East Africa Visas / Border crossings etc?

[Dean74]

Hi All,
we're getting prepared for the next trip from Durban to EU, and seeing some conflicting info on visas...

If anyone has been this way recently and can provide some real info it would be really helpful. In particular, are visas on arrival available at land borders, and do any countries require that we apply in our home embassy before leaving.

Any other issues to be aware of? I assume we'll need a Carnet, what about Insurance?

(We're on dual AU/EU passports, and have travelled the Western/Central Sahara route before - so understand the usual way of things in Africa...)

Thanks in advance!!
Dean.

PS our likely route...

RSA
Mozambique
Tanzania
Kenya
Ethiopia
Sudan
Egypt
Israel
EU

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[Nico95]

Hi Dean,

I started a similar tour in Cape Town last October and am currently in Khartoum so I can give you some info on the visas up to Sudan. All these were obtained with a German passport.
In South Africa you don't need a visa for a stay of up to 90 days, Lesotho and Swaziland are also easy to enter in case you want to go there. I got my visa for Mozambique in Germany but I heard that it is possible to get it at the border. Tanzania and Kenia are easy ones that you get on arrival.
To get the Ethiopian visa in Nairobi you need a letter of introduction/cover letter from your own embassy. As of Feb 2018 the German embassy in Nairobi issued those letters for 25€ but you have to book an appointment first. I heard other embassies refuse to issue those letters. With that letter you can get a 30 or 90 day visa at the Ethiopian embassy which starts on the day you get it in Nairobi.
The Sudanese embassy in Nairobi also issues 2 month tourist visas to non-residents if you bring them a letter from your embassy. Otherwise it should be possible to get a two weeks transit visa for the Sudan in Addis.

For egypt you will definitely need a carnet and it makes other border crossings easier too. Insurance is sold at the borders and you could consider getting the COMESA yellow card that is valid from Tanzania up to Sudan although it might be cheaper for you to just get the local ones.

Hope that helps you with your planning.

Cheers
Nico

[Dean74]

Thanks Nico, very helpful!
I think I may have read your blog regarding the Sudan visa, it sounds possible, although we're on AU passports so will need to find out if my embassy will issue this letter too.
cheers,
Dean.

[Dean74]

BTW Nico - are you having fun?

any suggestions / recommendations?

[ta-rider]

Hi

you will have to apply for Visa on the road as most of them expire after 3 months.

In case of an accedent its allways the fould of the tourist, because if he would not have gone there, the accedent would not have heppened. As a forreighner you allways have to pay cache first. Otherwise you will end up in jail untill you pay. If you buy an insurance for example in Ethiopia, you can try to get your money back afterwards. Good luck with this

Enjoy your trip: Motorcycling around the world - 50.000km across Africa

[Nico95]

Originally Posted by Dean74

BTW Nico - are you having fun?

any suggestions / recommendations?

I am definitely having fun
As for recommendations I would see if you can fit Malawi in your itinerary. Beautiful country and very welcoming people.

Cheers

[Dean74]

Hi Nico,
are you guys travelling with a carnet? I planned to get one, but the government in Australia has changed the rules and now it's really expensive to apply, wondering if it's possible to go without?

I'll look into Malawi too thanks for the tip, is it Visa on arrival at the border?

Dean.

[Eef_and_Dries]

Hi Dean,

We did the route the other way around and got all the visa's on the road.
We did it with a carnet, if you look throught this forum, you'll find some info about doing it without.
Our personal experience lets me think that only Egyp would be a problem...

We've actually recently published a book with all this kind of info if you might be interested

It's got all the info about documentation, visa's, border crossings, sights,...
https://www.amazon.com/Into-Africa-P...nto+africa+4x4


Anyway have a lot of fun on the road!
Eef and Dries

[psaris]

Hi Nico,
Did you cross to Ethiopia from Kenya at Fort Banya or Todenyang? i am planning to drive there next month and I am told that there is no Kenya immigration post at those places and it is impossible to get a Kenyan Exit stamp on your passport and that the Ethiopian authorities may refuse you entry to their country if you dont have it. Do you know anything about this?
thanks!

[wickychicky]

Originally Posted by psaris

Hi Nico,
Did you cross to Ethiopia from Kenya at Fort Banya or Todenyang? i am planning to drive there next month and I am told that there is no Kenya immigration post at those places and it is impossible to get a Kenyan Exit stamp on your passport and that the Ethiopian authorities may refuse you entry to their country if you dont have it. Do you know anything about this?
thanks!

Hi psaris,

We weren't given an exit stamp for kenya at Eldoret, the head officer said it wasn't necessary and it suited our purposes to believe him.
We took the east side of lake Turkana, crossing at fort banya.
In omorate, ethiopia nobody seemed interested in whether we had an exit stamp. The entry formalities were completed really quickly!

Others have been given stamps at Eldoret before, just FYI. As well as in Nairobi, which we were happy to leave out.

It is true that there are no immigration offices either at todenyang or fort banya, just police posts.