Overland travel from Lagos to Nairobi

Hello.

I plan to travel from Lagos to Nairobi overland, probably beginning in
Oct 05. It would seem that I have to travel through either the Congo,
or Central African Republic, neither of which are considered safe by
the FCO. Does anyone have any advice about this? Which country is
easier to get through? Am I taking too great a risk, considering that
I'm not an experienced traveller (though I'm eager for challenges, and
an authentic experience)?

If anyone can think of an alternative route that will cause my parents
less anxiety, please let me know! I can be contacted through my
h0tmail account, username is chavyboy, or reply here with anything you
can think of.

Many thanks in advance.

Andy

"I plan to travel from Lagos to Nairobi overland, probably beginning in
Oct 05. It would seem that I have to travel through either the Congo,
or Central African Republic, neither of which are considered safe by
the FCO. Does anyone have any advice about this? Which country is
easier to get through? Am I taking too great a risk, considering that
I'm not an experienced traveller (though I'm eager for challenges, and
an authentic experience)?"

The standard overland route connecting West Africa to East Africa is
from Senegal to Mali to Niger to Chad to Sudan to Ethiopia and then on
south. Most of Sudan and many parts of DR Congo are currently unsafe,
making an West-East overland crossing basically impossible right now.

Even if the situation in Sudan calms down by October, keep in mind that
this route involves very difficult travel. These are some of the
poorest countries in the world, transportation is extremely slow,
uncomfortable, and unreliable, and banditry is a problem in many
places. What would you do if your bus broke down in the middle of
nowhere? What would you do if you were a few days drive from any major
city and you needed immediate medical attention? Or if you were robbed
and lost your money and passport?

Maybe you should consider a less problematic overland route, like Dakar
to Accra, or Nairobi to Johannesburg.

"I plan to travel from Lagos to Nairobi overland, probably beginning in
Oct 05. It would seem that I have to travel through either the Congo,
or Central African Republic, neither of which are considered safe by
the FCO. Does anyone have any advice about this? Which country is
easier to get through? Am I taking too great a risk, considering that
I'm not an experienced traveller (though I'm eager for challenges, and
an authentic experience)?"

The standard overland route connecting West Africa to East Africa is
from Senegal to Mali to Niger to Chad to Sudan to Ethiopia and then on
south. Most of Sudan and many parts of DR Congo are currently unsafe,
making an West-East overland crossing basically impossible right now.

Even if the situation in Sudan calms down by October, keep in mind that
this route involves very difficult travel. These are some of the
poorest countries in the world, transportation is extremely slow,
uncomfortable, and unreliable, and banditry is a problem in many
places. What would you do if your bus broke down in the middle of
nowhere? What would you do if you were a few days drive from any major
city and you needed immediate medical attention? Or if you were robbed
and lost your money and passport?

Maybe you should consider a less problematic overland route, like Dakar
to Accra, or Nairobi to Johannesburg.

On Tue, 12 Apr 2005 07:46:43 -0700, Andy Fraser wrote:

I plan to travel from Lagos to Nairobi overland, probably beginning in
Oct 05. It would seem that I have to travel through either the Congo, or
Central African Republic, neither of which are considered safe by the
FCO. Does anyone have any advice about this? Which country is easier to
get through? Am I taking too great a risk, considering that I'm not an
experienced traveller (though I'm eager for challenges, and an authentic
experience)?

New challenges and an authentic experience ? You have chosen the right
itinerary for your first taste of Africa ! My humble opinion is that you
may even get much more that you'll have bargained for. This group is used
to Americans asking what sort of survival gear should be brought for a
weekend in a Masai Mara lodge - you sure are not one of them...

The central African region fascinates me and I am sure I will some day
manage to go there for some wandering, but after extensively studying the
subject I have come to the conclusion that whatever I'm going to do there
will surely be an order of magnitude more difficult that any of the 20-ish
African countries I have visited.

Between Lagos and Bangui no problems beyond your average African trip.
Even less problems between the Congo border and Nairobi. But from Bangui
until you reach Uganda you must expect the worst.

Kivu and the Eastern Province of Congo remain war zones. With the central
government incapable of maintaining order and the UN only beginning to
assert its authority (and then only as much as its puny manpower allows in
such a roadless immensity) local power is in the hands of a mosaic of
militias who reportedly behave like medieval bandit hordes. The local
political situation is pretty much impenetrable to the outsider, and it is
extremely volatile anyway. The brave souls who still attempt trade or
travel can expect roadblocks all over the place, with of course the
mandatory hassles and costs that go with them. You may very well be lucky
enough to avoid being in the wrong place at the wrong moment, but the
level of risk is higher than just about anywhere else in the world. The
depth of Eastern Congo remain one of the poorest places in the world,
extremely bad even by African standards. Fuel availability is also a major
problem, and so is the absence of any sort of medical support. Considering
the state of the road network you need plenty of time, certainly more than
you can possibly imagine. Also, the quasi-absence of public transportation
combined with the very bad local conditions make not having your own
vehicle an adventurous proposition for the extremely patient. From what
little information is available, the CAR east of Bangui is more or less at
the same level, just without the random violence.

Southern Sudan is now relatively peaceful, but compared to the CAR and the
Congo it probably makes up in poor living conditions what it lacks in
corruption and violence. That said, Southern Sudan is a place even less
traveled than Eastern Congo and the CAR. I have read a small dozen of
travelers report of the CAR-Congo-Uganda road, but I have only read rumors
about travelers in Southern Sudan. With the war ended for good, I think
that now could be an extremely interesting time to re-discover Southern
Sudan.

Some people had awesome experiences in CAR and Eastern Congo, so there is
no reason you can't. But it takes plenty of time, plenty of money, plenty
of guts and plenty of luck. Don't underestimate any of these parameters
and understand the risks you are taking. If you are obsessed by the region
and feel the urge to go there and see it for yourself, by all means do it
- I know I will do it one day. But if what you are after is an authentic
African experience with some challenges thrown in you may also consider
Africa's plenty of other choices.

Here are from my bookmarks a few accounts of travels in the CAR and
Eastern Zaire :

http://www.millennium-ride.com/diary/d041128.html
http://www.tiwi.nl/page3.htm
http://www.dispatchesfromthevanishin...ch2/D2P1b.html
http://url.co.nz/african_trip/stories.php?story_id=10
http://url.co.nz/african_trip/stories.php?story_id=9

Their page is currently unavailable, but here is an extract from "Peter
and Kay Forwood, Australia, around the world, in Central African Republic"
cited at http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/new...01-01-01.shtml and
reproduced here because it is a good summary of the above links :

"A week's preparation to cross Congo and after a visit to Murchison Falls
National Park we entered the at war corrupt territories of the divided
Congo. It took 16 days to travel 1200 km of atrocious roads, fighting
immigration officials, waiting four days to get rare petrol supplies, in
sand fly and mosquito infested rainforest where the oppressed poor, war
weary people were the friendliest and most helpful we have encountered in
Africa.

Virtually no motorised vehicles move, all supplies are bicycled around,
like our petrol coming 800 km from Uganda by bicycle.

We were relieved to leave Congo but were more severely abused by
officials, the army, on our arrival in the Central African Republic.
Having rifles loaded in our presence for effect before trying to extort
money. Even a count down to firing if we didn't comply. We are now in
Bangui having had no further problems with authorities, so far, and
resting before heading into the more civilised? countries of West Africa.
Petrol still a problem as the Congo war limits supplies to CAR and we
haven't seen a working petrol pump for over 2300 km, buying from plastic
containers.

The motorcycle running OK considering. Had to change a drive belt in the
muddy swamp of Congo, missing on bad and dirty fuel, battery died from
overheated regulator packed with mud, pannier bracket broken and tied with
cord, engine rubber mount broke.

Damaged the crash bars, front mudguard and mirror from numerous falls,
about ten a day in the muddy red soils, and from loading and unloading
into dugout canoes to cross rivers. Bridges non-existent or with just the
tree log supporting beams to try and ride across. A great adventure but
glad to be out..."

On Tue, 12 Apr 2005 07:46:43 -0700, Andy Fraser wrote:

I plan to travel from Lagos to Nairobi overland, probably beginning in
Oct 05. It would seem that I have to travel through either the Congo, or
Central African Republic, neither of which are considered safe by the
FCO. Does anyone have any advice about this? Which country is easier to
get through? Am I taking too great a risk, considering that I'm not an
experienced traveller (though I'm eager for challenges, and an authentic
experience)?

New challenges and an authentic experience ? You have chosen the right
itinerary for your first taste of Africa ! My humble opinion is that you
may even get much more that you'll have bargained for. This group is used
to Americans asking what sort of survival gear should be brought for a
weekend in a Masai Mara lodge - you sure are not one of them...

The central African region fascinates me and I am sure I will some day
manage to go there for some wandering, but after extensively studying the
subject I have come to the conclusion that whatever I'm going to do there
will surely be an order of magnitude more difficult that any of the 20-ish
African countries I have visited.

Between Lagos and Bangui no problems beyond your average African trip.
Even less problems between the Congo border and Nairobi. But from Bangui
until you reach Uganda you must expect the worst.

Kivu and the Eastern Province of Congo remain war zones. With the central
government incapable of maintaining order and the UN only beginning to
assert its authority (and then only as much as its puny manpower allows in
such a roadless immensity) local power is in the hands of a mosaic of
militias who reportedly behave like medieval bandit hordes. The local
political situation is pretty much impenetrable to the outsider, and it is
extremely volatile anyway. The brave souls who still attempt trade or
travel can expect roadblocks all over the place, with of course the
mandatory hassles and costs that go with them. You may very well be lucky
enough to avoid being in the wrong place at the wrong moment, but the
level of risk is higher than just about anywhere else in the world. The
depth of Eastern Congo remain one of the poorest places in the world,
extremely bad even by African standards. Fuel availability is also a major
problem, and so is the absence of any sort of medical support. Considering
the state of the road network you need plenty of time, certainly more than
you can possibly imagine. Also, the quasi-absence of public transportation
combined with the very bad local conditions make not having your own
vehicle an adventurous proposition for the extremely patient. From what
little information is available, the CAR east of Bangui is more or less at
the same level, just without the random violence.

Southern Sudan is now relatively peaceful, but compared to the CAR and the
Congo it probably makes up in poor living conditions what it lacks in
corruption and violence. That said, Southern Sudan is a place even less
traveled than Eastern Congo and the CAR. I have read a small dozen of
travelers report of the CAR-Congo-Uganda road, but I have only read rumors
about travelers in Southern Sudan. With the war ended for good, I think
that now could be an extremely interesting time to re-discover Southern
Sudan.

Some people had awesome experiences in CAR and Eastern Congo, so there is
no reason you can't. But it takes plenty of time, plenty of money, plenty
of guts and plenty of luck. Don't underestimate any of these parameters
and understand the risks you are taking. If you are obsessed by the region
and feel the urge to go there and see it for yourself, by all means do it
- I know I will do it one day. But if what you are after is an authentic
African experience with some challenges thrown in you may also consider
Africa's plenty of other choices.

Here are from my bookmarks a few accounts of travels in the CAR and
Eastern Zaire :

http://www.millennium-ride.com/diary/d041128.html
http://www.tiwi.nl/page3.htm
http://www.dispatchesfromthevanishin...ch2/D2P1b.html
http://url.co.nz/african_trip/stories.php?story_id=10
http://url.co.nz/african_trip/stories.php?story_id=9

Their page is currently unavailable, but here is an extract from "Peter
and Kay Forwood, Australia, around the world, in Central African Republic"
cited at http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/new...01-01-01.shtml and
reproduced here because it is a good summary of the above links :

"A week's preparation to cross Congo and after a visit to Murchison Falls
National Park we entered the at war corrupt territories of the divided
Congo. It took 16 days to travel 1200 km of atrocious roads, fighting
immigration officials, waiting four days to get rare petrol supplies, in
sand fly and mosquito infested rainforest where the oppressed poor, war
weary people were the friendliest and most helpful we have encountered in
Africa.

Virtually no motorised vehicles move, all supplies are bicycled around,
like our petrol coming 800 km from Uganda by bicycle.

We were relieved to leave Congo but were more severely abused by
officials, the army, on our arrival in the Central African Republic.
Having rifles loaded in our presence for effect before trying to extort
money. Even a count down to firing if we didn't comply. We are now in
Bangui having had no further problems with authorities, so far, and
resting before heading into the more civilised? countries of West Africa.
Petrol still a problem as the Congo war limits supplies to CAR and we
haven't seen a working petrol pump for over 2300 km, buying from plastic
containers.

The motorcycle running OK considering. Had to change a drive belt in the
muddy swamp of Congo, missing on bad and dirty fuel, battery died from
overheated regulator packed with mud, pannier bracket broken and tied with
cord, engine rubber mount broke.

Damaged the crash bars, front mudguard and mirror from numerous falls,
about ten a day in the muddy red soils, and from loading and unloading
into dugout canoes to cross rivers. Bridges non-existent or with just the
tree log supporting beams to try and ride across. A great adventure but
glad to be out..."

Whew! You are planning one hell of a trip, and seeing as you admit
that you are not an experienced traveller, it might be a bit
overambitious.

The Congo is a difficult country to travel through, and as far as I
know, CAR is far worse. Your better route would be to loop around
above these two countries.

Be prepared to spend a LONG time doing this route. Also, be prepared
to spend LOTS of money.

One of the other posters has suggested that you might want to look at
a more conventional overland route, for example Nairobi to
Johannesburg. I'd also suggest that you try this as a first African
trip. It is quite possible (with your own transport) to do Nairobi to
Johannesburg in about 6 driving days, so if you have a few weeks you
will have a chance to see plenty, and do plenty. By contrast, if you
get stuck in the middle of the Congo, you might very well be stuck in
a remote area for a few weeks, which (believe me) is not pleasant,
more so if you don't speak French!

If you do decide to continue with your original plan, PLEASE don't
underestimate the difficulties, and get as much information as you can
before you leave.

Regards,
Marc

On 12 Apr 2005 07:46:43 -0700, (Andy Fraser)
wrote:

Hello.

I plan to travel from Lagos to Nairobi overland, probably beginning in
Oct 05. It would seem that I have to travel through either the Congo,
or Central African Republic, neither of which are considered safe by
the FCO. Does anyone have any advice about this? Which country is
easier to get through? Am I taking too great a risk, considering that
I'm not an experienced traveller (though I'm eager for challenges, and
an authentic experience)?

If anyone can think of an alternative route that will cause my parents
less anxiety, please let me know! I can be contacted through my
h0tmail account, username is chavyboy, or reply here with anything you
can think of.

Many thanks in advance.

Andy

This guy is doing the route right now from West to East Africa.
He has been around the world like 5 times..
Follow my link below.. then go to members and enter this name "wojtekd "
Right now he is in Burundi. He is a hardcore, budget backpacker.
He mentioned in his travel log that he had to fly over the Congo cause it's
too dangerous. Also Burundi is filled with UN.
this is his travel route.
http://www.kontynenty.tpi.pl/Transafricana1.jpg

I totally envy this guy.. he's doing what I always want to do..
I can only do a few countries at a time with the ltd time I have.. so far
only 11 countries in Africa...
but if your a first timer, you should just get your feet wet by joining
another overland group..
http://www.ibike.org/
http://www.africa-overland.net/
http://www.africaoverland.info/


--
"When one realizes that life is worthless
he either commits suicide or travels. ~ Edward Dahlberg
LIFE IS AN ATTITUDE!
http://www.globosapiens.net/ta-shy
"Marc Lurie" wrote in message
...
Whew! You are planning one hell of a trip, and seeing as you admit
that you are not an experienced traveller, it might be a bit
overambitious.

The Congo is a difficult country to travel through, and as far as I
know, CAR is far worse. Your better route would be to loop around
above these two countries.

Be prepared to spend a LONG time doing this route. Also, be prepared
to spend LOTS of money.

One of the other posters has suggested that you might want to look at
a more conventional overland route, for example Nairobi to
Johannesburg. I'd also suggest that you try this as a first African
trip. It is quite possible (with your own transport) to do Nairobi to
Johannesburg in about 6 driving days, so if you have a few weeks you
will have a chance to see plenty, and do plenty. By contrast, if you
get stuck in the middle of the Congo, you might very well be stuck in
a remote area for a few weeks, which (believe me) is not pleasant,
more so if you don't speak French!

If you do decide to continue with your original plan, PLEASE don't
underestimate the difficulties, and get as much information as you can
before you leave.

Regards,
Marc

On 12 Apr 2005 07:46:43 -0700, (Andy Fraser)
wrote:

Hello.

I plan to travel from Lagos to Nairobi overland, probably beginning in
Oct 05. It would seem that I have to travel through either the Congo,
or Central African Republic, neither of which are considered safe by
the FCO. Does anyone have any advice about this? Which country is
easier to get through? Am I taking too great a risk, considering that
I'm not an experienced traveller (though I'm eager for challenges, and
an authentic experience)?

If anyone can think of an alternative route that will cause my parents
less anxiety, please let me know! I can be contacted through my
h0tmail account, username is chavyboy, or reply here with anything you
can think of.

Many thanks in advance.

Andy