Hi,
So I’m thinking about riding from London to South Africa (via the West Coast), I have a few general questions if people would be so kind as to help me with.

First, I’ll explain my situation (briefly). I already have the bike. A well modded F650 Dakar setup for this trip. I’ve done a previous big trip on this bike so I am familiar with most of the basic stuff. I’ve done lots of smaller European trips on the bike too, so I know the bikes limit. Anyhow, here we go.

1: I must travel between April 2011 and August 2011. Is this a feasible time to do it?

2: Is 5 months enough time, including the obtaining of visa’s and carnet?

3: How much of a budget would I likely need? Not including shipping the bike back and the cost of the carnet. Just the ‘on the road’ money and visa costs. I intend to do it on a budget

4: Is the area around the Congo possible to ride, in safety terms? Or do I need to ship around that area?

5: How long for the pre trip paperwork to take place (carnet and visa’s). Also, what visa’s could I acquire in the UK before I departed

6: What are the rough prices for the carnet on my likely route? Is all of Africa (excluding Egypt) still 200%? (I know the admin costs and so forth. Just the percentage costs for the insurance option).

7: How long is the longest stretch of the Sahara without a fuel stop?

8: is the East coast a better (possible) route. If Egypt is still expensive to take a vehicle into, then I wont be touching Egypt. Its more about crossing Africa then going down the west route really.


I think that’s everything for now. I’m currently not in the UK and will not be until closer to the trip sadly as I now work abroad. I’ll be home in September so if I can get anything done then, I’d like to. Please direct me to other threads. I went through all the relevant pages for the past 6 months, I figures much after that would possibly be out of date.

Cheers in advance