It may be possible to do the same thing in Cairo.

Of course, this option means we have to miss out on the Libyan desert, which would be fantastic, but the costs are too high. Algeria worked out cheaper so we decided to spend our money there. We went with Tanezrouft Voyages and we had an amazing trip with him into the Hoggar and then travelling northwards through the desert via Assekrem to In Salah. From In Salah, it was a bit of a trek to the border (1200km in 3 days) and the drive through the Grand Ergs was incredible. We were escorted all the way from Ain Guezzam (Niger border) to Taleb Larbi (Tunisian border). Algeria is the most wonderful country - the scenery is spectacular and the people are very gentle and friendly (careful in El Gorlea though). Mohammed, our guide, read us very well (we were travelling with a guy on a motorbike that had endless battery and wheel problems) and changed our itinerary when he saw the state of the bike on arrival at Ain Guezzam. Our itinerary enabled us to have as much experience of the desert as possible, given our money, time and bike limitations. I've travelled with guides before and I can't recommend Tanezrouft highly enough. It was an awesome trip.
Let me know if you'd like more info on our route so far and our route southwards. It might help you with your planning.
Good luck
Bel

Hi Landygirl

Thanks for your report , it's a very interesting experience .
I've some questions about your trip in algeria : can you give me more infos about your route through this country ( offroad ? bivouacs ? timing ? ) .
How do you organize your rendez-vous with Tanezrouft voyages in In-Guezzam ? And about the price you've paid .
About Lybia , do you know if transit visa is available to cross Lybia to Niger border ?

RR.

Thanks for the info Landygirl. That was very good. I will probably ask you a bit later on more stuff when I have a better view on what we are doing and when.

THen I still have a question on Algeria.
Does anyone know how I could possibly get a visa to ALgeria for Feb 07 when I am not in my own country???
Can I send the passport with my embassy and have frriends at home to sort it out? :confused1:

Landygirl it sounds like we are passing eachother on the east coast possibly then. It would be great to have a short stop somewhere and exchange experiences.

/PER

Hi there
Per, we had to courier our passports to the UK for the visa processing there. It was a bit of a pain and very expensive, but the only way to do it, it seems. So yes, you will probably need to send your passport back home and have your friends sort it out. I know in the UK there are visa processing agencies, so perhaps in Sweden there are as well. It'd be a pleasure to meet up on the East Coast somewhere. Let me know your route and timings and perhaps your email address (send me a private message if you'd prefer) and we'll keep in touch.
Roro, we contacted Tanezrouft from their website and took it from there. Rendevous-ing at Ain Guezzam was easy enough, once we'd established a date. However, because of the problems we had with the bike, we were delayed by a further 2 days and then another half day. We were able to make contact with Tanezrouft to let them know, but unfortunately, Mohammed had already left In Salah to meet us and therefore had to sit around in Ain Guezzam waiting for us. When we got to the Algerian border, they seemed to be expecting us and phone Mohammed who arrived about 2 hours later. It all went pretty smoothly, actually, indicative of the professionalism of the agency and our guide!
We had about 17 days in Algeria. Not nearly enough, as I said, but we had some time restrictions (a flight to meet in Tunis, for one). I have to run right now, but will post details on our route perhaps tomorrow. Pretty much all of it was piste driving, with some dunes and some nasty rocky bits too. I can't remember the exact price we paid, but it was pretty much in line with the prices quoted on Tanezrouft's website, so have a look there.
About the Libya/Niger border - I'm not sure if this route is open, but I don't have all the facts. If it is, it's still unlikely that the transit visa will be issued because that route will necessitate a desert crossing. You're not allowed to traverse the Libyan desert without the company of an official guide, as far as I know.
'Til tomorrow
Bel

thanks a lot for your reply .... I'll wait for more details

RR.

Thanks for the excellent information. I will send you a personal message about meeting up somewhere on the way.

Til later!

/PER

Hi Per and RR
Sorry I've taken so long to get back to you with our Algerian route, but here it is. We did a 3 day loop through the Hoggar and again, I'm sorry but I've left the route details behind so can't put them in here!
After that, we travelled from Tam to In Salah via:
* Assekrem - stunning scenery en route and there - it's worth walking across the other side of the hill after the sun rise as the view round that side is spectacular for it's lack of any signs of humanity). Staying at the government rest house was great - a very chilled out place with comfy beds and great staff
* Mertoutek - through the Parc Nationale d'Hoggar, which has beautiful scenery and fabulous rock formations. We stayed at the park headquarters, which was simple, but comfortable and again, the staff were so friendly and welcoming. We did a tour of the gardens there, which was really interesting and saw some amazing rock paintings nearby
* Abbezou - fabulous dune amongst remarkable flatness. Walk up the steep boulders and feel the rock on the soles of your bare feet. Fantastic.
* Tejmout via Arak - Arak nothing to write home about, but after that, we picked up the old French road built in 1911 and stopped at the oasis of Tejmout, spending the night with some Tuaregs nearby. Tagala is a must, as well as fresh and soured camel milk! The oasis is a great place to do a bit of laundry and have a decent wash in lovely sweet water.
* Erg Tahoulahin - Enormous and beautiful. Spectacular sunrise from the top - best enjoyed ALL alone while your travel companions sleep on (not being morning people)! Nearby, we saw some more rock paintings, Taureg etchings and surprised a snack there!
* Guelta Tehelguin - You can't believe the depth and coolness of the water tehre. Watch the flies though - they bite hard and deep and the itch is excrutiating.
And then to In Salah and a rush north to the border at Taleb Larbi. What I've outlined doesn't begin to describe the raw beauty of it all. I would love to go again and will, once again, put myself completely in Mohammed's hands to decide on the best itinerary. He's excellent at reading his clients and working out what they'd need and appreciate.
We're waiting for our Libyan transit visa to be OK'ed. I'll update when we hear more about that in about a week's time.
Per, we're likely to be in Ethiopia sometime in August at the current rate. Hopefully early August. Hopefully we can meet up somewhere, but I'll wait to hear from you.
Bel

Hi Landygirl

Have enjoyed reading all your posts in the last few weeks as they have been so helpful. We are planning a similar trip in 6 or 7 months time perhaps along the same route.

I have replied to one of your posts on another thread too requesting any further info where we can follow your trip (website/blog?)

Otherwise you mentioned 6 months to Tunisia - seemed like a long time to me as you mentioned 17 days in Algeria... Besides the month in Tunisia with all the waits, where did you spend all the the other time?

ps Hope your Libya crossing goes well

Thanks

Rob

Hi Rob
No blog or website, I'm afraid. Too much admin for an IT world escapee! I just write letters en masse to friends and bore them senseless.
Yes, 6 months to get as far as Tunisia is a long time. We started in Morocco (crossed from Algeciras to Cueta) and spent 2 1/2 months there. It was too long to spend, but a good starter to the trip as we didn't travel large distances, had snow and desert experiences and had a chance to get used to each other, the car and life on the road. No bad thing, really, but Morocco did suck up quite a bit of cash.
We took about 3 weeks through Western Sahara and Mauritania to rush to Dakar for me to catch a flight to Cape Town for my sister's wedding. A huge pity to miss out on Mauri inland, but you win some and lose some. About 3 weeks in Senegal and then into Mali, where we had about 6 weeks or so. Mad dash across Niger to get to Algeria and then a long wait in Tunisia for visas, etc. Another pity to have to spend so long in one of the more bland of North African countries, but again, it's win and lose. We're now in Egypt and are going to be delayed again as the ferry to Wadi Halfa, Sudan, only goes once a week, on a Monday. C'est la vie.
Let me know if you need more info. Are you driving or biking? How many of you are there?
Bel

Hi Landygirl

We will be driving (red LR Defender 110) - just 2 of us in the vehicle but hopefully we can hook up with others at various points.......

You had previously mentioned (in another thread?) that you had to courier passports to London (?) to get Algerian visa and that it was expensive. Any other info on this topic? eg how long did it take and from where did you do it?

In hind sight was there anything you could have done to get visa's eg. Algerian and Libyan beforehand or to reduce waiting time for visas - without repeating any of the previous info on Libyan transit visa as I appreciate this can't really be done in advance (without going down the tourist visa/with guide route?) Also I believe not ALL your time in Tunis was due to waiting on visas..........?

Hope the trip is going well

Regards

Rob

ps. thanks for info re border x'ing Libya/Egypt too - keep 'em coming

Hello Rob,

it is now possible to obtain a transit visa for Algeria in Agadez. 7 days validity I think, but have to check.

All best, Yves

__________________
Yves

Thanks Yves

Spotted similar reply from you too in previous thread.

Regards

Rob

Hi Landygirl,
Reading your unusually optimistic crossing across the Algerian sahal, I am for the first time, considering this Hogger route.
Please can you affirm that the route is open, Jan/Feb2009, and not unsafe (the best way i can think of saying it)
Avoiding Libya, we considered starting Tunis. following Chris Scott route.
Where can i get more information about this actual route?
From Marsailles crossing onwards?
Travelling in Toyota Landcruiser.

Thanks

Rachel