africa by motorcycle

Hi everybody!

End of June I am starting my travel through Africa by motorcycle, from north
to south and back. I will be 15 months on the road and there are 34 African
countries in my itinerary. I am stuck with issue of Libyan visa. Also
because of such a long period I am having problems with almost every embassy
(they are not willing to issue visa so long in advance).

If anybody have some advice I would be very greatfull (especially for
Libya).

Mark, Croatia

On Thu, 01 Apr 2004 13:31:29 +0200, Marko wrote:

End of June I am starting my travel through Africa by motorcycle, from north
to south and back. I will be 15 months on the road and there are 34 African
countries in my itinerary. I am stuck with issue of Libyan visa. Also
because of such a long period I am having problems with almost every embassy
(they are not willing to issue visa so long in advance).

If Libya is like Algeria, yes you are well advised to do it well in
advance. For most other countries, getting a visa in the neighbouring
country is often the best solution. It usually takes 1-3 days in the
capital city and it is often cheaper and more relaxed than doing it from
Europe. I have once done it that way from Cape Town to Djibouti and I have
had no problem.

If anybody have some advice I would be very greatfull (especially for
Libya).

What is the specific problem for Libya ? I remember Algeria being a major
hassle that required me to find someone in-country willing to write an
invitation. Sometimes, local travel agencies will do that for a fee.

In message , Jean-Marc V.
Liotier writes
On Thu, 01 Apr 2004 13:31:29 +0200, Marko wrote:

End of June I am starting my travel through Africa by motorcycle, from north
to south and back. I will be 15 months on the road and there are 34 African
countries in my itinerary. I am stuck with issue of Libyan visa. Also
because of such a long period I am having problems with almost every embassy
(they are not willing to issue visa so long in advance).

If Libya is like Algeria, yes you are well advised to do it well in
advance. For most other countries, getting a visa in the neighbouring
country is often the best solution. It usually takes 1-3 days in the
capital city and it is often cheaper and more relaxed than doing it from
Europe. I have once done it that way from Cape Town to Djibouti and I have
had no problem.

If anybody have some advice I would be very greatfull (especially for
Libya).

What is the specific problem for Libya ? I remember Algeria being a major
hassle that required me to find someone in-country willing to write an
invitation. Sometimes, local travel agencies will do that for a fee.

You do need an invitation from someone in Libya and your passport
details all have to be translated into Arabic. You can get help through
an agent and doing a search through google.com will give you
information on Libyan travel agents.
Pat
--
Pat Anderson

On Thu, 01 Apr 2004 11:31:29 GMT, "Marko" wrote in
:

End of June I am starting my travel through Africa by motorcycle, from
north to south and back. I will be 15 months on the road and there are
34 African countries in my itinerary. I am stuck with issue of Libyan
visa. Also because of such a long period I am having problems with
almost every embassy (they are not willing to issue visa so long in
advance).

If anybody have some advice I would be very greatfull (especially for
Libya).

I faced a similar problem a few years ago in that I had to travel back
into the same countries a couple of times, and had to use up visas before
I could get new ones.

While it is a pain, you can go to the embassy of the country next on
your list and get a visa. You are subject to their office hours and location.
Since you have a long itinerary, this might be easy for you to schedule.
I had to make some deviations from my itinerary and leave some friends to
get back to major cities for the office hours.

Get a list of all the embassies and their details before you leave.

I met a number of people who were doing what you are doing.

For Libya you need an invite 1st so do it before you go

For latest situation have a look on www.sahara-overland.com , chris scotts
excellent website & forum

Rich