Visas
 

I am currently trying to arrange as many visas as possible in advance for a trans-African expedition on my BMW motorcycle.I have left it a bit late to do this as I`m hoping to leave Australia in 6 weeks.What I need to know is which countries can I easily get a visa at the border(if any) en-route thus saving any hold-ups now with my departure from Australia?
My country list goes something like this: Tunisia,Algeria,Niger,Chad,Sudan,Kenya,Tanzania,Ma lawi,Mozambique,Zimbabwe,Botswana,Namibia,Sth Africa.
I am travelling on a New Zealand passport.
I would appreciate your comments

Jeffrey Condon

Visa in advance needed for:
Tunisia maybe for NZ?
Algeria
Niger in Tamanras
Chad in Niamey?
Sudan in N'Djamena or advance

Don't know the rest...

Chris S

1. Sudan visas are much easier to get in Africa than back home. You will need one before you reach the border, but as Chris says, you can do this easily in N'Djamena, according to people I met in Sudan recently.

2. How are you going to get from Sudan to Kenya. The civil war in the south is in alleged ceasefire, but I suspect you will still find it very difficult, if not impossible, to go trough South Sudan, and run a significant risk of getting shot on the way. Everybody goes through Ethiopia - and you will need a visa in advance - easily obtainable in the west but also obtainable in countries you'll be travelling through.

3. Kenyan are availabe at the border

You are probably aware that the going rate for these visas averages about $50 per country, so make sure you've got this into your budget. A letter of recommendation from your embassy is often required - if you can fix some sort of letter up from a governmental sounding dept at home before you go, it could save you a bit of time having to get these letters from your embassy in each country where you are applying.

Simon

Thanks Chris and Simon,
it seems I`m wasting time trying to get any visas in Australia, will arrange the first few when I get to London and the rest along the way.
Thats a good tip on Southern Sudan wasn`t aware of that one, I`m quite allergic to lead.
Jeff

Pretty sure you will get a 3 month visa for Tunisia on arrival.

Brits tend to get hammered for visa fee's in Africa fairly hard, so most advice from them tends to be of the worst case variety. NZ passport tends to be cheaper or free in some places - quite similiar to an Irish pp.

Hope that instills some confidence ;-)

Came through Niger, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya about 2 - 4 months ago. Visa for Chad in Niamey was same day service. Cost 15000CFA. Visa for Sudan in Ndjamena was 2 hours and 25000CFA. Visa for Ethiopia was about $61 dollars. However if you get it in Khartoum, the Ethiopian embassy requires a letter of introduction. As there is no Australian Embassy in Khartoum, the UK embassy covers it but costs a further 25 pounds sterling. (all other embassies there seem to do it far cheaper). Only place where we needed a letter of introduction. Kenya visa was available on the border and for complete process - visa, carnet stamped etc was only about 30 minutes. Same for Tanzania.