Europe to east Africa by ferry?
 

hello,
does somebody can help us with latest information how it's possible to get a bike from turkey to sudan? Is there a Ferry from Turkey to Egypt? Is it possible to cross the Taba border fron Israel to Egypt?

Who did it the last weeks/Month?

Thanks a lot,
Stefan

Hi,

there used to be a ferry by UN RORO (not really a ferry, the transport trucks but will also take motorcycles) but I had just to learn that they have suspended the route.
I'm currently searching for an alternate my self. So if you run into anything, then please share it here! So will I if I find anything.

And yes, passing from Taba to Egypt is possible. You need to get a Visa upfront as on the border you will only get a Visa for the Sinai valid for 2 weeks.

David

hi
 

I have the same problem has you, I've been spending long hours in the internet looking for an alternative route, not very sucsesful so far. There is a ferry from Marseille to Tunisia, but you can not cross Libya, meaning you need to go west.

If you are planing to go south from Egypt, going to Israel and get your passport stamp won't let you in into Sudan.

Cheers,

Gilberto

Tunisia
 

I guys,

Kind of good news. I spoke with a couple of guys from Scotland who went (Motorbikes) from Edinburgh to Cape Town last year (Sept-Dec), they took the ferry to Tunisia and cross over Libya, I know there is few "thread" which stated that is not possible but I spoke with them and saw all their videos in Libya. No problems at all while crossing and border crossing. The gave me a contact, a guy who run a travel agency in Libya and I spoke with him last week, he help them in Libya. He told me that as far as 3 weeks ago a spanish couple in a motorbike crossed Libya without any problem. He also told me that right now it's some problems and need to wait at least after the ramadan. Obviously you need to get a Libya visa (£150), very expensive, and you need to pay for Arab number plates at the border, also you need a letter of invite from some one in Libya. As always, things change very quick in this area and you need to explore a plan B. Also I don't know how difficult or easy will be for car-4x4's !

There is a violent war in Libya now, I wouldn't go there these days the country is on the brink of civil war. Even if you make it through Libya, you still have to deal with the corrupted Egyptian officials.
Why not fly from Turkey to Khartoum. I have done that the opposite way round by flying my bike from Khartoum to Istanbul and then to Heathrow. It was easy and reasonably priced.

fleight Istanbul Khartoum
 

Hi Schenkel,
I wrote to some freight companies regarding the shippment of two bikes from Istanbul to Khartoum. So far no quote, but helpful people. Which company did you use for your travel?

Hi,
Don't write to them, either call them or physically go to Turkish Airlines offices, they will tell you what to do. I went to their offices in Khartoum and they gave me the name of their shipping agent in Khartoum who sorted things for me.

Sounds easy enough. many thanks!


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I am having the same problem, never thought the biggest challange of my Africa adventure would be to get my bike there!...anyway, the option I am exploring is to ship my bike to Cape Town and then drive north and exist through Egypt/Israel boarder, that way no Israel stamp when driving through Sudan. I guess many of you will be shipping your bikes from Cape Town and back home anyway, so why not do it the other way around and awoid this issue :)...I allready received one quote for about 800 Euros, shipping from Hamburg to Cape Town, waiting for more replies. I will keep you posted if someone is interrested in this option, and please keep updating on your end :)

Sounds good. we are now in istanbul and figure out the transport. i'll let you know how things worked out. seams to be pretty straight forward here.


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Hi,
I'm currently in Jordan, came by ship to Israel (salamis). Israel stamp is no issue at all. They don't stamp the passport at the border. They are also well aware of the situation in Sudan and very understanding.
The only issues I had so far was the border crossing to Jordan, initially they did not want to let me pass because I'm on my own on a motorbike which is apparently not allowed in Jordan. However after a lot of discussions, travel plans, phone number and what ever I was allowed to enter Jordan.

Shipping the bike to Cape Town is an option, clearly, however keep in mind that a ship passage can easily be delayed by weeks and if you ship your bike early you will pay large amounts of storage cost at the harbour. Also harbour charges can be a significant and unpredictable cost factor.
The salamis ferry works just fine. I had 3 quite nice days on bord.

Contact me if you need details.

David

If one can count on the Israeli customs to be friendly enough not to stamp directly in the passport, then a great option would be the Grimaldi freighter sailing between Italy (Monfalcon) and Israel (Ashdod) to Italy (Euro Med line). Has anyone had any experiance with that option? If it is illegal to drive alone on a motorbike through Jordan, I am affraid, being a solo female traveler, they might not be so villing to make an exception for me, so rather skip that hassle :)

For Haifa I can confirm that they do not stamp. This was confirmed by the crew who go to Haifa 2x a week and also the customs explained to me that they would never stamp the passport. So I think you can be sure about this.

I would not recommend Grimaldi. 1st it takes about 10 days for them to reach Israel. 2nd thy go to ashod and it is much more difficult in the harbour there than in Haifa (and I took me already 4.5 hour to get all paperwork done) ashod is not used to individual travellers and this always makes it much more difficult.
On the plus side is that grimaldi has the better ships.

The Jordan border thing is another story. I have never heated about it before. I talked to a number of people who passed over to Jordan with no problems at all and if I had only left my helmet out at the bike I'm sure no one would have noticed that I'm on a bike at all. However being alone and female makes it even more risky.

David

Thanks for the advice, it is a bit off a puzzle, although it says on their homepage that it only takes 5 days from Monfalcone, Italy to Israel. (http://www.grimaldi-freightercruises...ticEnglish.pdf Problems with the customes is another issue though, I might try to write to them and ask, on the bright side I have an Icelandic passport, which rearly turns any red lights on :)

yes, that's true, it's always a puzzle. No matter how good you have checked and prepared you will always have surprises on the way.
Good luck!