Motorcycle Overland 2023 UK to South Africa. West Coast Route
 

The plan is to ride from Northampton, UK to South Africa following the West Coast route. The East Coast route is currently a non starter due to war in Sudan and problems in Ethiopia. The journey started in March 2023. I'll try and post as much information on border formalities, visas and other paperwork issues as possible.

This is my second attempt at riding Africa, North to South. Started in Northampton, UK on 20 March 2023. Last year I rode solo down to Dakar and back (October 2022) so for me the first part of the journey is something I've already done. This year I've joined up with my fellow traveller Richard and the whole route is new to him. We're hoping to make it to South Africa. Learning from last year, there are a few things we are doing differently this year. First up is visas. The Ghana and Nigeria visas are very difficult to get so we set ourselves the target of getting them before leaving the UK. It's not easy and required lots of form filling, online applications, hundreds of pounds in fees and personal visits to consulate offices in London. Anyway, we managed to get the Ghana and Nigerian visas and then the trip was on. Richard decided to do a tour of Morocco which I wasn't interested in as I'd done it last year so we agreed to meet in Agadir before starting our ride South together.

The ride to Agadir is straight forward, through France and Spain. Ferry from Algeciras to Tanger Port. Moroccan border procedures are easy. Just turn up. Immigration is done on the ferry. Customs on exiting the port. Customs just need the registration document and issue a Temporary Import Permit (TIP) which takes the form of a credit card sized piece of paper. On exiting the port there are cash machines and an insurance office. Just buy your Moroccan insurance and you're good to go. From memory it was about 65 Euro for 10 days insurance. The roads in Morocco are fine, there are plenty of hotels and frequent fuel stations, just like riding in Europe. I stopped in Rabat and next day continued down to Agadir to meet Richard

Next day we rode down to Laayoune. Laayoune is a real gem. Nice city centre hotel surrounded by clean streets, banks, shops etc. Even a McDonald's. Laayoune is in Western Sahara. It's politically sensitive but suffice to say the Moroccans control it and for all intents and purposes you're in Morocco so no border formalities. Next day we rode down to Dakhla which is a well known Kite surfing hangout. It's a fantastic ride, the roads are good with desert and ocean views. Next day we went to Bir Gandouz. There is nothing there but a fairly run down hotel which didn't have flushing toilets or AC. The staff are friendly and let us park the bikes inside the courtyard for the night. It's a good staging post for entering Mauritania. The plan was to avoid going to Nouadhibou. I went there last year and found it's a place best avoided. Instead we planned to cross the border and go straight to Nouakchott.

The border crossing is ok, you just clear out of Morocco then ride across No Mans land to Mauritania. There you need to see Immigration, police, customs, money changers and insurance people. If you don't speak French or Arabic it may be worth using a fixer. The ride from the border to Nouakchott is fine. The road has had significant improvement work done since last year and most of it is fine. Nouakchott itself is a revelation and quite chaotic. Africa effectively starts in Mauritania! We arrived late in the evening and the hotel we planned on staying at was full. It took a while to find another and we were worn out by the time we checked in.

A lesson from last year, don't book a hotel based on the online photos and don't pre pay as some of the advertised hotels are derelict and the hotel booking sites won't refund even though the booking is fraudulent. After check in we went to fill up with fuel and get the bikes ready for an early start the next day.

Next day we were up early, hoping to get out of town before it got too busy and hot. We didn't really succeed on either of those but eventually we were on the open road. The ride to the border was tough, just because of the heat. It got up to 43'c and there was just no escape from the sun beating down. We chose the Diama border based on the reports of corruption and scams at Rosso. I went through Diama last year and it's a mess but manageable. Last year the dirt road to Diama was in a bad state and progress was slow. This year I was surprised to find the road has been repaired. It is still dirt but at times were managing 60mph with no problems. On the way you enter a national park where a guard collects 200 ouguiya. This is legitimate and he issues a receipt. The border is not far away. At the border you go into the Mauritanian offices and clear out of Mauritania then ride across the bridge over the river. First thing you have to do is pay the bridge fee in CFA so you need a money changer. You don't need to find one, they will find you! The exchange rate isn't the best but they are at the border and offer a great service making life easier for travellers so I have no problem with that. They are a friendly bunch and quite helpful too. Once the bridge fee is paid you go on to immigration for passport stamp then customs and insurance. You can get Brown Card insurance which covers lots of West African countries. Can't remember how much it should be. I'm pretty sure we were done by a fixer but that's the life of an overlander I suppose. Once all that is done you're on your way into Senegal. Of course all of this has been done in the baking heat and slow working due to Ramadan. Photo of the road to Diama and approaching the Diama border crossing on the Mauritanian side.

Following a suggestion, I have restarted this as a new thread with a bit more info and will add some photos along the way. Apologies to the reader who made the suggestion, I lost your name when I deleted the previous thread. Send a PM to get in touch. To anybody else reading this, suggestions are welcome and I'll do my best to post updates as we go.

From Diama we headed off towards St Louis which is not far away. We found the accommodation on one of the booking sites. Looked OK and was on the outskirts of town. Problem was that it wasn't easy to find. Seemed to be cleverly hidden away down various roads covered in thick soft sand. Not the easiest stuff to ride slowly in. Anyway we found it and checked in. St Louis waterfront has a French colonial feel about it and a restaurant just off the end of the main bridge. Have to smile at the craziness of it all. Small capacity bikes everywhere. A guy came past, facing back talking to his pillion passenger while smoking a cigar out of the corner of his mouth. Just not scene I had expected. Returning to the accommodation later the staff let us park our bikes inside which was reassuring. The plan was to go to Dakar the next morning.

There are a couple of routes from St Louis to Dakar. The coast road is very slow but shorter. The main route runs further inland and although longer in distance is quicker. I did both last year but this year Richard agreed the quicker route would be best. Quicker is a relative term here as it's still a slow road with towns, markets, stalls, speed bumps and most notably corrupt cops. We were duly pulled over. Cop wanted my licence. All our paperwork was 100% in order so I was surprised when he said it wasn't a licence. He's holding it and it clearly is! I then gave him the international one which has bigger pictures on it. Then he said it wasn't a bike licence, then he said it wasn't the correct size bike licence even though there are photos of the categories and it is valid. He then refused to return the documents unless I gave him money and wanted me to go to the police station with him to pay. At this point I let him know that I would have to call the authorities to let them know what was happening and I started dialling. At that point he gave the documents back and we were on our way but it's unpleasant dealing with blatant corruption like that and I was a bit shaken up by it. The rest of the ride to Dakar was slow and I was continually on the look out for corrupt cops. Dakar itself is a crazy place, very busy, poor quality roads and quite chaotic but oddly enough it works. We had booked an apartment on one of the well known online sites. We rode to the location but couldn't find the apartment so we stopped at a supermarket to get some cold drinks. Some very helpful people assisted in making contact with the host. She said she would come and meet us and take us to the apartment. We waited over an hour and she didn't turn up. With local help we contacted her again. She then sent a driver and we were to follow him to the apartment. Fact is the apartment we had booked online didn't exist. We were shown two others in a different part of town, neither of which matched what we had booked so after 4 hours wasted we wrote it off as a complete loss but were now without accommodation. It was also baking hot and humid. We rode around Dakar looking for a few places I could remember from last year before finally stumbling on a very nice beach hotel. A bit more than we intended to spend but at that time of night we just needed a shower and AC. It had been a long day in the heat, traffic and humidity and were were done. We'd regroup in the morning.

At the border you get a TIP for 5 days but have to go to customs in Dakar to get the Carnet stamped, they won't do it at the border. We also needed a Guinea visa and the embassy is closed at weekends so we had to wait until Monday. On Monday we hired a car and driver and set off for the customs house. Various officials were unable to help and after some time an official told our driver to go to the other office. Same story there and the driver was told the Customs office for Carnet stamps had recently moved. We drove around some more and came across a different building. That seemed to be the one, unfortunately the officer who stamps Carnets hadn't turned up that day. There were a couple of French guys there when we arrived. Waiting outside next to a sewer in an area infested by flies wasn't fun. The experience was later also shared by some German bikers who turned up so by now there was a queue. Eventually the Carnet guy turned up and opened the office. Well, apparently they can't stamp a Carnet without needing copies of the bike registration and riders passport first so it was off to find a copy centre. That all done the Carnet was stamped into Senegal and we were good to go. Next up was a trip to the Guinea embassy to get the visa. Various form filling, handing over cash etc. and we had a piece of paper which is a permit to enter Guinea. It's not the visa as such, they said we would need to go to Conakry to get the actual visa put in the passport. That proved to be a huge and very costly problem but more of that later.
Next we went to the Cote d'Ivoire embassy for a visa. The request was denied, the visa woman just said no visas are issued for overland travel, we have to fly. That was worrying as there is no other viable route and if she was correct then the trip would fail. We weren't convinced by her information so decided to try again at the embassy in Conakry. We did get Cote d'Ivoire visas in Conakry. Anyway, two out of three ain't bad as Meatloaf said and we had the Carnet stamped and the Guinea visa. Time to return to the very nice seafront hotel for much deserved hops based liquid refreshment.

Dakar to Tambacounda

Leaving Dakar was a big day for me. It was new territory that I hadn't ridden before. We set off early heading for Tambacounda. The road out of Dakar is a peage so in pretty good condition. It's slow as there are lots of toll booths. Each only needs a small payment but on a bike it still means getting cash from the side of the tank bag and putting the change away etc. Nothing special to note about this ride except that Tambacounda is not a place covered in hotels. We found the best we could, again the staff were helpful and let us park our bikes in the courtyard. The AC didn't work in my room, there was no ventilation and it was baking hot so not much chance of a good nights sleep. On the street, it was difficult to move as there were always beggars, street hustlers and groups of kids surrounding the bikes. Still it was only for a night and we'd be off early the next day. It was nice to be breaking new ground.

Brilliant - thank you - following along [emoji106]

Thanks tjmouse.

I'm confused. One need s a TIP and a carnet when crossing into a country? I thought it was one or the other.

I'm heading down in a little over a month to travel a similar route with a motorcycle as well. I'm still on the fence about getting a carnet. Clearly you think it worth it.

I do appreciate the write-up as I'm hoping to benefit from the experiences of others here.

Thanks
 

I agree. This write-up will be invaluable to me and to others who hope to follow your route in the near future. It is so difficult to find reliable up-to-date information about border crossings from other sources. This is high-quality intel from someone actually doing the trip right now. Thanks very much indeed for sharing your experiences, and stay safe.
Chris.

Canucklr. No, you only need one (a carnet or a TIP). Last year I didn't have a carnet, I just got the TIP at the border. Problem is that they only issue the TIP for 5 days at the border. If you want longer you have to go to an office in Dakar to get it extended. I did that last year. This year I had a carnet. Problem is they won't stamp it at the border! They give you a 5 day TIP and you have to go to customs in Dakar to get the carnet stamped. Either way if you're in Senegal for more than 5 days you'll have to go into Dakar. In our case we needed to get visas in Dakar and it covered a weekend so we needed more than 5 days in Senegal.

Sent from my SM-A137F using Tapatalk

Tambacounda to Guinea Border

Early start to get to the border. Plan was to cross into Guinea riding down the N5. Depending on the time lost at the border crossing we could stop at Koundara or continue to Gaoual. The road was fine, mainly paved and in good condition so we made good time. Quite a long way before the border we came across a road block. Usual thing, a rope strung across the road with a few rags tied to it. We were told to leave the road and park next to a building. All a bit strange but it turns out this is actually Senegal customs. They were happy to stamp our carnets out of Senegal and send us on our way. Closer to the border we came across another road block. Similar, but this time for Senegal immigration. Passports stamped and sent on our way. At the actual border it's different, Guinea officials wanted our entry permit (A4 piece of paper). Various offices later we were on our way but this happened a few times. They all looked at it, made official type gestures but nothing productive was done. Probably the third stop they took photos and fingerprints which looked promising but again just stamped the paper and sent us on our way again. They did ask what we were doing and where we were going. We said Conakry which was true as we needed to try and get our Cote d'Ivoire visas which had been denied back in Dakar. They said OK, you can get your Guinea visa at the Ministry of Security. Richard was wise enough to ask for the specific address which they wrote down for him. They then let us go and told us that the customs office is a few miles (well Km actually) down the road. That may be but a few miles isn't specific so we rode on looking for any semblance of a customs hut to get the carnets stamped. Needn't have worried as we eventually came up to another rope road block. Busy with trucks, people, street hawkers and various people in uniform hanging about but this was customs and the carnets were stamped. Once in Guinea we bought local sim cards at the border using local currency. We had exchanged our Senegal CFA for Guinea Francs on the Senegal side Pretty happy with ourselves as we were in Guinea, what a success.

Guinea border heading South

Having made good time we headed into Koundara. Thought of finding an hotel and having an early stop but that didn't materialise. Koundara is made up of dirt, stick huts and not much else. Decided to continue to Gaoual. Same situation there and by now we had been riding for quite a while. Best to continue until we find somewhere to stop, we thought. This proved to be a problem. The road was dirt, full if ditches, rocks, holes, dust and the odd vehicle. No chance of finding accommodation. The previous towns didn't have shops either and we were running low on water and had no food. We stopped a few times. It was baking hot, humid and every time we stopped we were swarmed by insects. We realised we had mis judged the situation and were getting ourselves into a bad position. We knew there was nothing behind us so elected to continue down the road. Progress was slow, averaging less than 20mph. Short of running a Dakar race pace and risking huge injury in the event of a crash or just breaking the bikes there is not much you can do to speed things up. Water was running out, we knew this was getting serious, so we had a mini conference to discuss our options. Richard had a very expensive water purifier which is supposed to be able to make any water drinkable. We found a sort of stream, I say sort of because it wasn't really a flowing river. Richard proceeded to magic up 2 or 3 litres of water. That would be our nights survival if it came to that. It was now dark, too hot to stay stationary or get under cover, too many insects to stay in the open and dust hanging everywhere from the odd passing truck or moped. The decision was made to continue, at least while moving the insects don't settle on you and there is a slight breeze. It did mean riding the road in the dark. This was proper darkest Africa. It took hours and hours of stand up riding. I'm not 21 any more and my loaded CRF1000 isn't a motocross bike. It was pretty tiring but at about 02:30 we reached Boke. A town with a cash machine, although it didn't work. While pondering what to do, a security guard turned up to see what we were doing at the bank at 02:30 in the morning. Richard asked about hotels and as luck would have it the hotel was just down the road. The hotel was deserted at that time of night but security eventually woke someone up and we checked in. They said that the bank ATM would be working later that day and we could pay in cash then. The hotel had AC, a shower and a bed. That's all we needed, we'd had enough for one day.

The Guinea roads are either fine as they are being rebuilt by the Chinese or they are non existent and comprise dirt where a road once used to be. We kept to main roads and the N23 is the dirt track you see in the pictures above. Not overly impressed with the CRF as it blew a fork seal. I know the roads are rough but it's supposed to be made for it.

Boke to Conakry

We were expecting an easy ride to Conakry but it wasn't to be. The road was generally ok but it was slow with villages, trucks, animals and many police stops. The police didn't cause any problems but it slows progress when you have to keep stopping and getting the documents out for inspection. There were traffic jams at bridges etc. It was dark by the time we got into Conakry. Fortunately we had already chosen an hotel so had somewhere to go and directions on the SatNav. Just as well as Conakry is a place I can't describe. It's on the end of a peninsular so only one way in and out. Crazy would be nice, Dakar is crazy but Conakry is just off the chart ridiculous and not in a nice way. There are no rules, just complete pandemonium. Anyone can go from anywhere to anywhere at any time without regard for anybody else or for the direction the road should go in. Use any side of the road (or pavement) to go anywhere, anytime. Lots of vehicles without lights at night, going the wrong wrong way up a dual carriageway. The roads have open sewers, holes large enough to swallow wheels, trucks, other vehicles, donkey carts, mopeds, tricycles, livestock, vendors putting their goods out into the street and anything else you can think of. The loudest hooter on the biggest vehicle wins. It's like nothing I have ever seen before. We were happy to get to the hotel.

We arrived in Conakry late on a Thursday night. Next morning we hired a driver and his car for the day to go and do all the visa chores. First up was the Ministry of Security (MoS) to get the full Guinea visa inserted into the passports. Richard gave the driver the address he'd been given by the border officials. The hotel reception guy knew someone who worked at the MoS and offered his services. We arrived at the MoS, the driver called the friend and together we went in, past the security gate. There was an open air hall full of people. Friend and driver went up to the desk and some discussion took place. Suffice to say the MoS officials said they wouldn't do it that day, come back next week. It was Easter weekend so that meant Tuesday. Next up was the Cote d'Ivoire embassy. It was a long process and fortunately for us there was a very helpful guy there who could speak English. We found out later he was actually the ambassadors driver but as he was in the building he was happy to help. The visa is done online but doesn't cater for overland travel which means you can't fill in the online forms. Usual thing, you need flight tickets and arrival point must be at the airport. After this was put to the visa official he told us what to put in the relevant boxes to bypass the system. As he was issuing the visa himself we were on a winner there. It all had to be approved by a more senior official though so we were told to come back later, which we did. They were really helpful and did it before closing for the weekend. So only one out of two visas done on Friday which meant we were stuck in Conakry until Wednesday, assuming we could get the exit visa on Tuesday of course. Disappointed, we resigned ourselves to many nights in the hotel.

The hotel was situated near the end of the peninsular, close to the MoS. Going anywhere in Conakry is a mission so we wanted to stay close to the areas we would need. The hotel had a grand sounding name and looked OK so we decided to stay there. The entrance had security although the area itself was pretty rough but the block had a low wall around it and some of the buildings were accessed by a separate road. The bikes were safely parked in font of the hotel and in view of the guards. First odd thing was the hotel, although rather grand, didn't accept card payments, cash only. Problem is the currency is so weak it was costing 600 000 per night and the ATM, can't dispense that amount of cash so we had to withdraw money daily or twice daily. Picture shows 2 nights cash payment. There was a Chinese restaurant outside with kerb side dining. Food waste had been dumped on the pavement, not in bins or bagged, just dumped as is, in a pile. With the rotting waste and heat you'll have to imagine the smell and flies. This aromatic pile of waste was right opposite the tables and Chinese restaurant. Who does that? There were some strange things happening. Our stay was fine and we felt safe enough but a cash only hotel/ casino where photography is not allowed made us wonder.

Tuesday finally came and we were off early to the MoS. Security wouldn't let us in the main gate, told us to walk around the block to another entrance. There, a guard was selecting who could enter. After 5 or 10 minutes we became the chosen ones and in we went. Some wandering around following instructions led us to an office. A woman was cleaning her desk and looking important. Something was mentioned about paying money. We showed the visa payment. More confusion and the driver was told to take us somewhere else. An hour or so in the car and we were at the airport. Without flight tickets, the airport guards wouldn't let us in. After many calls by the driver a more important guard came out and told security to let us in. After wandering around the empty airport and meeting various officials we found our way to the immigration kiosks. As there were no flights due in there was also nobody manning the kiosks. We waited and then were taken back to the police office where we waited a bit more. The police were just being nice by letting us wait in their office rather than at the kiosks. Eventually someone showed up and in next to no time had printed a couple of visa pages and stuck them in our passports. We were finally good to go so it was back to the hotel in the car. Not easy given the shambolic state of Conakry. Getting these visa pages took the whole day but it was a relief to know we could leave the next morning.

Leaving Conakry

We were up at dawn and riding out at daybreak. Again, it's difficult to articulate what we encountered. There is a multi lane road with separated median but traffic uses whichever side of the road has space. That means Southerly traffic in the Northerly lanes and trying to get out of town is like swimming upstream. Following a police vehicle which was also dodging oncoming traffic gave some respite. As the road narrows we were met at a roundabout by aggressive (the nasty type) cops. Clearly out to make a quick profit from the tourists, they stopped us, demanded documents and tried to get us into a side street. I wasn't going into a side street so I took my keys out of the ignition and opened the pannier to get my documents. That put me in the road, further blocking it but that was fine by me, I wasn't moving. As the situation escalated, a more senior cop arrived. He wasn't having any of it and I don't know what he said but he really let fly at the corrupt cops and just by the body language told them to get back to work and told us to get going again! We were on our way in the chaos again. It took about 1.5 hours to get out of town and that was from leaving at daybreak. As soon as we reached a clear spot we stopped to recuperate.

Conakry to Faranah

We continued up to Mamou. The road to Mamou has mostly been rebuilt by the Chinese and is good. From Mamou to Faranah it's not so good although we made it to Faranah. It had been a long ride. Unfortunately Faranah doesn't have electricity (or anything else, except some really friendly pump attendants at the service station). We stopped at the only hotel we could find. It set a new low standard for me but there was nothing else. We bought bread from a street vendor and coke from the service station. We ate on the service station forecourt as they had lights on and the pump attendants offered us chairs. The hotel was in darkness but they said the generator would come on about 8pm. It was on when we got back. There was no running water so it was shower by bucket and a fan to move the heat around the room. It was no problem leaving at dawn the next morning.

Faranah to Macenta

Mixed roads. Some parts good but some parts slow, hot and dusty. Will try post some photos but nothing special about this day. Found a nice hotel in Macenta. Reception guy spoke some English, rooms were fine, had running water and secure parking for the bikes.

Macenta to the Cote d'Ivoire border

This was the big day. Ready for a border crossing, we set off early with no idea of how this ride would change the course of our Africa trip. What a mess. Initially it was going really well. Good roads, nice scenery everything you could want in an Africa ride. We stopped for a break and I opened my right side pannier. Next stop was for fuel which was normal, get off the bike fill up, push bike forward so Richard could fill up. Helmets etc. on again and set off. The police stopped us at a roadblock but it was just banter, they were friendly and were only really interested in the bikes. Off we went, next stop would be just before the border. We duly stopped for a break. I went to my right side pannier to get a drink and the pannier was missing. Just then Richard said "they're both gone", how could this happen? Both at the same time. They were Givi Trekker Outback panniers. The left one hadn't been removed that day and the right one was refitted at the first break stop. I couldn't recall if they were on at the fuel or police stops. I then realised my bike documents were in one of the panniers. You can't cross a border without papers. The feeling of absolute dread and stomach churning worry is something I won't forget. Richard immediately said we must go back and look for them. I raced on ahead scanning the road and kerbs. Richard took a slower pace to take a more thorough look. I stopped at the police check point to ask if they could remember seeing the panniers. With the language barrier I couldn't make out if they were saying the panniers were on or they didn't notice them when we were chatting earlier. Same problem at the fuel station although through a translator the attendant said she thought at least the right one was on because it was on her side. We rode back to where we took our first break as we knew they were on at that point. I had electronic copies of everything except the Carnet. Richard volunteered to ride all the way back to Macenta. There he would ask the hotel guy to make a printout of the photo of the V5 (V5 is the UK registration document). It would be better than nothing. I turned back and rode the route again, slowly this time, standing up and checking thoroughly for the lost panniers but they were not to be found. We would have found them if they had just fallen off. What happened is a mystery. We discussed it and ran many scenarios but the reality was they were gone and we were in rural Guinea. An area without proper roads or electricity and a 3 or 4 day ride back to the capital. My stomach churned and my heart sank.

I'd lost so much stuff, tools, chain lube, water proof riding kit, gloves, goggles, multimeter, alarmed disc lock, satnav cables and case, anti malaria tablets, spare tubes, puncture repair kits, mosquito nets, cable ties, tie downs, bungee cords, duct tape etc. I'm still finding things which I want to do and then remember, no, you lost all that with your panniers. By far the biggest loss was the Carnet and V5 but also my yellow fever card, passport photos, passport copies. Fortunately, I had my passport, driving licence, bank cards and insurance in my tank bag.

Richard got back to the point where we had discovered the loss. He'd been all the way back to Macenta, ridden round Macenta with the hotel guy looking for a print place and then all the way back to meet up again. He was pretty much done. I was stressed but we had to assess the situation and make a plan as it was now getting late. Options were limited but we decided the best course would be to go to the border and argue our case directly with the border officials. We were in a remote area, no hotels, shops or water. Not knowing when the border closed we decided our best bet would be to make a dash for the border which we did, arriving in the dark. We had prepared what to say to keep it all consistent. First up was Guinea customs. He wanted our Carnets. Richard produced his, I explained mine had been lost and showed him my missing panniers. He took us to an office, stamped Richards Carnet and didn't say anything to me. I wasn't going to bring up the subject so just followed along. Customs didn't stop me leaving Guinea. Next up was immigration. No problem there as I had those papers. The immigration guys were nice. One liked bikes and engaged in lively banter which made the other lighten up a bit. By the end of it they wanted group photos with the bikes. A huge relief to be out of Guinea. Getting into Cote d'ivoire without papers was the next hurdle.

Entering Cote d'ivoire

First was immigration. It was dinner time, the officer did the passport stamping as his colleague fetched their dinner. We must have looked in a right sorry state as someone came out with bags of water for us. We gulped it down like dehydrated desert dwellers. It had been a long day and we weren't done yet. Next was the dreaded customs barrier. A guy in white coveralls came out and took our temperature with a hand held pointy thing, we evidently passed, which probably says more about the accuracy of his gauge than our temperature because by this time we had long passed the point of overheating! Then Mr important came out and called us to his office where he proceeded to trash our passports, write details in a book, take photos of everything on his phone and generally show he was boss. That done it was back to white coat man. Typically, for the first time ever, someone asked for my Yellow Fever vaccination card, on the very day I'd lost it. I explained and said I had a digital copy. He was OK about it and recorded it in his book. Next up was awkward guy. He wouldn't lower the rope barrier. No, he wanted the V5. I went first and handed him the photo print out Richard had made earlier. It was in colour and pretty good I thought but obviously not original. It was two sheets of A4 paper not A3. He was OK though, didn't question it, he just recorded all the details in his book. Then out came the phone and he wanted photos of us next to the bikes. Not social photos, official non humour photos! All this is done in the dark by torchlight. He let us go. We thought we were in but no, we got stopped up the road in a customs road block. He wanted our Carnets. It's a long story so short version here, Cote d'Ivoire is not a valid country listed on the UK Carnet. They used to use Laissez Passers but the embassy stopped issuing them in January and I had a copy of that memo. We showed it and argued the case. It was late, dark and he said OK, go to the next town but there they will stop you and want a Carnet. We rode to the next town, the rope barrier was down, nobody stopped us so we kept going. We were in Cote d'Ivoire. A huge relief. We rode into Danane. When the Police stopped us I asked about hotels. The policeman gave a recommendation and we followed it to a reasonable hotel. What a dreadful day but we could only look forward, not back.

Well that took a turn, I have no idea what I’d do in that situation! Well done for pressing on, hope you manage to complete the trip without the documents.

No chance of that tjmouse.........

Danane to Daloa

The previous day was still fresh in our minds but there were some things to do. First was to find an ATM. Not easy in Danane. While in the back streets a guy stepped out and stopped us. He was just friendly and soon his friends had come over to see us. They wanted photos standing with the bikes. We found the ATM after riding around town and asking various locals. Never would have found the bank as it was down some back roads in amongst shacks but the bank itself was all modern and fresh. Money in hand we could buy sim cards, fuel, food and water. We then set off for Daloa. The ride was fine but I was just waiting for the inevitable roadblocks. There were a few but the police weren't really interested in us and a few of them just waved us through. Others were friendly and checked passport or licence, all stuff I had. The further from the border we got, the less likely we were to get stopped by customs. We made it to Daloa and found a quaint hotel for the night.

Daloa to Abidjan

The ride to Abidjan was uneventful. generally good roads but I was still worried about the loss of documents. We found a hotel and headed straight for it. It didn't have much curb appeal but was a real little Oasis inside. Major bonus was that it had big steel gates we could hide the bikes behind. I parked my bike inside the grounds and decided that it would stay there until I had sorted the document problems out. I would need a Carnet to get it into Ghana and I didn't have one any more. It was in Cote d'ivoire in what I'd say was a state of limbo.
First thing to do was to replace the lost documents. I spoke to the Carnet office but they said that unfortunately there is a lot of procedural stuff to do so it would take a week plus shipping time to replace the Carnet. At best that would be 9 days.
I requested a replacement V5 from the DVLA. Back in the UK, Belinda rushed off to get my yellow fever card re issued, passport photos reprinted and some UK stickers. They are a requirement in some countries and mine was on a lost pannier. With all that together Belinda DHL'ed it to Abidjan.
While waiting we used the down time to get our Cameroon visas. What an effort that was. Although we requested expedited service on the form, they took our passports and said come back in 8 days at 4pm.
We used taxis to get around Abidjan as I wasn't going to risk riding my bike. We went all over trying to find chain lube. Seems it is an alien concept in Abidjan. Even Yamaha said they didn't sell it but we could ask the maintenance dept. if they had any.
The DHL folders arrived and we collected the new documents and Carnet. The hold up now was due to the Cameroon visa. We went back at 1pm on the 8th day and they said come back at 4pm, it's not ready yet. Went back at 4pm and still no action. About eight people all hanging around waiting for their passports. After 6pm we finally got the passports with visas. That was all we needed, next morning we were keen to get going. On our way to Ghana.

Sounds like situation rescued / resolved. Enjoying the report [emoji106]

I read your report while thinking to myself "How could they not notice the change in handling once their panniers fell off?" Then I remembered the time I was bicycling back from the grocery store, both panniers stuffed full of Trader Joe's goodies, and one fell off a mile from home. It wasn't until I got off the bike and got ready to carry my groceries indoors that I noticed. Fortunately Bellingham is a sleepy little town, and I found it right where it landed.

So if that could escape my notice on a bicycle, where a pair of loaded panniers probably outweighs the bike itself, I can see where you might not immediately notice on a motorbike. But another issue concerns how we attach stuff which might inadvertently become detached in normal operation. On motorcycles, I habitually go with two means of attachment for each bit of luggage, just because sometimes one will fail (or I'll forget, or buckle/lock/hook/tie it wrong). My panniers are through-bolted twice apiece; same with my top box, and that dry bag on the back seat is both strapped and bungied into place. When I take shortcuts sometimes I lose stuff, although this is limited to water bottles, sunglasses, and the occasional flipflop.

Hope you're enjoying Ghana, a relatively low-stress place featuring history, culture, nightlife, and excellent beaches!

Mark

Markharf: Thanks. Yes, the panniers were big and bulky but full of lightweight stuff, particularly the big left side one, so not overloaded. It was a paved road so no real handling to highlight the loss.

Abidjan to Takoradi via Elubo

We set off at daybreak to try and avoid as much city traffic as possible. The ride went better than expected, probably because most of the traffic was coming into town and we were leaving. It was still busy but could have been worse. It was raining but it's so hot and humid whether you're wet from sweat or rain is somewhat academic. There was still the apprehension as although I now had a full set of documents, we hadn't had our carnets stamped in. There are many stories on the travel forums about needing all sorts of customs clearance documents to get out of Cote d'Ivoire. What would happen at the border we wondered. As it turned out, absolutely nothing! Approaching the border there was a building with Dounes written on it. A few uniformed guys sitting outside but no physical barrier to stop traffic. I slowed down, and as always, opened my visor to make eye contact. None of them motioned for me to stop so I gave a thumbs up, still no one directed me to stop so I rolled slowly past checking my mirrors, expecting to see an officer run out into the road. I wondered if that was in fact customs but decided to carry on. Next we came to some officials and the bridge. This was immigration. Really helpful, they stamped our passports, then wished us well on our journey and directed us towards the bridge. We rode across the bridge to Ghana. There you turn into a sort of compound and park up. Walk back to the first kiosk and an officer checks the carnet but doesn't stamp it. Instead he gives a slip of paper which you must keep with the carnet. Then it's immigration, quite confusing as there are multiple doors and desks, some inside, some outside but we found out what to do in the end. Then customs stamped the carnets. No problem. The money changer had helped as usual and we changed some money to Cedis. He also did sim cards so we bought one each. He didn't do top up credit but took us to a hut where a woman did lots of number tapping and eventually concluded that data credit had been added. Indeed it had so we were good to go. We rode out the way we came in, evidently not correct as the whole place and all the parking areas are a one way. Easily corrected (after we heard the shouting) we went onto the main road and promptly found out what that first slip of paper we'd been given was for. You need to hand it over with your carnet to a guy in the exit hut. He keeps the paper and returns your carnet. Then you're good to go. In amongst all that we also got money guy to take us to the insurance office as our ECOWAS brown card insurance was about to expire. That's another story and I'll start that as a separate thread as we've had conflicting information about this. We were in Ghana, all paperwork legally stamped. Everything up to date and reset.

Takoradi to Accra

A very slow ride due to bad roads, traffic congestion, towns, speed bumps and general Africaness. We had found a hotel on one of the Booking sites and unfortunately it didn't exist in the advertised location so we had to choose something else. While riding around looking for the hotel though we passed a bike shop. A dual purpose shop, it was divided in two. Left part was body building supplements, right side was a small bike shop. On display was a Ducati Panigale. Not a bike I was expecting to see in Ghana. They also had a Motul stand and we restocked on chain lube. I'd lost mine with the panniers in Guinea and the chain was needing some TLC. We stumbled upon a guest house while looking for a second hotel which also didn't exist in the advertised google location. The guest house was fine and a short walk from a shopping centre. We walked up to get dinner. There was also a very good supermarket, first we'd seen in Africa.

Accra to Lome via Dzodze border

Usual thing, we left early and headed for the border having decided to use Dzodze border rather than the main one at the coast. Reason was to try and avoid going into Lome and we also hoped a small border would be easier. Not sure that's true and I wouldn't recommend the Dzodze border. First we came to a whole lot of buildings which was clearly the border but nobody was around. We pondered what to do. Should we just continue.......but what if it was the border, no it couldn't be, there was no one there. We decided to proceed and came upon a building with three people in it. The window was awkwardly positioned to make it difficult to speak through but on enquiring the fat one demanded Covid and Yellow Fever certificates. We produced them and he said he wasn't accepting mine. Long story short he is corrupt and regardless of the paperwork he won't let you pass unless you pay him. In this case he claimed a Pharmacist can't issue a Yellow Fever certificate. Richard's is signed by an RGN. I asked him what an RGN is and he didn't know, but he was happy to accept Richard's certificate. We had to pay him to move on, annoying but what can you do at that point? The Togo entry and Ghana exit are done at the same building. On getting up there the first to accost us were some white coats. They demanded we go with them to an office, which I did. After some discussion and going round in circles I asked what they wanted from me. They said Yellow Fever and Covid certificates. I told them I had already done that and paid and wasn't doing it again. Moving on we were told to follow an official who would stamp our passports. We walked round various offices with him. He eventually chose one and directed us to sit down. Optimistically we assumed this would be a quick stamp but no, he needed to open every draw, look at every rubber stamp, test every rubber stamp, check alignment of rubber on every stamp, retest ones he had already tested, check the colour of the stamp pad........... you get the picture. A long time later carnets were stamped and then the whole process started again for the Togo entry. Hours later and we were in Togo. We followed the Lome bypass, it's on Google maps but not on the Garmin maps. Richard and I both have updated Garmin maps on different Garmin models and neither had the bypass. We've found Google to be far more reliable than Garmin for navigation. We found a hotel and checked in, satisfied that another border crossing was complete.

Lome to Cotonou

Another day, another border crossing. Easy ride to the border along the coast road. The border crossing went well, the best one to date. We were done in an hour or so. As we stopped at the first hut, a couple of young guys came up. This is usual and I just look for the money changers. These guys said they could do that and I agreed I'd do money after everything else was complete. These two were super enthusiastic, running to show where to go, who to see, answer questions etc. They didn't actually do the money changing but their friend did. At the end we changed money and paid the two guys directly for all their help. They didn't claim to be fixers or ask for payment but without their help it would have taken us a lot longer I'm sure so I had no problem offering to pay them. They were happy and we'd set a new record for our shortest border crossing. We rode off to find a hotel in Cotonou.

Cotonou to Papalanto

We left Cotonou at 7am. The road out of town is mainly dual carriageway and mostly paved. Small bikes everywhere but that makes it easy to follow the traffic. Roads became progressively worse once we had left the city limits and at one point it was mud tracks and puddles on a detour due to a closed section of road. We had decided to take the more Northerly border rather than the coast road border. We wanted to avoid going into Lagos and after getting our Cameroon visas in Abidjan there was no need to go to Lagos. The border isn't far and it wasn't long before we found ourselves in yet another small chaotic village but this one had a rope across the road. That means it's the border. The usual crowd surrounds the bike as you stop, all wanting something. One was a money changer. These guys are really useful as they want your business and will guide you on where to find Customs, Immigration etc. In this town, full of shacks and ramshackle buildings we needed help as customs was just a metal grill opening in one of the buildings about 1km before the rope barrier. No signs to say customs, you just have to know or let a helpful money changer show you. The customs guys were helpful but weren't sure how a carnet needed to be stamped but they let Richard into their office to show them while I checked the rates for changing money. The app gave a rate which I use as a guide when checking the rate a money changer offers. In this case he offered significantly more than the app said and I remembered being told there is a black market rate and an official rate. Use the black market rate! The money changing was done and the two guys were happy to continue showing us where to find the next office. We cleared immigration out of Benin with a friendly helpful officer. Then to the rope barrier where another guy in a hut wanted to see all our paperwork again. We showed him and were told to pay him 5000 CFA each. I asked what it was for and he said tax. We paid but I insisted on having a receipt. Eventually he returned the bank notes instead. Then it was over to Nigeria. First some guy told us to follow him. Round the back of the building was a table, he sat down and wanted our Yellow Fever cards. After that we went back to the bikes. Then it was immigration. Our new money changer friends showed us the way to the office. Three officials poured over our passports while asking us to shown them bank notes with the Queens picture on. An imaginative way of asking for money to be fair! Again after lots of scrutiny and writing stuff the passports were stamped. Then it got weird. There were tables outside and we were directed to sit down. A smartly dressed guy, not in uniform, proceeded to ask a barrage of questions about where we were going, exactly when we would be in each place, who we were seeing, why and how we would get there. The two of us sweating in the heat wearing biking kit with overland bikes clearly in view didn't seem to give this guy any clue as to why we were there and what we were planning on doing!. It got a bit fraught but eventually he said welcome to Nigeria before directing us to a woman at the next table. She wanted passports so we got those out, again. She said she was narcotics and wrote our details down.
Then it was off to customs. A friendly guy in an air conditioned office was happy to stamp our carnets. No problem there. We were ready to go through the barrier and surprisingly that was it. The town on the other side is the usual African array of shanties. Our money friends were still with us as we needed petrol. They arranged it at their preferred station. Was only about 79p litre. Next up was sim card which our new friends also helped with as special ID was required. Then we were off into Nigeria. The road was just one roadblock after another. We went through at least 20 roadblocks so progress was slow. One was immigration and checked our passports yet again. All friendly, no problem. Another wanted "something for me", another wanted water, another just wanted to check out the bikes. The road was smooth in places, heavily damaged and potholed in others. We rode up to Papalanto but couldn't find the hotel at the location given on Google. After riding around for a while, through back streets and the deep potholed main road we stumbled upon a hotel, not the one we were looking for but at that stage anything with a shower was good enough. We had been through dirt water holes, mud pot holes and dust. We looked a mess and were done for the day.

Papalanto to Benin City

There is a direct route but it is quicker to take a much longer (in distance) route. We decided on the longer route as although much longer it was quicker which is a good indication that it's a better road. The hotel was on the main junction in town and unfortunately we were riding out of town before the Garmin or Google updated. The road was a mess, deep holes, mud, water filled deep holes and very slow going. Heavy on the bikes too, all 1st and 2nd gear stuff. At the first break it occurred to us that we had left the junction on the wrong road and the SatNavs had just updated to the road we were on. It occurred to us we were riding the direct route on the bad road but it was too late to turn back. The road did get better after an hour or two and from there on it was paved road. Progress would have been fine if it wasn't for roadblocks every few miles. Literally, you could often see the next one when departing the current one. Mostly they were fine and waved us through but the delay had already been caused waiting in the queue to get through the single file blockade. It's not good riding, slow progress and tedious. We made it to Benin City and took the first hotel close to the bypass, the plan was to avoid riding through the city the next day as that would add an hour or so to our journey.

Enjoying the write-up and pictures. Thanks for taking the time!
Patience tested to the extreme! Ride safe.

Thanks Mossproof. I'm just trying to get a Wi-Fi connection to upload the next weeks tales and photos. Hopefully tonight........

Benin City to Owerri

Roads were paved. Some parts fine others in poor condition but no mud or dirt. Got off to a good start as there weren't many roadblocks but that changed and the roadblocks became more frequent until were back to one every few miles. It also rained, proper African rain. I had hoped it would stay warm if it rained as I have no wet weather gear having lost all my kit with the panniers. The temperature dropped by 10 or so degrees C and it was cold riding. First time I've been cold since leaving Europe. I put a supermarket bag inside my ventilated jacket to try and reduce the wind chill. Surprisingly it worked. Onitsha city was super busy and congested. Unfortunately we had to go through it. The roads had flooded in parts and that together with the roadblocks just caused gridlock. Bus passengers stepping out to urinate in the street, tuk tuk's trying to go everywhere. Everybody seemed to be hooting although I'm not sure what that would achieve. White oil smoke from cars, black smoke from the big diesels, mud and mess, quite a scene really. As often seems to be the case recently, the hotel we had looked up wasn't at the Google location but we found something adequate (way better than last nights effort) while looking for the first hotel. Job done for today and time to plan the next leg.

Owerri to Calabar

We weren't sure how to proceed from Owerri as the Nigeria Cameroon border is a hostile area. It's well known and listed on the FCO web site as a complete red zone. We also had first hand information confirming the risk was high. We understood the main border is only open to commercial traffic. There is a border crossing further North but it involves a lot of riding in risky zones of Nigeria and the road across the border is dirt and can be very difficult, if not impassable in rainy season. Our preferred option was to take a boat. We couldn't find any information on ferries or cargo boat sailings or where they left from and whether there were customs and immigration facilities etc. We found a phone number on Facebook and called it. A guy answered and was very keen for us to pay in advance and he would do the rest, we just had to go to Uyo, Oron and James Town for departure. Maybe it's genuine, maybe a bit dodgy but clearing immigration and then staying in the country while heading down a road or track to another place seemed risky. We decided to go to Oron and check it out first. The vendor was very pushy which worried us. We decided to head for Calabar instead which would probably have more options.

The ride started out very well, blue sky, good roads, few roadblocks. That was all to change as Google and Garmin disagreed. We were already on the Garmin route so stuck with it. It led us through a town full of tuk tuks and traffic jams. After that the road deteriorated but was still usable until we reached a truck parked across the road, completely blocking it to cars and trucks. We rode around the side of it to be greeted by a mud bath. The road was soft mud which had been churned up and was impassable. Multiple trucks were stuck in the mud and we later learned they had been there all night. A bull dozer was trying to push articulated trucks out of the mud but all wheels were spinning. Small bikes had carved some ruts down the side and we had a go at that. Not easy on big bikes. With the help of some friendly bystanders we got the bikes through. There was a group photo session as locals and bystanders all wanted photos next to the bikes. Moving on, the road was partly paved, partly rocks, dust, holes and very rough. It got progressively worse, not helped by ever increasing numbers of roadblocks. It took over 7 hours to go about 130 miles but we arrived about 14:30.

Nigeria to Cameroon border crossing (if you're here for information this is the bit you really need to see)

Having got to Calabar we had no idea where to go or how to find a way across the border. We Googled a number of things before Richard looked up the customs. We went to the customs HQ building and explained that we were trying to find a boat to Cameroon. The staff were very helpful and before long a number of people were on the case. A shipping agent was called, someone came up to meet us and took us to the company office. They said they had a boat leaving the next day which could take us and the bikes. Price was 350 000 Niara (about 450 Euros). They don't take card payments and ATM's only dispense 10 000 Niara at a time. It was a major struggle to find a way to pay. The bike loading is dependent on the tide (to get the gangway level) so they said come back at 7am for loading, boat leaves at 12pm gets to an anchor point for the night and enters port in daylight the next day. None of that happened as in reality the boat doesn't have a schedule, it just goes when a full cargo load has been achieved. Next day after much waiting around, we were told the boat wasn't going that day, try again the next day. During the day there was a guy sitting in a car outside a dock warehouse and I was told to go and see him. He said he was the deputy director of the Nigerian Secret Service (NSS). He asked which country I was from and when I said, UK, he said he was the equivalent of MI6. He said we'd have a chat the next day and I didn't foresee a problem. The main problem for us was that if the boat leaves on a Sunday, it gets in on a Monday to Tiko, Cameroon which is in the rebel held territory. The rebels have declared Monday a no travel day, anyone travelling on a Monday is a legitimate target. At this rate we'd have to ride in rebel territory on a Monday or find a hotel in Tiko.

The next day we were down at the port for 7am. The bikes were loaded and we changed out of our riding kit. We spent some time hanging around and it became clear the boat wasn't going to leave at 12. The immigration officers hadn't turned up yet and people were milling about the dock waiting. The NSS man was sitting in his car again. Later we were called to immigration, it started by going into the darkened warehouse. Inside was a cage with a desk and a bench. NSS man sat there and proceeded to ask us questions about who, why, what, when about our trip to Nigeria. He had some incoherent rambling in amongst the questions. Then he asked who was sponsoring our trip. I assumed he meant commercial sponsors and we don't have any. We're just two guys who are self funding a trip through Africa so we said we didn't have sponsors. After some more rambling about the inequality of the treatment of Nigerians by their own government and the way Nigeria is portrayed badly by Western media, he declared we were state sponsored spies using motorcycle travel as a cover story. That's just nonsense and bizarre but very serious if he actually believes it. We were in a very perilous position, sitting in a cage in a darkened warehouse. We had entered at the Benin border, ridden the shortest route through Nigeria, using main roads, stopping at night in hotels and arrived at Calabar on the fourth night. How on earth could he think we were spies? I had considered hijacking, violent crime, kidnapping and all sorts of scenarios but it didn't occur to me that the biggest threat to our safety would be from state police with some fake spying charge. We may not be leaving Nigeria at all. You're certainly not welcome in Nigeria and NSS guy wonders why Nigeria gets a bad press. Anyway, with this threat hanging over us it was a nerve wracking time as there was still immigration to do. There various people said welcome before examining documents, fingerprinting and generally making us feel anything but welcome. Next was port health to see. Why when we are leaving the country but anyway, a guy in another office looked at our yellow fever cards and demanded payment for doing so. We explained that the NSS man told us not to pay anyone (the only sensible thing the NSS guy said). Heath guy got angry and said NSS guy didn't have authority to say that. We're in the middle of this rant, not exactly relaxed. Then it was the turn of security. He wanted all the bags opened and went through them all but at least he was cordial and friendly. We did eventually get on the boat and it left at 13:30.

It's an overnight trip on the boat, sailing down the river and out into the delta was interesting. As darkness fell we could see loads of rigs with their orange flames lighting the sky. The boat sailed up the river into Tiko the next morning. The scenery looked like something out of the film "African Queen". On arrival passports were collected and taken away for processing. We disembarked and went to the health hut for covid and yellow fever card inspection. Then to customs for baggage inspection, then back to the boat which is where the problems began. The dockers wouldn't unload the bikes unless we paid them. We asked how much and the boss man said 500 Euro to which there was much laughter amongst the workers. Problem is he wasn't joking and refused to unload the bikes unless we paid. 500 Euro is ridiculous as we had already paid for the bikes to be unloaded, it wasn't a separate charge but no pay, no bike. In the end we lost all the cash we had, about 50 Euro each, in extortion charges to get our bikes back. The actual unloading was impressive though, as the boat was much lower than the dock but a bunch of very strong men just picked them up and man handled them up some steps. Those bikes weigh about 250kg each.

Next was carnet stamping. The customs in the port directed us to another customs building outside the port. They said come back tomorrow afternoon which was really disappointing for us. We wanted to be on our way early next day. We asked if we could get it done in Douala but they said no. As we were leaving they stopped us and said they would call the boss and see if it could be done that afternoon. They called and 30 minutes later a guy came to stamp the carnets for us. We were glad to have it done. The customs guys were all friendly. They also advised us that we must not travel until Tuesday due to rebel activity and directed someone to take us to a hotel in town. Unfortunately the hotel is very run down, no flushing toilets, water by bucket and a stench of urine in the wet rooms. It was for one night and better than an encounter with armed rebels on the road. It did have an open air bar area. While enjoying a drink we met some very nice Tiko residents. They offered to help sort insurance the next morning for the bikes and sim cards for data to get us up and running on WhatsApp again.

The two guys we met in Tiko were so friendly and helpful. They drove us into town, took us to the sim card kiosk and made sure we were up and running with mobile data. Back at the hotel we bought some drinks and had a chat. They explained the history of the rebel held territory going back to the end of WW1 and the division of the country. The rebels are seeking independence for their two English speaking states from the majority French speaking 8 states but it's a bit more complex that that due to resources etc. Suffice to say that if you are overlanding, don't disregard the FCO red zones and don't travel on a Monday. Next morning Arnold, one of the guys we met the day before, turned up to show us the way to the insurance office. Insurance is a bit of an issue as for bikes it comes in a years package. Vignette is also required as part of the insurance purchase so it was expensive at 48000 CFA (about £63) but it also covers Congo as we added the international cover too. We reloaded the bikes to make space for a pillion on Richards bike and gave Arnold a lift to Douala. It was nice having a local with us, especially when stopped by a corrupt cop. He asked for all the documents, which we had but then just lingered and asked what we had for him. Arnold explained it was just corruption and give him some money to move on! We dropped Arnold at his requested place in Douala and went to our pre arranged accommodation. It was a huge relief to be across the Nigeria/ Cameroon border and in Douala.

Just caught up to date. I thought you had gone quiet for a couple of weeks until it dawned on me that there were 4 pages, not just one! Duhhh! In mitigation I am trying to read this on a phone and going boss-eyed in the process.

Regarding the lost-panniers episode:

Firstly, what a nightmare! Well done for keeping the show on the road though, and especially for having the heart to press on.

Presumably they were the aluminium ones shown in some of the photos? Do you think the attachments failed? It sounds like you don’t suspect theft at one of the stops. Could they have suffered interference previously though, which might have left them insecure? And do your topboxes show any signs of tampering?

I’m guessing Richard must have been in front of you, or else he would have seen them fall.

Lots of lessons there for all of us. I hope it’s some kind of consolation that others might benefit hugely from your ghastly experience. I think it’s called taking one for the team.

Yes, Chris, it is plausible that the panniers were tempered with although the remaining racks don't look damaged.

We're in Douala and will be for a while. Had new brake pads and fork seals sent out, but now we're waiting for the Congo visa. I'll update the blog again once we get moving. Expecting to be on the road again on Wednesday.

To all those reading, thanks for the support.

Sent from my SM-A137F using Tapatalk

Brother...reading every word and can't fathom the sense of dread you must have felt when you realized the panniers were MIA. I'll be doing the same trip solo in a few weeks and starting to doubt my judgement. I guess, however, if your dreams don't scare you a bit, maybe they're not big enough?

Gordon: based on your experience so far are there any other visas which you would now recommend obtaining in London before starting? (In addition to Ghana and Nigeria).
I’m thinking in particular of:
- Guinea: Would it help one to avoid a visit to Conakry with the “immigration form”, (from what you say, it seems that might be desirable on several levels)? But then doesn’t one still have to go there come what may to get the Carnet stamped?
- Côte d’Ivoire: similarly, could having that visa in advance help one to give Conakry a miss?
- Cameroon: would having that enable you to by-pass Lagos?
- Congo: it sounds like getting the visa in Yaoundé or Douala involves either a long delay or a hefty “expedite” fee. Could that be avoided by getting it in advance?
- DRC: (as for Congo).

I am now planning to get my bike down to Casablanca in the next three or four weeks. I’m just waiting on a new passport (mine didn’t have enough blank pages left).
Then back home for a few weeks, three weeks holiday with ‘er indoors, and finally starting the main ride from Casablanca on the 14th or 15th of August. Solo (for a number of reasons). Nothing in my diary then until Christmas. I hope that will give me a decent margin for any delays.

Good luck, chin up and stay safe.

Chris.

Canucklr: Good luck with your trip. It's not easy but hopefully some of the info on here will be useful. Let us know how you get on.

Chris: Guinea visa can be done in Dakar and you have to go to Dakar to get your carnet stamped anyway.
It would be great if you could get a Cote d'ivoire visa beforehand. We went to Conakry to get ours but if you already have it you can just ride from border to border and don't need to go to Conakry to get the Guinea visa page put in your passport. You can then cross the country in less than 5 days on the entry paper. I'm not sure where you could get the Cote d'ivoire visa though as the embassy in Dakar won't issue it. Maybe try in Morocco?
We got the Cameroon visa in Abidjan but it took 8 days to process. I'd rather spend time in Abidjan than Lagos! Again, not sure where else you could get that but yes, you want to avoid Lagos if possible.
We haven't received our Congo visas yet which is why we're still in Douala.

Problem with getting lots of visas before leaving your home country is the expiry of the visas you have already obtained. If visa processing takes up to three weeks in London for a Ghana visa you can't afford to then send your passport to multiple different embassies after that without the first one you obtained expiring! Expediting our Ghana and Nigeria visas in London meant we spent about £750 on those two visas alone.

Good job on the passport, you'll need loads of blank pages!

Let us know if you need anything else.

I posted this on a separate thread in case anybody wants to discuss it but for Africa overlanders it is relevant.

Many overlanders talk of buying Brown Card insurance when travelling in West Africa. This insurance is often sold at borders and the agents selling it say it is valid in all the ECOWAS countries. That means it pretty much covers you from Mauritania to Nigeria. I have bought it in the past but on speaking to real insurance agents, they tell me it is invalid. They tell me that the problem is that the Brown Card is not actually and insurance in its own right. It only extends the cover of an existing policy to other ECOWAS countries. If you're familiar with the old European system it is the equivalent of a Green Card, you still need to have an insurance policy on your vehicle in your home country.
For a Brown Card to be valid, you would have to have valid insurance on your vehicle in an ECOWAS country, then the Brown Card would extend your cover to other ECOWAS countries. Overlanders with vehicles which are not registered in an ECOWAS country are not likely to have a local insurance policy upon which Brown Card insurance could be added. A search of the official Brown Card insurance web sites seems to confirm this. Also, Brown Cards must be typed, not hand written. As I understand it now, if you buy hand written Brown Card insurance at a border you are effectively buying a piece of paper which the police will accept as insurance because they don't know what they are looking at but in the event of an accident, when the insurance is checked, it will be found to be fake. I'd like to know the experience of others with the Brown Card for overlanders.

Whoa! That’s definitely valuable info.
My bike insurance has limited annual mileage (I mainly use my other bike). I was telling myself that didn’t matter because once I got to Africa my UK insurers would be off-risk, and I could even cancel the policy.
Clearly life is not that simple.
So it seems I will need:
- to get the mileage limit increased, and
- to take with me my UK insurance Certificate and Schedule (as well as an electronic copy and several hard copies).
Thanks for the additional crucial intel.

One obvious question would be whether a Brown Card--the real thing, not the fake version--will extend your UK insurance, or do you actually need local insurance as is stated in the post above yours (to which a Brown Card can be added).

In other words, I can't see any reason to carry multiple copies of your UK insurance certificate....but this is all news to me. I've rented quite a few bikes in West Africa and all came with local insurance, some with Brown Cards coverage. I used only one to cross borders, and nobody cared in the slightest.

Chris: The Brown card wouldn't extend UK insurance. It would extend a policy issued in an ECOWAS country to other ECOWAS countries.

Markharf: Yes, a rented bike would probably have local insurance in an ECOWS country, and so a Brown card would be able to extend that to other ECOWAS countries.

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Got it! (I think):
- get at least third party insurance in the first ECOWAS country. For me, that’s Senegal.
- either there, or in the next ECOWAS country (for me Guinea) get a Brown card to extend cover through all the Brown card participating countries (last one Nigeria).
- after Nigeria get at least third party insurance in the first CEMAC country (for me that’s Cameroon)
- either there or in the next CEMAC country (for me Gabon or Congo) get a Pink Card to extend cover through the Pink card participating countries (last one Congo).
- on entering DRC and onwards there seem to be no more similar systems, so it’s back to purchasing insurance country-by-country.

Phew! It ain’t half complicated.
No doubt expensive too, but I have long realised this project is not going to be cheap.

Yes, it is complicated and expensive. I'd suggest getting a Brown card at the Senegal border. You'd need something to show if you get stopped by cops. Then, when you get to St Louis or Dakar, ask a real insurance agent if it's valid or not...

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Your Calabar-Tiko border experience sounds like another full-on nightmare, and a financial black hole. “Nerve-wracking” is putting it mildly.
Still, I guess we do these things in the hope of gaining some memorable experiences and dinner-party stories, and it certainly ticks those boxes!
With the benefit of hindsight (I am always happy to profit from your experience) might it have been preferable to cross into Cameroon via a land border post further North?

I noticed Kyle crossed a land border and ended up camping in Rebel territory. I certainly wouldn't do that. All advice is not to put yourself at risk in the rebel area. We met some other overlanders, and they flew their bikes from Cotonou to Libreville and skipped Nigeria and Cameroon. That's probably the best option, although having ridden through Nigeria I'm pleased to say we did it, I just wouldn't do it again.

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Well done getting through Nigeria. Another challenge overcome, and hopefully enormous satisfaction when you look back.

Despite the aggro and expense, your route into Cameroon sounds more attractive than Kyle’s inland one. Potential rip-offs seem preferable to long off-road sections and wild camping in the boondocks (against FCO advice).
And once I’m getting closer I will take your advice and look into potential sea/air routes to bypass some of the badlands. Maybe less satisfaction, but a lot less hassle.

Good luck with the Congos. I’m guessing that after them life will get much more agreeable.

One question: do you use the Maps.me app? It works offline once you have downloaded each country or regional map, and there is a “hotels” function which has got me out of a scrape a few times (and taken me to some strange and interesting places).

We stayed in Douala for a while. My CRF1000 had blown a fork seal way back in Guinea. There have been some rough roads since then. The oil has pretty much stopped leaking out now. There is just enough coming out to wet the caliper but not enough to run down and drip onto the wheel rim. Despite having new brake pads before leaving the UK the left pads are down to metal and scraping the disc. The right side has been well lubricated with fork oil of course! We needed to get some new seals and pads sent out to us.

The previous weekend was the King's Coronation and consequently Monday was a national holiday in the UK, so the spares, although ordered on Saturday, were dispatched on Tuesday. With overnight delivery from the suppliers, Belinda received them on Wednesday and DHL'ed them the same day. They arrived in Douala on Friday morning which is amazing service on DHL's part.

Sadly that performance isn't matched on the Cameroon side. The customs do everything they can to prevent the timely flow of goods anywhere. We went to the DHL office the package was addressed to. No, it's not coming here said the counter staff. Try going to the airport.

At the airport office various staff looked at each other before a waybill was printed. They then motioned for me to go upstairs to a customs office. The three people inside sat at desks chatting. One motioned to take the paperwork. He put it on his desk and carried on chatting. After a lengthy wait he left and gave it to custom woman 2 to deal with. She put it on her desk and carried on chatting. A long wait later she looked at it, tapped a lot of keys and wrote a number down. 67% import tax.

Clearly extortion so I said no. She referred it back to customs guy 1 when he returned. He made various implausible excuses but eventually told her to recalculate, now it was down to 55% tax. After over an hour of this, that was as good as it was going to get. Downstairs to pay at the money counter. Cashier on her phone ignores everyone. A helpful local guy, who is familiar with the procedure, pushes my paperwork to her. She puts it on her keyboard and ignores it.

I wait and eventually she says it's not on her system. Customs is one system, the money is another etc. A long wait later she takes the 55% tax and adds another 2% to it for her services. Back up stairs to get the payment approved by two obnoxious customs guys in a different office. Neither is interested but one starts wanting more paperwork and shows a document of unknown origin which isn't necessary. I remain calm and through Google translate ask politely for help.

He motions to obnoxious customs guy 2 to do something. OCG2 can't do it so OCG1 comes over after stamping the receipt from the cashier. They motion for me to go downstairs. Back downstairs, next to the cashier is another kiosk. Woman takes all paperwork and copies it. She keeps some and gives me some of the copies and motions for me to go outside. Still no one shows any interest in finding my parcel, I ask a security guard for help using translate on the phone.

He motions for me to take a seat. Nothing happens. I ask him again and he goes off to look for someone. Guard comes back with a thumbs up signal which is hopeful. Sometime later I see a man with a parcel about the size I was expecting. Various scans, form filling and signing later he hands it over. 2.5 hours to collect a parcel. I relay this (somewhat boring) story to give you an idea of how things work out here and why it takes so long and costs so much, to ride through Africa. You can't rush it or change it and extortion, corruption, indifference and lack of work ethic in the government departments is just the way it's done.

While in Douala we decided to try and get the Congo visa. There is a consulate in Douala and they told us we needed copies of documents and accommodation reservations. They gave directions to a copy shop up the road. We made a hotel reservation, emailed it to the copy shop, they printed it and made copies of Yellow Fever certificate etc. Back at the consulate we handed over all documents and 60 000 CFA. The reception lady told us to come back on Tuesday to collect the passports. It was 4 days to wait but the visa was processed and ready on Tuesday.

Douala to Sangmelima

Brake pads fitted, Congo visa received, ready to continue. We planned to go to Yaounde and see how far we could get. As it turned out the roads were good, the town traffic was slow but kept moving and we made good time. At Yaounde, we decided to continue to Sangmelima. It's a long way but there were only two corrupt cop roadblocks on the way. One just wanted money, the other wanted our boots. Not sure what he thought we would ride away in if we gave away our boots!

Some lovely stretches of road and the first time for a long time we could just ride without constantly being stopped. It did rain but being hot and humid it wasn't worth putting on rain gear until it really started to pelt down. It didn't last long and by then we were boiling in the rain gear. Sangmelima is quite a big town and finding a hotel and fuel was easy. There was no electricity but the hotel used a generator at night so there was light and some AC.

Sangmelima to Ouesso (Cameroon/ Congo border crossing)

This stretch was a complete unknown. Google earth showed roads with white lines so we assumed it would be paved and it was. Border crossings are always unpredictable and can take hours and hours to complete. The plan was to ride to the closest border town and check in to a hotel, then cross the border the following day.

In fact the road was excellent. We were in rural Cameroon and riding the best road we'd seen in Africa since Morocco. We made good time to the border town but it clearly wasn't somewhere you'd want to stay so we decided to cross the border and ride to Ouesso.

Leaving Cameroon was super easy. For once the immigration office was next to the customs office, in the first for the passport stamp, in to the customs for the carnet stamp and we were done. Rope barrier was lowered and we were out of Cameroon.

Next came a series of buildings, roads, signs but everything was deserted and there was no barrier. Is this the border, should we continue, what if it is the border and we haven't done the paperwork? Best to go back and look again. Second time round a friendly guy in military uniform and a big gun approached. He explained the complex is not used, just carry on riding until you get to a rope barrier, that's where the paperwork is done.

True enough we came to the rope barrier. First up was immigration. Sat silently waiting while an officer finishes what he's writing. He then takes our passports and very slowly peruses them. Then very slowly finds a book to write all the details in. Finally he stamps the passport twice. Next door is the customs office. No problem here, customs guys are friendly and efficient, they know what a carnet is and how to fill it in and stamp it.

Next door is the vaccination check. Yellow Fever guy writes all details in a book. We're all done, superb, best crossing ever..... but of course, too good to be true. On the way back to the bikes passport guy calls us back to immigration and takes our passports. Long wait, no information forthcoming but eventually a big guy in a Kaftan type outfit, chunky gold necklace, dark glasses and a holstered pistol arrives. He places the gun on the table before sitting down, then puts the gun in the drawer. He peruses the passports and asks some questions. First guy is evidently junior to pistol guy. Some discussion between them later, he stamps our passports again and we're good to go.

Just as we get to the bikes a third passport guy runs after us, we have to go back to the passport office. No information but a few questions about where we are going, a further delay but we were cleared (for the third time) to go.

At the rope barrier two guys want to record the details in their book. They also demand a fee of 1000 CFA each for lowering the rope barrier. We ask for an invoice, more just to prove to them that we know it's corruption than actually wanting an invoice. They know they've been rumbled so we pay it and it's fun and laughter all round. They lower the rope and we ride through.

It's 5 hours to Ouesso and 14:30 so arrival will be at night. Not ideal but there is nowhere else to stay. The road to Ouesso was broken up in a few places but generally very good to excellent. Only two roadblocks. One for Forestry commission and one for second immigration check. Neither asked for payment. There were other barriers but they were lowered as we approached or were down and we were waved through. A long day but effectively covered two days riding and a border crossing in one day. A good result.

Ouesso to Owanda

A shorter day was planned as it was too far to make Brazzaville in one day and we'd had a long day the previous day. Plan was to ride from Ouesso to Owanda. Hopefully arrive early afternoon and get a local sim card and find a hotel. The road was really good. Paved all the way with lovely views of dense green jungle on both sides. Lots of dwellings along the way. About 4 roadblocks but only one stopped us and asked for our passports. He took them into a hut and there was a long delay. Not sure what he was doing but he eventually gave them back and lowered the rope barrier.

In Owanda we found a hotel but it didn't have internet so we went up the main road to the local sim card booth. While buying sim cards we were accosted by a uniformed police man and two non uniformed guys. Uniform 1 advised we had to give our passports to non uniform man 1, then go to the police station. After getting sim cards they escorted us to the police station. Some confusion followed and clearly we were not being given a choice of leaving.

To cut a very very long story short, they accused us of being in the country illegally, claiming we didn't have visas, even though the chief was looking at the clearly legible Congo visa page in our passports. It was a tense time which ended when Richard overheard something in French about a stamp. Evidently they couldn't find the border post entry stamp and assumed we had somehow sneaked into the country without crossing an official border post. Once Richard found the relevant stamp and pointed it out the chief did lighten up and say everything was in order. Then there was a further delay due to form filling but we were relieved to be leaving the police station with our passports in hand.

It was all conducted in French, it is a French speaking country after all, but it does heighten the tension when you're in a police station and don't know what's going on. At one point a policeman came in and asked if I spoke English, I said yes and he asked what I wanted, i.e what was I doing at the police station and what did I want from them. A perfect question, now if only he could could find out the answer and let me know! After it was all settled we went back to the hotel we had found earlier and checked in.

The hotel had a patio area which overlooked the river, a lovely spot for a sundowner although the edge had been taken off the whole experience by the earlier events. While sitting on the patio, the English speaking policeman turned up to say hello, not in uniform now he took a seat at our table. We had a social chat and bought a round of drinks. We asked why we had to register and he explained they had a foreigner go missing sometime ago but nobody knew anything about him so now they keep tabs on all foreigners in town. We learned a lot about the town and what the police there deal with. Drownings in the river, snake bite deaths, road accidents, crime etc. For a 28 year old he's seen quite a bit.

He did WhatsApp me frequently after that asking where we were and where we were going so it may not have been a purely social visit.

Owanda to Brazzaville

The day got off to a bad start. We were loading up for our 7am departure and there were two guys lurking by the hotel gate. When they saw me they came over, neither in uniform but one in baggy sports attire said he was an immigration officer. Was he, hard to tell, so I carried on loading the bike. He insisted I give him my passport. Risky giving your passport to a stranger in a hotel car park so I waited until Richard arrived as backup. We did let him see the passports and he wrote down the details. Then the other guy did the same. Who knows who they were?

We then set off to fill up with fuel but the service station was closed. We had range to get to the next big town so decided to start riding. Two small villages had service stations but no fuel. The bigger town had three garages, the first said no, carry on to the next one. The second one was closed and the third was unoccupied and out of service. We didn't have the range to go to the next town but there was a police roadblock ahead. We rode up and I asked the police how we could get "essance". Mainly using hand signals he communicated that he could get fuel in a container for us. We used a calculator to confirm the litres and cost. If we had understood the situation correctly, we must wait and someone would bring fuel to us.

That is what happened and the head policeman gave instructions to the two minions who brought us 40 litres of fuel in drums on a moped. The irony of buying black market fuel from the policemen at a roadblock wasn't lost on us. Also this was all friendly, no demands for documents or false allegations of wrongdoing, in total contrast to our experience with the Owando police the day before. While waiting for the delivery, the police guys pointed to a building and advised us it was a Patisserie. After fuelling the bikes we went to get pastries and drinks before heading off with a goodbye wave to the police.

The road was generally fine, paved most of the way with occasional potholes and some sections where the road had completely disintegrated. We passed a few more fuel stations, either with long queues or no fuel but we were OK now, we had enough to get to Brazzaville. We then came to a Total service station with fuel and no queue so we took the opportunity to fill our reserve bladder tanks and bikes to the max. The scenery was changing to grass plains, mountains and some cattle ranches.

Brazzaville to Pointe Noire

It rained heavily during the night, a real African thunderstorm and then continued raining for a few hours after that. The hotel was down a dirt road so getting out was trickier than getting in. It was soft sand before but now was mud and water holes. The N1 is the main road and in the towns between Brazzaville city and the N1/ N2 junction it has completely disintegrated leaving potholes and slush.

Once out of town and heading West it's fine. It's a Peage but free for bikes. There is a gap in the barriers for bikes so you don't have to wait for the barrier to lift. We made good progress, the scenery is great, the police roadblocks were few and far between and they all waved us through, no long stops checking documents. Again, this was in complete contrast to our police experience in Owando.. The temperature started at 23c rising to 30c, everything you need for a great ride. Towards the Pointe Noire end we came across a section which I'd say is one of the best, if not the best, biking roads I have ever seen, anywhere in the world. Mostly 4 lanes with sweeping bends left and right going on for about 60 miles through the jungle and Dimonika National Park. Africa is full of surprises.

Look up the N1 in Google maps between the towns of Dolisie and Tchikanou to see the road and the bends. Just fantastic. It livened up the whole ride and was so unexpected. Getting into Pointe Noire brought us back to the crumbling roads, dirt, pollution, congestion and general craziness that is Africa. We found the hotel but they'd stopped taking cards and we didn't have enough cash. The ATM from Congo bank doesn't accept foreign cards, the Eco bank does but couldn't dispense cash at that moment so it was a mission to find an ATM that did work. Mission accomplished it was off to the supermarket and back to the hotel. A long day but some fantastic riding, good progress and time to plan the next day.

Good days, bad days. Impressive progress given the enforced delays. Following with interest.

Pointe Noire to Cabinda

It's not far to the border, Google said about 1:15 so we left at 8am. Poite Noire is just like many other African cities, crumbling roads, dirt, pot holes etc. Fortunately at that time most traffic was going into town, so the traffic leaving town was moving, albeit rather slowly. The border came up rather quickly, again, you know you're there when there is a lot of congestion and a rope across the road. We pulled into some parking and were immediately surrounded by hustlers and noisy money changers. Looking past that we sought out the calm money changer and it was a good move. He guided us to the police, immigration and customs offices. All very simple on the Congo side and we were cleared out of the Congo in under half an hour.

We changed some money with him and he then guided us through the Angolan side as well. We didn't ask him to and didn't expect him to but he just came along and showed us where we needed to go. We paid him for his help. You may not need a guide but it's a lot easier if someone can show you which doors to go to, who to speak to and in which order. The Angolan side dragged on for some time. Everybody was pleasant but it was slow. The visa office had no working lights so they went off to fix that. Then the officer decided to show someone how to print visas. That involved lessons on how to align the paper in the printer, how to use the software and so on. Some time later we had visas. Then off to pay. Can't do that without copies of the visa which they don't give you and of course as the visa was only printed 10 minutes before it's not something we could do in advance. OK, pay the money changer to go make the copies for us, then back to immigration to pay the $120 which must be in USD and the notes must be $5 denomination or higher. Once paid the officer wants photos of the bikes registration plates etc. then over to customs.

They peruse the carnets before correctly stating that Angola is not a carnet country and "we must pay". Those are familiar words by now, so we try to discuss it but with zero Portuguese this is not possible. A helpful local does a bit of interpreting and explains it's not much to pay. He's correct, it's 6336 Kwanza (about £9.50) so we agree and they start to process the paperwork. This takes time as they don't speak English and our bike papers are in English. Things like CC, colour, make, model etc. Then it's off to the bank as customs don't take payments. Bank teller is not in the office but arrives soon afterwards. Payment made it's then off to the police office.

An officer inspects all the documentation and writes all the details in a book. He stamps the piece of paper which serves as our import permit. We're free to go so we load up and ride on but wait, there's more........... we're stopped by a rope barrier. This guy wants to see the paperwork too. So, engine off, gloves off, helmet off, get the paperwork out. You get the picture I'm sure. Over 3 hours after arriving at the border, we're on our way to Cabinda. On our way until we come to a roadblock that is. They want the bike paperwork and are in no hurry to let us proceed. It takes a turn for the worse when the eagle eyed guy notices my bike has been listed on the Angolan paperwork as Green when it is clearly Red. This is a problem he declares. Fortunately Richard had been doing some great PR with the other guys at the checkpoint and they agreed to let the paperwork colour issue slide. After they had their photo opportunities with Richards bike, we were on our way again. It's not far to Cabinda but the road had completely disintegrated in places.

Arriving in town we needed to find an ATM. We passed a bank and waited in the queue for the ATM. It only dispensed a Max of 40000 Kwanza. We needed way more than that. We carried on to the ferry terminal. Unfortunately, the boat left earlier that day and the next one was in two days time. It took over three hours to buy two ferry tickets for us and the bikes. Can't explain why but now you've read the border crossing bit all I can say is that it was similar to that. Next it was off to find an hotel. Over 6 hours of bureaucracy but we had crossed the border and had the ferry tickets. For the tickets we had to pay 15000 per person and 93500 in cash for each bike but the receipt only showed a total of 101500. I guess you just have to consider it a tip.........!

Had to wait a day for the ferry. Hotel had initially said they were full and we could only stay one night so first task was to find accommodation. Some further requests to the hotel meant we could extend our stay for one more night. Next up was to get Angolan insurance for the bikes. We went into town and found the insurance office. Very friendly staff looked at all the paperwork, took copies of everything, typed lots of stuff into the computer, got us to fill in an application form and after some time said they had a price. I was expecting the worst but when they said 25000 Kwanza I thought that was a bit much until I realised she said 2500 Kwanza, which seemed too little but who's to argue. Insurance done it was time to get local sim cards. Easier said than done. The network provider store was full of people. We were ushered to the front desk and told to wait there. An attendant took our passports and we went to the back of the store to wait.......and wait. The attendant did come back with the passports and eventually we had sim cards that didn't work. They assured us they would work in two hours time. We walked back to the hotel. Two hours later, the sim cards still hadn't been activated so we walked back to the shop. They looked it up and said in another two hours the sims would work........ Back at the hotel we waited in anticipation of being back online. Surprisingly the cards did get activated and we had internet again.

While walking to the network shop I heard a sweet little voice behind us. I turned to see a kid, could be no more than 6 to 8 years old with a bowl of fruit on her head. She was running after us trying to sell fruit. It doesn't matter what you do, you're not going to change the way of life for anybody in Africa but it's so difficult to see and she was so sweet, just trying to sell papaya. After the phone shop we walked back along he same street, looking for her, to give her some money. Initially we couldn't see her but then, there she was, sitting on the kerb with her friend, behind a car, trying to get some shade from a tree. We didn't take the papaya but you'd have to be pretty heartless to be able to walk past them without giving something to help out.

Cabinda to Soyo

As instructed we went to the ferry terminal at 10am. A guy told us to move the bikes to a parking lot and wait, they would come and tell us when we could go to the boat. An hour or so later we rode the bikes, with the ferry guy as pillion, down to the boat. We stood around on the dock while a crane was requested. The bikes were lifted with a strop under the frame, about where the centre stand is. The crane driver was good and before long the bikes were onboard the foredeck. It's not a cargo boat but they are happy to put bikes on it. Then it was back to the terminal for us to have the passports checked etc. Back to the boat and it set off. The sea was calm, the ride took about two hours and we docked in Soyo. The bikes were offloaded, we went to passport control then paid a small port fee and were soon riding out of the port. The whole ferry trip went well. The terminals at both ports are new and fresh and the boats were smart and clean. We had a hotel pre booked this time as accommodation can be difficult to find. The hotel was down a dirt road which had some deep soft sand on it. Soft sand is difficult to ride on, especially with heavy, laden overland bikes. Unfortunately Richard dropped his bike in the sand and it fell on his ankle which swelled up quickly.

Soyo to Luanda

Richard was able ride but was struggling with the injured ankle. The garages in Soyo weren't open when we set off and long queues were already building up waiting for them to open. We had enough fuel to get to the half way mark and we had been advised there was a fuel station there so we decided to ride on without refuelling. It proved to be a good decision as fuel was available at Nzeto. There was also a working ATM. Once outside Soyo the road opened up into a very good highway. There were a few rough patches but generally it was all fine. We stayed at a lodge for overlanders run by Louis and his wife. Very hospitable and a great place to stop.

Luanda to Lobito

The plan was to have a short day as Richard's ankle was swollen and painful. We set off towards Lobito and it turned out to be quite a day. The road more or less follows the coast and was a complete mixed bag. Some sections were absolutely perfect while other, smaller sections, were completely broken up. There were sections where the road was closed and dirt detours were followed. Pretty much all types of road in one day. Hopefully the photos can show some of that. At one town we passed some impressive looking hotel buildings. Two pink and one yellow building but unfortunately they were all closed up and the grounds derelict. Not sure what happened as the buildings looked pretty new. Without any other hotels in the area we rode on. It turned into a long day but Lobito has a peninsular with lots of hotels on it. First one was closed, second and third had no rooms, fourth was an apartment block and no secure parking for the bikes. I was concerned about that as we were swamped by people on the street as soon as we stopped and I had lost all my security equipment with my panniers back in Guinea. Interestingly enough, this would have been only the second time I would have needed bike security equipment since losing my panniers. The fifth hotel also had no parking but arranged for us to leave the bikes off the street at a neighbouring property. It also turned out to be a good hotel with proper food, water and AC. No internet though. The long day wasn't what we had in mind and it didn't do Richards injury any good so we decided to stay an extra day and see how things progressed.

Lobito to Lubango

Straight forward ride to Lubango, started with a good road and cool temperature for the first half. Second half wasn't as good. The road had some major pot holes and was broken up in places so going was a bit slower. Lubango is a big place with plenty of hotels. The first one we tried was fine, reasonable price and secure parking for the bikes. Scenery has changed to hills, grass, trees. It's wasn't as humid which makes for much more comfortable riding.

Lubango to Ondangwa (Angola Namibia border crossing)

It was a straight forward ride to the border. There are two crossing points and we chose the one to the East at Oshikango. As borders go it was one of the most organised but still took 2:10 to get through. On the Angolan side you drive up to some gates. There is an office for immigration where the passports were examined, stamped and then taken away. They said they needed copies but the passports were returned a short time later.

It was absolute chaos with the money changers. The initial guy gave an exchange on the low side but that would have been OK with me just for simplicity, except he then reneged on that and I decided not to deal with him. That just opened the flood gates to all the others standing around shouting and jockeying for position. The bike was mobbed and it all got out of hand. The police turned up to disperse the crowd!. The immigration guy had a favoured money changer and we went to the immigration office to discuss the rate in peace and quiet. His rate was OK and the money was exchanged from Kwanzas to Namibian Dollars. It's about N$24 to 1GBP.

Then we rode up to the next office which was for the bike check. The policeman who had dispersed the crowd earlier was on duty there. He asked for some documents we'd never heard of but didn't insist when we gave him what we had. He took the Angolan papers and returned the registration documents to us and that was it, we were out of Angola.

Over to Namibia. Some helpful police showed us where to park and which office to go to. Unfortunately we arrived just after a massive amount of people so there was a big queue for immigration. Not sure if they all came off a bus but it was bad timing for us.

Once the form was filled in, the passports were stamped. Then to the next window to register and pay the vehicle cross border tax. It was about £9.75 but took a while to get the paperwork done. With the green slip in our hand it was off to customs.

There a customs officer took the carnets. She knew what they were and how to fill them in. She just did it and returned them to us. It's a novelty in Africa having someone who knows what to do with a carnet!

Back to the bike, but by now I know that's never the end of it so I didn't put on gloves etc. We rode further until another set of gates. The gates were open but the shouting gave away the fact we were supposed to stop. A road fund officer asked for the green paper. She checked it and that was us done, clear to go.

We rode out into the mass of people, stalls, hawkers, beggars and past a few rows of proper shops. Further down the road there was a police road block. He wanted the drivers licence. After that we rode on but there was another roadblock, this time the officer wanted our passports. At both stops they were in uniform, friendly, checked the documents and let us continue, no corruption or problems.

Riding into Ondangwa we stopped at a convenience shop. Richard's rear tyre had lost pressure earlier in the day and it was at a low pressure again. It's a knobbly tyre and had worn very well but had started cracking badly around the tread. It was now losing pressure fast. It certainly wouldn't have got us to Windhoek so we had to fit the used spare we bought in Cameroon. We did make it to the local hotel though. Unfortunately my micro SD card became corrupted and I lost the days filming. Pity as it had all the border stuff on it.

Day in Ondangwa

Changed the tyre on Richards bike for the used tyre we bought in Cameroon.

Tried to get a local sim card but it was not viable. The only shop in town had a huge queue in the morning. We tried again in the afternoon but wait time was estimated to be 2 to 3 hours so we gave up. Went to a supermarket and stocked up on food and drinks for the long ride the next day.

I was planning on going to Windhoek to find bike shops while Richard went off to Etosha game reserve to do a game drive.

Also filled the fuel bladder and bike tank to ensure I would have the range to get to Windhoek. There were plenty of fuel stations in town and no reason to believe fuel would be a problem en-route but it's nice stopping when you want to rather than when you have to.

Ondangwa to Windhoek

The hotel manager took an interest in the bikes and when I said I'd need a new tyre in Windhoek he phoned around to find out where I could get one. Very good of him to take the time to do it and saved me the task of riding from shop to shop looking for tyres. After various calls to bike shops and contacts, he printed the name of a tyre shop, not bike specific but they do sell bike tyres. It was somewhere to aim for.

I set off early and rode the 430 miles to Windhoek. The roads were good with a 120kph speed limit. There were a few police check points but only one stopped me. Even then he just had a chat and a quick look around the bike before letting me continue on my way. An excellent ride, nice temperature, clear blue sky, open countryside, good roads and not much traffic. On arrival in Windhoek I went straight to the tyre shop the hotel manager had given me. They had a choice of Michelin or Pirelli tyres in the size I need. Unfortunately they don't fit them so I didn't buy the tyre at that time. I found a hotel near by and checked in.

Only hitch was noticing a wet area on the engine, Turned out to be coolant from the water pump drain. It's a CRF1000 issue where the water pump is inside the engine. If the seals start leaking the coolant flows out of the engine through a drain hole to prevent it contaminating the engine oil. It's a big job to change (unless you're in workshop, of course) as the side cover has to come off and parts are needed. A real blow as it really could mean the end of the trip.

Day in Windhoek

I needed to get the rear tyre changed and see about parts for the bike. That was the job of the day. Went to Honda who said they don't sell tyres. There was a big sign behind the parts counter with 11 points detailing what they won't do to help you and not a single point about what they will do to help Honda riders. Clearly no assistance would be given with the water pump parts.

I asked if they could fit a tyre (Richard had the tools and was not back from the game reserve yet) and they said yes. I assumed that being a Honda dealer it would all be done properly so I went back to the tyre shop and bought the Michelin tyre.

Back at Honda the job seemed to be taking a long time so I went to have a look in the workshop. I was surprised by what I saw going on. Amongst other things, the back wheel was lying on the brake disc on a concrete floor with a mechanics assistant standing on the rim. No torque wrench used and the axel nut was done up so tightly with a breaker bar that the wheel was binding. I had to loosen it, check it all and tighten it up again myself. Then they charged N$700 for tyre fitting (about £28) and it wasn't even balanced.

I'm surprised a company like that is allowed to have a Honda dealership. I assumed the tyre and tube were at least fitted properly although I didn't see that part being done.

Windhoek itself is a nice place with good roads, shops, restaurants, traffic lights, industrial areas and a large shopping mall. I managed to get a couple of other jobs crossed off my list before going back to the hotel.

Another day in Windhoek

While Richard visited the Etosha Game reserve, I stayed in Windhoek at the hotel. Plan was for us to meet up again in Windhoek and ride out together the next day.

I noticed the Honda dealer had tightened the tube valve stem nut so tightly I couldn't loosen it by hand. It's not supposed to be tight, it's not a rim lock! This is basic stuff that I'd expect a Honda dealership to know.

I didn't have tools to loosen it but made a mental note to use Richards tools to loosen it before setting off the following morning. I didn't ride the bike that day.

Windhoek to Keetmanshoop

All packed and ready to go at 7am, I remembered I needed to loosen the valve stem nut. As I loosened it I realised the tyre was flat. Not only had the Honda dealer refitted the wheel incorrectly at the workshop, they had trashed my tube as well. Fortunately Richard had a spare tube (I lost my spare tubes in Guinea with the panniers) so I had to unload the bike and fit a new tube with Richards help. Not good for his injured ankle and I had a few choice words for the mess Honda had made of my bike. I can't believe the damage the Honda dealer did. Don't go to Honda in Windhoek is the lesson here! We finally got going later than planned.

The ride to Keetmanshoop went really well. I kept stopping to check the coolant but it wasn't leaking. I had bought some Honda coolant and topped up the reservoir, replacing the coolant lost on previous days.

The tyre stayed inflated, the weather, scenery, roads and rest areas were all excellent. Namibia is a great place to be out on a motorcycle.

Unfortunately, something smashed the side of the bike windscreen. Probably a stone from an oncoming mini bus. I didn't see the object, just heard it and felt something hit my shoulder.

Keetmanshoop is a small town and on a Saturday evening the streets were deserted. We found a hotel which turned out to be very good. Excellent food, bar and rooms. It even had a courtyard to park the bikes in. What more could we ask for. Apart from the bad start with the tube change it was a great days riding.

600 miles and one border to go! You must be getting ground rush.

Keetmanshoop to Springbok

It was still dark at 6:30am while loading the bikes but starting to get light at 7am as we rode out of town. All very quiet as it was a Sunday. Great roads but much colder than expected at 5'c. We kept thinking it would warm up as the sun came up but it stayed pretty cold. That made for an uncomfortable ride as I'd lost my cold weather kit with the panniers. It was a straight forward ride to the border.

The border post was the most organised we've seen in Africa. One way through, all the buildings are laid out in sequence. All the offices are labelled and had entry and exit doors. Simply park up, go and get the carnet stamped, go to immigration for passport stamp and that was Namibia done. Ride through and down the road to the SA side. First stop was at a friendly police line. We were given a piece of paper and directed to some parking. From there, again, all the buildings in a row and sign posted to show what each building contained. Go to immigration for passport stamp, next window for carnet stamp, next building for police to stamp the piece of paper. Ride to the exit post and hand the stamped piece of paper to a friendly policeman and that was it. We were in South Africa. The whole process from arrival to exit took 45 minutes. A new personal best for African border crossings!

Then a ride to the town of Springbok. Good roads but cold again and it started raining. I already had rain gear on to try and retain some warmth and stop the wind chill.

Springbok is a small town and everything except the fuel station was closed on Sunday afternoon. We tried a few hotels. All had rooms but the first was expensive, the second had no Wi-Fi and we didn't reach the third as we spotted a suitable place on the way there. R900 per room with Wi-Fi.

Only thing left to do was to find insurance and buy a SIM card but that would have to wait until the Monday morning.

Springbok to Worcester

We started the day at 8am at an insurance brokers. They couldn't help with 3rd party insurance but also said we didn't need any. Anyway, we went looking for another insurance office without success. As time was moving on we decided to continue without.

It's a lovely ride down the Cape Namibia Highway. Good road, stunning scenery, shops and fuel. Two police road blocks. First waved us through. Second one was stopping everybody. The police checked my driving licence and had a look over the bike. It was all efficient and friendly and we were on our way again.

There were some long stretches of road works but all well organised. Contra flows in place but the operators stopped traffic in one direction while coordinating the flow by radio with their colleagues at the other end.

The route goes past many vineyards and citrus plantations. The town of Worcester is neat and we booked into a hotel in town. It had a courtyard to park the bike in, although that was an extra charge, only R30 (less than £1.50) so better than leaving the bikes on the street.

We were looking forward to the ride to Cape Agulhas (southern most point of Africa) the next day.

Good luck for the final push. Let us know when you get there.

Worcester to Cape Agulhas (Southern most point of Africa)

Worcester is a relatively small town so getting out of town was easy, no real traffic. It was cold again. 4'c when we set off at 8am. No point setting off any earlier as it is still dark.

The ride to Cape Agulhas was spectacular. My Garmin and Richards Garmin gave different routes to the destination. Mine agreed with Google so I followed that but it did take me on an unpaved road for a shortcut. Richard was in pain with his ankle and going off road was not an option so he followed the longer paved road.

There was a bit of a delay as we lost each other and had to stop and send messages to agree to be on separate routes. Seemed ridiculous to ride through Africa together and then split up on the last 80 miles.

Anyway, it worked out well and we met up in the town of Bredesdorp which is before L'Agulhas. We rode down to the coast and along the coast road and back before finding the monument.

Of course we took the photo opportunity and walked to the sea front plaque and map of Africa. After the photos we just sat and looked at the ocean for a while. It's a beautiful spot and marked the end of a long and eventful journey through Africa.

Congratulations! After all the drama with panniers, carnets, leaks and whatever else must have come up! Fantastic achievement, very jealous!

Again Congratulations and thank you for spending the time to share your experiences with us all.

Well done Gordon! And Richard.

Thanks tjmouse, alandob & Chris. It was an adventure.

Extra mention to Richard as he has had his ankle checked and it turns out he has a fracture. He rode from Northern Angola to Cape Agulhas like that. Well hard!

The bikes are with African Overlanders and will hopefully be shipped back asap. I'm looking forward to giving my bike the TLC it certainly deserves. The bikes took a pounding.

Apart from regular maintenance items there are a few things that need replacing on my bike. The blown fork seal will mean the forks have to be rebuilt, the screen is broken, an exhaust shield went awol somewhere in Africa and the rear rim has a dent in it. Pretty sure that was from a pot hole in Angola.

The front brake discs are worn with the left one below minimum thickness. I'm guessing that was due to the left one doing all the work while the right brake disc was covered in fork oil.

Then there is the cleaning. There isn't a part of the bike which isn't covered in African sand and dust.

The water pump is an odd issue. It leaked, covering my boot and the engine case in coolant. It lost most of the coolant in the reservoir but then stopped leaking. Not sure how this can happen but the water pump is an expensive part so to change it or not to change it? Maybe see how it goes on local rides but I wouldn't go to a remote area without fitting a new pump first.

Gordon

Congratulations to you both on completing this epic ride… and well done on documentation of the legions of paperwork you had to deploy!

Glad to see the ferry now actually exists across the Congo river and the (breath stopping, for me) loading of a big bike onto a pirogue on the beach is a thing of the past.

Simon

Just an update. The shipping went really well and I got the bike back a couple of weeks ago. It took over 2 months but apart from that it was excellent. Just dropped it off at African Overlanders along with the Carnet. They took care of everything and I fetched it from Tilbury dock, London, and rode it home. It started on first press of the button even though it had been standing for some time.

The plan was to do a few repairs and full service but unfortunately there were a couple of seized bolts. Two exhaust header bolts sheared off so the cylinder head had to be removed. According to the Honda manual, step 1 is to take the engine out of the frame.

I'm not sure if that is necessary but as I bought the bike second hand, I thought this would be a good opportunity to inspect the rest of the bike and give it a good clean. It's a 2018 and I bought it in 2023. It clearly hadn't been well cared for in its previous life.

Unfortunately a forward engine bolt sheared while removing the engine. Getting the stud remainder out of the engine casing required heat and a great deal of care. I don't think the seized bolts were due to the African conditions, more likely from running around salty UK roads for the previous 5 years with no love or attention apart from the odd oil change.

The bike is now in pieces. The chrome on the fork stanchions was worn off. Both sides but worse on the leaking seal side. New stanchions, genuine Honda parts, were only slightly more expensive than a re-chrome so I bought new stanchions, seals, sliders, bushes etc. and rebuilt the forks.

The engine has been cleaned and is ready for the cylinder head to be changed. The parts need to be cleaned, some touch up paint on the frame, change the head and see if it will all go back together.
It's a work in progress.........

30 Sept 2023. The rebuild is pretty much done. The bike is back together and running perfectly. So much better now that the forks have been rebuilt. A pleasure to ride.

The rebuild has answered a question I pondered before the trip. Which wheels are best for an adventure bike? Cast alloy or with spokes, tube or tubeless.

I think it's fair to say most big adventure bikes never really see any adventure, instead spending their lives touring on paved, first world roads with maybe a bit of prepared dirt, or even just weekend riding and commuting. For those bikes, cast alloy wheels with tubeless tyres are fine. Small punctures can be plugged quickly and easily without removing the wheel. I don't think tubeless alloys are much use for proper adventure riding though.

There are a couple of reasons, if you do need to change a tyre, as we did, you may run into a problem. Changing the tubeless front tyre on Richard's bike (CRF1100) was easy enough but inflating it afterwards proved impossible without a high volume of air. This may have been partly due to it being a second hand tyre that had probably been stored horizontally, compressing the beads together. It was the only tyre we could find in Douala though.

Being tubeless, you need the bead to seat on the rim in order to inflate it but without a high volume of air that may not be possible. The small compressor we had wasn't enough, neither is foot or hand pump pressure. Yes, I know about wrapping straps around the tyre circumference and compressing the tyre but we couldn't get the bead to seat. Fortunately, a helpful fellow with a car took the wheel to a garage in town and used their high pressure air to seat the bead for us. But what do you do if this happens in a remote area and you're on your own?

Then the next issue. The wheels can take a real battering on bad surfaces. I knew my rear wheel had a dent in it, I think that happened in Angola but I only noticed it in Namibia. What I didn't know until I took the tyre off last week was that the rim was cracked. Not sure when the crack started but if that was a tubeless tyre it would have gone flat with no chance of re-inflation. Also if that was a cast alloy wheel it quite possibly could have broken up.

It has answered the question for me and no need for further pondering. If you're going to remote areas, riding on poor surfaces with no backup or support and have to be self sufficient, then I think it's best to have spoked wheels with tubed tyres.

I'll attach photo's of the damaged wheel.

The coolant leak in Angola/ Namibia is an odd one. It definitely leaked from the weep hole, covering the engine and my boot, so evidently there was a problem. Having topped up the reservoir in Windhoek, it didn't use any coolant for the rest of the trip. The original coolant was orange and the top up coolant was blue. On stripping it down, the reservoir still had blue coolant and the radiators etc. still had orange, they hadn't mixed. I haven't changed the coolant pump yet. I've done a few hundred miles on it since rebuild and it's still not leaking. How can it fix its own leak? I'm baffled by it.

The bike had a pretty good strip down. All parts cleaned, lubed and greased as required then reassembled with anti-seize compound. Its got a few more scratches on it than it had before the trip but all in all it scrubbed up well.

Fantastic! So much useful information. Your bike looks great after the rebuild. I do hope Richard's leg is fully recovered.

Thanks for a detailed report of a tough crossing. It will help a lot of travellers. Good to know Gabon and especially DRC can be dodged. Saves a couple of pages in the ppt.

I wonder if your 2018 'Cherry Ripe' AT was an ex-Honda Adventure Centre bike from Wales (pics below).
They flogged low milers via Motoden after a season with varying amounts of light damage, but at a fair price.
As one fork was already leaking in the showroom @ <2000 miles, I preemptively fitted some Kriega 'seal socks' which seemed to work. But then I didn't ride to CT.

Re seating a TL bead; definitely best done outside a tyre shop with a compressor. Helps to remove the valve core to get the air in fast. As it happens, the strap trick worked for me other other day after all jiggling failed. Last time many years ago it didn't and iirc I had to resort to the Icelandic Technique: squirt of solvent down the valve body and light a match.

Must say for solo travels I'd still go for TL with a light load, while keeping firmer pressures to avoid rim damage. If the rim cracks, as can happen, bung a tube in. Cracks apart, if you can't hammer out a dent (as we couldn't the other month on a 310), I'm told jamming a glued up TL tyre string can seal a dent leak.
I wonder if the TL rims on the 1100 are chunkier?

https://adventuremotorcyclinghandboo...9/12/at-fb.jpg

https://overlandershandbook.files.wo.../hot-louts.jpg

Awesome trip! Its been a while since I've read a trip report from someone taking the west route to SA.

How many days did you need driving from the UK to SA?

Thanks Matt. I appreciate the feedback.

Yes, Richard is fine again.

Thanks. It took about two and a half months.

You can make good progress in the Northern and Southern countries but it all slows down from Mauritania to Angola due to roadblocks, border crossings, visa issues and city road congestion etc.