From Madrid to Tarifa: Heading off to Africa

Closing his laptop and looking up at me Javier whispered, "Well Luey, let's go to Africa."

We were leaving much later in the day than we had hoped.  It was late in the evening, the sun was setting, and we still had to take some things to the car.  Our plan was to drive a couple hours south to Las Tablas de Daimiel.  We were going to arrive late. 

Our start was not smooth. Not even outside the metropolitan area of Madrid, we had to stop.  The brakes on the landy were binding, so I had to readjust them.  Although I had driven the rig around the city after finishing with the brakes, the issue was not noticable until we reached higher speeds for longer periods of time.  This would be only the beginning of the issues we would face with the brakes over the next days.  An issue I continue with now.

Our progress was slow, and by the time we neared Daimiel, it was far too late to stay with the couchhosts we had contacted. Since we wouldn't have a bed anyway, we altered our route to go visit the windmills of Campo de Criptana. 


We woke up at sunrise and aimed our lances, like Don Quijote and his companion Sancho, straight at the windmills. 

It was a short detour, and after our fill of galoping around the giants we made our way back towards Daimiel. 

Daimiel is famous for its bird life.  There are over 200 species of birds that reside in the park over the course of the year.  Because we had taken a detour to the windmills, we were not in the park for sunrise - naturally the best time to see birds - but it was still a fun walk.

The park is an interesting combination of bone dry hill tops (ready to catch fire at any moment) surrounded by marshes thick with reeds and cattails.

The next destination was further south: the Sierra de Cazorla.  In 2011 we visited this park and had an awful experience hitchhiking.  Trying to reach La Torre de Vinagre, we hitchhiked for four hot unsuccessful hours.  Nobody would even think of picking us up.  We were desperate and depressed, praying each time a car came by that it would stop.  Ultimately we gave up.  We wrote a sign and left it by the side of the road expressing our anger with the situation.  What was even sadder is that when decided to just hitchhike OUT of the park, we were immediately picked up. 

This time there would be no hitchhiking for us.  In my mind I told myself we would gladly take any hitchhiker we saw, but there were none to be found.

It took a long time for us to get to the park.  We wound our way through non-stop olive groves and villages devoid of people in the afternoon heat.  The ting about Jaen is that it is basically endless olive groves.  In one sense it is very asthetically pleasing: bright red soils under perfectly aligned olives.  It is also a little devastating to see.  Bare soil scraped clean of any plants and an endless monoculture for as far as the eye can see.

We arrived near the northern end of the park and began to make our way down the reservoir towards Cazorla.  It was clear to us that we would not be making it to our second host's house in Jaen; it was just too far.  This would be the case for the rest of our time in Spain.  Any hosts that did accept, we would not get to stay with.  All our nights were spent in the car (fairly comfortable actually, and we got to try out our solar shower!). 

Parking at the Torre de Vinagre, we settled in early. The day was totally exhausting.  Our dinner was a can of sardines, some very dry bread, over-ripe bananas, and some carrots.  It was actually delicious. 

The next morning we hiked along the trailhead to a steep canyon.  It was about three kilometers to this area.  We would have liked to go further to the waterfall at the end of the trail, but I was not feeling well (too much sun?) and it would take several hours to do so.  We thought it was best to take it easy, and get moving out of the park.

We arrived in the evening to Jaen, stopping briefly in the village where Javier's grandfather was born. Our evening in Jaen was composed of sitting at a gas station using free wifi and sleeping in the car in the alley behind.  I got a bunch of hell from a couple of guys when I started up my stove to cook us dinner.  They were convinced that the fire from my stove would set the gas station ablaze.  I really was nowhere near the pumps. Sleeping there really wasn't bad, but it was a bit dissapointing that neither of the hosts we were supposed to stay with the night before could help us.  It was what it was.

Our arrival to Jaen began our search for some medications we were unable to get before leaving Madrid.  This was rather stressful for us, because those medications were vaccines. (Yes we should have gotten them earlier).  Thanks to the help of Javier's mother (La Santa Maria!), we were able to get them the next day in Jaen and Marbella. 

Because of the need to get the vaccines, we headed towards the coast through Malaga.  Originally, we were planning on going straight to Ronda, and then heading towards Doñana. 

We did go to Ronda, but when we arrived we discovered that Doñana was not a possibility.  We would have needed to drive back north to Sevilla.  This was not a good option, since we needed to keep moving towards Morocco. 

Ronda is a beautiful town.  The most famous part is its Puente Nuevo.  This bridge spans a deep gorge between the newer town and the old citadel. 

We walked around the city for a while, and then continued to Grazalema.  The road to Grazalema wound through a dense cork oak forest.  They had recently harvested cork from many of the trees.

Grazalema is a city nestled on an enormous Medievel wall.  It is a simple village.  White walls, colorful flowers, and quiet streets in the afternoon heat.

By going to Grazalema (and later through El Bosque) we extended our adventures later in the afternoon than expected.  Our plans were to get a ferry to Morocco in the evening, but we knew we would never make it.  We decided to just relax, get to the port when we could, and write to our American host in Tanger before going to bed. 

There are two ports to Tanger: Algeciras and Tarifa.  To us it made more sense to go to Tarifa.  The prices were lower, the length of the ride was cut in half, and the destination port was actually in the city of Tanger (compared to 50km outside). 

Arriving in Tarifa, we searched for internet in vain.  Our host would have to go unnotified (a fact he was very understanding of).  We settled in for the night in a quiet corner of town.

The next morning we put a letter in the mail, bought some final medications for Javier, and got on the boat to Morocco. 

Off to Africa!!

Africa Travel Guide - Preparing your adventure - What to bring

Preparing your adventure - What to bring

12V Portable fridge / freezer

I would strongly recommend to bring a 12 volts portable refrigerator to any overlander traveling by car. As far as I know there are three types of car refrigeretors: thermoelectric, air-compressor and gas. Experts do not recommend gas-based refrigerators inside a car. Thermoelectric fridges are  a cheap option, but do not really do it. It's better than nothing, but, I guarantee you, they will always keep you wanting more. Thermoelectric coolers draw basically as much power as air-compressor fridges/freezers, but only manage to reduce the heat 18°C (36°F) and that. let me tell you, does not do it if you will be on the road for several weeks. If the temperature outside is just 27°C (81°F). the temperature in your thermoelectric cooler will be 9°C (48°F). That everything going well. I mean, you are not constantly opening the cooler, your electric system is working flawlessly and can afford the cooler on even when parked for several hours (you have, for example, solar panels to keep your car battery alive while the alternator is not running). Home fridges keep the temperature at 4°C (40°F), so 9°C is not too bad, certainly better than no thermoelectric cooler at all. but, believe me, you will keep wishing for more. In real life, it will not be long before your perfect world will start falling apart: sun will fall on your cooler, the temperature outside will start creeping up and your food will go up.

If you want a true refrigerator you need to go for an air-compressor fridge. That will also allow you to freeze, which, believe me, will come on very handy in Africa. Now, air-compressor fridges are expensive: they go for several hundred dollars/euros. Even the really tiny ones (less than 20 liters/quarters), will cost you a couple of dollars. I am of the strong opinion they are worth the money if you are driving through mostly undeveloped countries for several weeks.

Before leaving Spain, we met Jesus one afternoon in Madrid. Jesus is a 4x4 freak, so I thought I would ask me what advice could he give me for our trip. I was expecting him to tell me about tires, batteries, engines and brakes. Instead, the first thing that came out from his mouth was to suggest I buy a good fridge. That did not impress me much, as we already had some experience with that: some years ago we drove about 80000kms (50000 miles) throughout Europe with a thermoelectric cooler. therefore, we know about thermoelectric cooler deficiencies. However, back then, I did not know there were some other kind of 12V fridges that would be more powerful. Hence, I invited Jesus to tell me more. I wanted to see if he knew more than me. He then joked I needed "a good fridge to keep my beers cold; very important!" I got then disappointed: "but I don't drink alcohol!" He explained me it would also work for Coke, but that was not the information I was hoping to get. I wanted to know if there is any technology that would allow me to keep frozen food in the car. nevertheless, Jesus' main point was valid: despite the hefty price tag, I would not regret to buy a good 12V fridge. Not to keep my beer cold, but my food and beverages. I just will he had given me more specific information on air-compressor 12V fridges/freezers.

A couple of months later we went to the dunes 60kms out of M'Hamid, in Southeastern Morroco. We had left Madrid with our thermoelectic cooler, as that was all what we knew. As we approached to dunes, Alia, fully excited, suggested we cook some nice lunch when we arrive. It was plain mid-day and I was starting to feel the effects of the heat. So, I replied I was not sure if cooking a nice lunch would require too much of our energies. Then we arrived and it hit (heat) us. The sun was overwhelming, the sky was on fire and the sand was burning. we were still able to hike a little dune, next to where we have parked. The sun was growing bigger and we knew it would not be long before the heat would knock us out. I tried to hike a bit more, but soon we had to take our way back to M'Hamid. we have brought plenty of juice and water, but our thermoelectric cooler was no match to father sun: our water was warm!! I thought it would be funny to play the game to ask Alia how much would she pay at that moment for an icescream or an ice-cold lemonade. Fortunately, there was nobody there to snatch on the opportunity to rip us off from all our savings of the last years! And I say here: fortunately there was nobody there with an air-compressor freezer...

I know, experts say it is not a good idea to drink cold water to cool off from the heat. Ibrahim explained that to us in Ouarzazate, the entrance to 'le grand desert'. Ibrahim's work was to trade with the nomads of the desert, so he knew well all that stuff. Our body is set to keep our temperature at 36,6°C (97.9°F). When you drink cold water, it brings our body's temperature down, so, basically, our body responds turning on the heater! ...as there would not be enough heat in the Sahara. But C'mon, all that is when you have limited access to water. Hopefully, that would not be your case. If it is, then, undoubtedly you have another problem and you should definitely figure it out before you start considering spending a bunch of money in an air-compressor freezer. So, if you are still here, I think we can assume you will have plenty of water. Talking seriously, we all know how much more enjoyable and refreshing a cold drink is. Besides, as you are driving your car on a hot day, it is not like you can easily stop and heat some tea and Ibrahim would recommend. I can tell you there will be plenty of times where you would pay whatever for an icescream or an ice cold lemonade. You do not want to play chances there, because one day you will run out of luck and there will be somebody there with an air-compressor freezer, ready to rip you off from all your saving of the last years.

Africa is tough, traveling is tough. Hence, traveling through Africa is double-tough. There is no good reason to torture yourself and make it even tougher on yourself. Some years ago I went bicycle-touring across the Western US. i remember with joy the days where I was riding my bicycle from town to town, mountain to mountain. My bicycle was obviously fully loaded and very heavy, and it was tough. After long hours of hard work and pedalling I would finally reach smme town. The first think I would look for was a grocery store. I would desperately ask the first neighbor I could find and run to the store. I would buy a half gallon (1,89 liters) of cold orange juice, go sit outside and drink it in 15 minutes: I was the happiest man on planet Earth! Let me give you one of the best advices you can read for your Africa journey: allow yourself those times of happiness.

You will not regret it. You will have one million questions as you give authorization for that freaking expensive air-compressor fridge; but you will have none when you are in the desert. Then you will think of me and be forever grateful for the advice above. Because, as you are the one with the air-compressor fridge, you will be happy you only ripped yourself off for the amount you paid for the fridge.

But now that you have the freezer, do not be stupid and forget the beverages! Wouldn't it be sad if you have the freezer, but do not have anything to drink. Keep in mind, if you need to buy them, it will be expensive! In fact, you need to bring plenty of beverages, because Ibrahim is still correct: you will drink a lot. Preferably bring plenty of water. Hopefully, it will be water, because, if it is beer or soda, you will end up either drunk or diabetic, or possibly both... Anyway, just joking; happy travels!

Aside from the fun side, there is also a very practical reason to make the investment of purchasing a true fridge/freezer for your car: your food will not go bad. Moreover, you will be able to keep your food longer and healthier. imported food is not only difficult to find in Africa, but when you find it is ridiculously expensive. now, unfortunately  in Africa, imported food is pretty much all the food you normally eat on a daily basis. In Africa, imported food is all the food you care about and enjoy. Pretty much all meats and dairy is imported food in Africa. You will still be able to find it, even in deep Africa, but it will only be in the big cities, and it will be expensive. Most likely you will not want to miss the chance to get a bite of cheese, chocolate, meat or icescream. Unless you are African-born, I doubt you will be able to endure going on fufu for several days without getting sick of it. You will suck it up and pay whatever stupid amount those imported item go for. We did that many times, and then put our great western food in our thermoelectric cooler. It was our treasure, but we had to eat it all very quickly, because two days later, it had already gone bad or, at the very least, was not at all appealing anymore. Throughout our trip down the Western African coast, we flushed down the toilet a lot of money in food that went bad in our thermoelectric cooler.

Cooking stove

If you backpack, a stove may be too much weight. But, if you travel with your own vehicle, even if it is a bicycle, you should bring a cooking stove. Food is important. You cannot go on crappy food for any reasonably long period of time. If you do not have good food, you will be miserable. Do your homework and find the stove that best suits your needs. Do not select based on price! Also pay attention your stove can run on some fuel available in your travel region. For your journey through Africa, we found it best to use a stove that runs on gasoline. clearly, it was always easy to find gasoline. Whereas, it was not that easy to find other fuels. The disadvantage of gasoline is that it is dirtier than other fuels. It is therefore necessary to regularly clean the stove.

Mosquito Net

You need to make sure you buy a good mosquito net. Good night sleep is important; very important. If you do not have a good night rest, you are very likely to have a miserable day. So, it is really a very bad idea to select a mosquito net based on price; even more so considering how cheap they are. Mosquito net are very cheap for how important they are.

When we were preparing for our trip, we bought for $4 a cheap mosquito net from China off of ebay. Then we went one day to a national park in Southern Mauritania, at the coast, near the Senegalese border at Djalma. Then we realized it was a swamp, but we though we would be OK, because there did not seem to be much water. We parked and started getting ready to settle for the night. There did not seem to be many mosquitos. Then the sun set. Then the mosquitos started coming out! but there was some breeze, so there did not seem to be too many mosquitos. but then the breeze was just too light, so the mosquitos started accumulating in the car, viciously waiting for us while we were having dinner. Then we went to bed and the mosquitos were hundreds! Then the mosquitos were thousands! We were hoping to quickly fall asleep, but there were thousends of mosquitos buzzing around over our heads and the noise was so overwhelming it became impossible to disengage alertness and attention from it, in order to relax and fall asleep. Then the mosquitos started finding holes in our cheap mosquito net: the mosquitos were now inside; ready to eat us!  As they mosquitos were relentlessly attacking us, We tried to save ourselves from being devoured by covering us from head to toes under the blanket. However, it was too hot, there was barely any breeze. Moreover, we had left the back door open, but the breeze was coming from the front of the car. We were getting sophocated under the blanket and still eaten up by the mosquitos. Alia could not do it anymore and got up to drive and reorient the car. Then we broke our car's right rear flange. But we were going to deal with that the next day. After several hours laying there under a buzzing cloud of thousands of psychotic mosquitos, fatigue finally defeated us and we fell asleep completely exhausted.

We continued our trip through Senegal, with our cheap and crappy mosquito net. When we arrived to Bamako, we decided we had had enough and bought a good mosquito net at a pharmacy in Bamako for 4000 CFA (about $8). It seemed really good: the net was even inpregnated with pesticide. We were really excited to try it out. The first night we slept with it, we woke up the next morning to find dead mosquitos all over. I guess they kept flying all through the night, desperately hoping to find some hole in the net, to get inside and take a bite of our sweet blood. Instead they starved to death and we were so happy to get our revenge! I know my dear friend Valentin would be very disappointed to hear me say that, but I cannot help to admit I have always hated mosquitos. But, after that night in Southern Mauritania, I am scarred by the memories and torment; I would not have any problem to see them anihilated and brought to extinction. I know, I know, it will bring very grave and terrible consequences; but I just hate them!

You may now learn from our mistake and spend the additional $4 and get yourself a good mosquito net. It will come with twofold benefits: for sure will allow you a more restful sleep, as you will not need to recklessly battle the mosquitos all through the night. Even if you decide to allow them get a taste of your blood, they will keep your brain in a state of alert that will prevent you from getting a good rest. In addition, a good mosquito net may save you from getting bit by that one mosquito that would transmit malaria to you. in Africa there are many serious, even deadly, illnesses transmited by mosquitos. A good mosquito net is the cheapest, healthiest, easiest and less instrusive mean to avoid such illnesses.

Sleeping Pads

Regardless of how you travel: backpacking, bicycle, motorcycle, car, etc. you should get a good sleeping bag where you will sleep comfortably, period. I travelled some years ago across the Western US on a bicycle. For that journey I brought a feather light, very thin, roll-up foam sleeping pad. I consider it one of main flwws, if not the biggest, of all my gear. It was not really that bad, but it was not really comfortable. It was really light and that was very important traveling by bike, but it was not really comfortable. I could have got a comfortable pad for just some hundreds of grams more. That weight had not slowed me down that much on my bicycle anyway. That weight had not demanded much more energy to pedal my bicycle. I have had twice that energy if I had had a good night rest on a comfortable sleeping bad the night before.

A good night sleep is very important. If you do not have a good night rest, you are very likely to have a miserable day. So, make sure you do good research and do not stop until you find a comfortable pad. It is not difficult to find lightweight, inexpensive pads that are comfortable. One idea may be to use high-density foam. Cut about 2 to 4 blocks of about 600mm x 400mm (your choice). Put each of them in a fabric case (cotton, canvas...), to protect them from dust and dirt, If you want to be able to fold them for ease of transportation, sew your block together. That's all! Whenever you want to sleep, lay down your blocks next to eachother. For example, if you made three blocks of 600mm x 400mm, you will have a nice 600mm x 1200mm mattress. Then, when you need to move, just stack your blocks in a compact shape and go!

Rooftop Tent

If you travel by car, you may find it useful to buy a rooftop tent. They are really convenient, but are fairly expensive. They will save you a lot of time and effort every night, when the time to set up your sleeping arrangements comes. After a long day driving around, you will be happy you have it, as the last thing you will feel like doing is start looking for a good place to pitch a stand-alone tent or move stuff around in your car to set up your bed inside. Rooftop tents are, however, expensive enough that it is advisable to give a serious thought, whether there are worth the money. If you start or can make it to South Africa, you will be able to find one at a very cheap price around $400 - $800. Rooftop tents started in South Africa, they are a South African idea. As a matter of fact, South African are experts and real champions in the art of overlanding, so you will be able to get fully equipped, at very good prices, in South Africa. But, if you come from Ehe North, South Africa is quite a stretch away; easily half your trip. On the other hand, if the alternative is to regularly get a hotel room or buy a bigger vehicle with a fixed sleeping space, the purchase of a rooftop tent may actually save you money from those expensive options. Depending on what kind of hotel rooms you go for, if going without a rooftop tent eventually leads you to get a hotel room 5-15 times, you are already buying the rooftop tent for that money. Needless to say, going for a bigger car is a more expensive option than buying a rooftop tent.

Now, if your question is whether it is possible and safe in Africa to camp on the side of the road, the answer is 'yes'; that is what we have done and never had any more problem than when some kids in Benguela (Angola) decided to park next to us on that beach, turned up their music and started partying their Friday night. Some people may also find it northworthy, once near Cahama (Angola), as we were finishing breakfast, a couple of officers approached us, one from the left, one from the right, because some neighbor had called them on us, thinking we were thieves. OK, fine, so there were a few time where we got woken up, but it would be by some officer who wanted to check on us or Frances, our farmer friend from Ghana who wanted to give us some oranges: "Open the door! Open the door!! ...and take these oranges". You get the point?

GPS Trackers and / or Satellite Phone

Ultralight waterproof Jackets

For your travels, make sure you pack an ultralight, waterproof jacket among your clothes. This can be as simple as thin waterproof shell. Alia worked as a seamstress the year before leaving for our Africa adventure. We had bought some ultralight waterproof fabric to make a tent. Then we thought we could use the leftover fabric to make stuff sacks. Then, we came up with the idea to make some waterproof rainjackets with that same fabric.

Even if you just use plastic, you need something waterproof or you will get soaked in a tropical downpour. If it is really waterproof, it will not be breathable and you will get rather hot; especially if you are in a warm climate. However, that is one of the reasons you want it to be thin and ultralight: as soon as the rain stops, roll it into a ball and put it in pocket (or attach it to your pants with a keychain).

There is a second benefit to use true waterproof fabric: the mosquitos will not be able to bite through it. Even if you wear long sleeve and are fully covered by clothes, if the fabric is not waterproof, the mosquitos will be able to bite through it.

I have used my rainjacket very often and am very happy with it. I not only wore it under the rain, but also at night (even if it was warm and dry), to protect me from the mosquitos; and it work! On warm nights, it was not comfortable, as it is not breathable and I would get hot. But I would not soffocate and would not get bitten by mosquitos. Moreover, on chilly nights (and you will still get quite a few in Africa), the waterproof (non breathable) shell would give me good insulated and help me stay warm. On the other hand, all things said, Alia did not like hers that much: she thought she preferred getting bitten by mosquitos than soffocate inside the non-breathable jacket.

Hiking pants

Hiking pants are ultralight, but strong, and have lots of pockets. They have zippers just above the knees, so, if it is hot, you can easily convert them to shorts. They are comfy even if you keep them long. Moreover, they are quick dry. Putting it all together they have everything to be the perfect pants, essential in any traveller's bag: backpacker, cyclist, car overlander, etc. Regardless of whether you want to go hiking of plan to sit in your car the whole trip, I really recommend you pack a couple of hiking pants.

On the other hnd, experts say jeans are a bad choice: they are heavy and not really that strong. They are thick and not very breathable: they will make you feel really hot and miserable in warm temperatures. Moreover, they take forever to dry. Cotton, in general, dries slow. Snow adventurers like to say: "cotton kills!". On the other hand, hiking pants are generally nylon, so generally thin, light, quick dry and strong.

Hiking boots

Get some good hiking boots. Some that are comfortable to you, but strong. The extent to which they should be waterproof/waterresistent is up to you. If they are waterproof you will be happy when you go through water, but your feet will sweat when it gets hot, and viceversa.

Good GPS Maps

Clearly, your journey through Africa will be much more complicated if you do not have good, accurate and updated maps. I very much prefer using the GPS maps of my GPS navigation of my smartphone. However, we found out, it may also be useful to bring conventional (paper) maps. Let's face it, the level of education in most Africa is very, very low. If you ever need to ask for direction, most people will have serious struggles working with the GPS maps on your electronic device's touchscreen. From Mauritania to Congo Kinshasa it was basically hopeless to ask anybody to show us some location on our GPS map: they will slide their fingers and drag the map left and right, zoom-in and zoom-out, drag the map once more up and down, to finally look at you with very confused eyes: "your map does not have everything does it? You do not have the entire city/country? I think you should get a (paper) map. How can you be traveling all over Africa without a map?!!". I cannot guarantee people will always be able to give you accurate directions if you pull out a paper map, but, in general, they seem to work with those better than with GPS maps on touchscreens.

Years ago we travel through Europe and used Tomtom. It worked perfectly in Western Europe, but it was very deficient in some Eastern European countries like Bosnia or Albania. I investigated on Tomtom's Africa maps and they did not seem they would be of much help. I have always heard Garmin is much better for undeveloped countries. However, we never tried it. I found a free, open-source mobile app called Osmand and thought would try it out. For one thing, it was free! The maps of Africa looked very detailed, so we did not search any further. Actually Osmand has worked really well for us. I had not mind to pay the handful of dollars required for the premium version: Osmand+. But the free version worked well enough we never felt any need. The only country where Osman's maps were really inaccurate or outdated was Gabon. Other than that, the worst we can say is sometimes it did not have all the dirt roads.

Africa Travel Guide - Preparing your journey - Paperwork: Car Insurance

Car Insurance

Do I need a car insurance to drive through Africa?

No, that is the short answer to this tricky question. That may come to a surprise because it is totally the opposite from what everybody else has tell you so far. Moreover, it is exactly the contrary than everybody else will continue responding to you. Now, the next time somebody tells you that you need an insurance to drive through Africa, you should follow up with the next question: "How many Africans do you think drive with a car insurance?". When you hear the response to this second question, you will know how reliable was the answer to the first question and how seriously you need to take it.

Our short answer to the first question is 'No', but you should not take our word for it. There is not a 100% correct answer to this question. Whether you get a car insurance or not, there will always be pros and cons. So we highly advise you read the long answer.

We suggest you always follow up the first question with the second question. so, in order to be consistent, we should be expected to provide an answer to the second question: "how many Africans drive with a car insurance". Well, we need to admit we do not know for a fact, but I have the strong guess that very, very few... call me cynical but, I am sorry, after having driven through Africa the last several months, I do not there there is anything anybody can say to convince me a significant of African drivers have a car insurance. As a matter of fact, you see many cars in Africa. There are certainly not in the best, most reliable condition, but they still drive them around. I will then start argueing, if the government is so concerned with safety that they require a car insurance, why do they allow them with such crappy cars to begin with? C'mon, those cars are a wheeled safety threat! those cars are 20+ years old and are about to fall apart any time.

Anyway, let's pretend we accept African governments are inconsistent and require by law to sign a car insurance, while they have no concern about 20+ old cars moving around. now, many people in Africa do not have money to buy a tooth brush. So... what? they have money to buy a car insurance? I can think myself of two good answers to this question: 1) "C'mon, most people have weird priorities". 2) "Well, most people may just disregard the law and continue driving without insurance".

In my opinion, 2) is a stronger argument than 1) since, no mattee how messed up priorities some people may have, I simply do not see much people would even have enough money to pay a car insurance; not the kind of expensive insurance they want me to buy. I will reason that with an example. When we entered Africa, we were also wondering if and where we would need a car insurance. For the reasons outline above, we were guessing Western and Central Africa was just too poor to make car insurance mandatory. Now, we thought, if there is a country where insurance is required, that for sure would be South Africa. South Africa is accepted to be the most developed country in Africa. South Africa very easily feels like the UK, Australia or New Zealand: a place of law and order. Many people will disagree with this statement and scream South Africa is very dangerous and there is no law or order. Anyway, people in South Africa have money, education and discipline to pay for an insurance. Yet, to our surprise, we know now for a fact: car insurance is optional in South Africa. Just the other day, we were discussing this. It seems weird car insurance is optional in South Africa. But maybe we should look at this differently. I did not want to say it, but when I mentioned before people in South Africa have money to pay a car insurance, I was actually thinking 'white' people... Now, this is a very touchy issue in South Africa. Let's face it, if car insurance becomes mandatory in South Africa, many black people will not be able to continue driving legally, because they simply will not be able to afford the expense. This is leading us to a very complicated, big debate, which is not really useful to our little car insurance dilema. staying away from big racial tension and controversies, it is undeniable that the polital trend in south Africa is anything but to make it impossible to most black people to continue drive under the law. So, after all, I think it should not come to a surprise, car insurance is just optional in South Africa. Consequently, I seriously doubt it is mandatory in other African countries.

"it really does not matter if 'it' is required by law or not. What matters is whether 'you' believe or are ready to believe it is required by law".

It may still be argued that one thing is whether the law requires car insurance, another very different is whether the people follow the law. This takes us to the key of the argument: after all, it really does not matter if 'it' is required by law or not. What matters is whether 'you' believe or are ready to believe it is required by law. This is a very, very important principle to always keep in mind when traveling through Africa. i purposedly used the pronoun 'it' instead of specifically referring to car insurance, because this very important principle applies to just about anything: carnet de passage, seat belts, etc.

t will go back to this issue in a minute, but let me first ask a quick question. If we are willing to accept that the law in most African countries requires an insurance to drive, but most Africans I just choose to continue driving without insurance, why is it that they enforce the law on me and do not on them??? Why do they look away when the African driver passes through the checkpoint, but give me hell when I am not able to show them anything they will consider valid insurance. Moreover, interestingly, no matter what I show them, they will always say it is not valid. Hmmm... what do we make of that? C'mon, we are not a safety issue! We, 'the white tourists' are just a few. if all the white tourists drive around without insurance, we are so few that would still not be a safety concern. Now, if just a small fraction of local drivers drive without insurance, that is not just a safety concerned, but a public threat. I am serious, these people drive like mad!

Let's be clear here and start pointing fingers. Who am I referring to when I talk about 'they'?: the police of course! Call them security agents, if you prefer, but that still does not explain why they look away when a local drives without insurance (assuming car insurance is obligatory), but give me hell when I am not able to produce anything he considers proof of valid insurance. Because let's get this straight; this is strictly about being able to drive through Africa without problems. In other words, whether you should have a car insurance or not while driving through Africa, is to avoid running into problems at the security checkpoints, like getting fined or being arrested (but not problems like getting hell because you do not have a good insurance, because, let's face it, no matter what you decide, you can buy whatever insurance gives you more guarantees, they will still tell you it is not valid in that particular country).

So, again, let me be clear, the issue here is what do you need to do that will allow you drive through Africa without major problems. Because
I am not going to accept to make of this a moral question. This is not about any moral obligation of having an insurance in order to drive. Whether you buy an insurance or not, nothing is going to change: Do not be a fool, your money is going straight to some fat butt. Or, do you really think, if you have an accident, your insurance is going to do anything for you or for the people you hurt? I spoke with an insurance agent and he told me very clearly: "no insurance will cover you in Africa". They may take your money, but, if anything happens, they will not provide any assistance. So, you may buy an insurance, but no matter what you do, you will effectively be still without insurance in Africa. So that is as much as your moral will do for you.

You probably have noticed where I am taking my argument: you need to figure out how to get through those tricky checkpoints without major problems, but you need to understand that what they want to see is not a valid insurance. Yes! what they want to see is your money!: money, money, money... It is all about your money. Similarly, they do not want to see the carnet de passage; what they want to see is your money! They do not want to see you are wearing your seat belt; they want to see your money! Try to accept it, if you are driving through that checkpoint at the time a corrupt officer is on shift, you may have a valid insurance, you may have the carnet de passage, you may be wearing your seat belt, it does not matter, you can be sure, that corrupt officer is going to give you hell. As you travel through Africa it is really very important for you to remember: it does not matter what exactly the local law says. What matters is what you believe or are ready to believe the law says. The issue is the corrupt agent objective is to get your money and the way he is going to be able to get some money from you is by making you believe you broke the law. He really does not need that you actually brake the law. if you think you did, that is good enough for him or her.

The problem here is that Westeners we are so completely used to be subject to so many laws, rules and requirements: we need to buy an car insurance in order to be allowed to drive a car. We need to pass a test in order to get the license required to be allowed to drive a car. We need to have some form of identification, etc. Moreover, the western mind assumes with absolutely no doubt at all anything said by a security agent is completely true. The western mind does not even start to entertain the slightest thought that anything said by a security agent may not be totally true. That is our main weakness, because African security officers do lie. And that is our main problem, because African security officers know ourweakness and exploit it.

The strategy of the corrupt agent is clear and simple: they will try to find anything to make you believe you are not complying with the law. They will ask you for an endless number of documents to see if there is anything they can question. They will inspect your car trying to find something that does not look right. It does not matter whether everything is correct or not. It does not even matter if the corrupt officer understands everything is in order or is able to realize something is not correct. The goal is to make you believe something is not in accordance with the law: where what he says is the law may not be true and have no similarity or whatsoever with what the local law actually says. but, c'mon, do you have any clue at all of what the local law really says? Then, how do you expect to argue with him about the local law?

If you think about it, you may agree with me, that is why car insurance is such a sexy spot for a corrupt officer to attack: any other document is foreign to him. Your passport, your visa, your driver's license, you car's registration papers (aka. 'carte gris'), your carnet de passage, your car's technical sheet, etc. are all documents you know much better than him, so he is not going to be in a good position to argue about them to you. You may be lucky and he may not be smart enough and waste his energies and ruin his credibility argueing with you about anything, starting with the first thing you hand to him. He may be stupid enough to argue there is something wrong with your passport or your driver's license. By the time you get to something that actually is not quite right with, say, your car's registration papers, his credibility will be so low, you will both have arrived to the conclusion he is just so full of it, that you will be able to just ignore him.

For example, in Cameroon (of course it had to be in Cameroon; the country with the most corrupt security agents) we had an officer complain to us because our car's inside light would not work. As we ignored her, she next pointed out we needed to watch out because Alia's driver's license was soon to expire. This happened in October 2015 and Alia's driver's license was to expire in 2018!! At this point, she may have found there was actually something wrong with one of our papers: we could have had an invalid insurance and, yet, she had not been able to say anything about it, as her credibility was already so low, we had just ignore her and get away with it.

You may, however, be unlucky and run into a smart corrupt officer, who will save his best bullets for your weakest points. If he cannot find anything wrong with your car or paperwork, his best bet will be to attack your car insurance. You know better your passport, car's registration papers, driver's license, etc. so he will not have a good position any of that, but the car insurance... The can insurance, that one he can argue against, He can say it is not valid in his country. He can pretend it does not meet the legal requirements. Now, what do you know about the country's legal requirements, so how are you going to argue that. Well, the critical issue here is to understand you have to argue that no matter what. Once more, it does not matter whether you have any certainty or none, whether your insurance is good or not: you just need to state your insurance is good and you know that for a fact, period.

Now, if you do not argue that, the next thing you know is you are begging that 'asshole' to show any mercy on you and accept to resolve the matter in a 'friendly' manner. If you do not argue that, he will have you right where he wanted. If he is able to convince you there is something wrong with your paperwork, the next question to discuss between the two of you is how much money are you going to give him to sort out the 'problem'. In fact you can be sure he will no waste anybody's time to immediately introduce the topic by saying: "Hmmm... this is a problem, so ...what are you going to do now?". Well, that would be more Cameroon style, where the police is rather harsh. In Nigeria they are more gracious and would say: "Apologies accepted! ...but you need to show appreciation" (if they find you without the seat belt on).

Let us give an example. We bought an insurance when we first entered Senegal. It was for two months and supposed to cover most Western Africa. We had previously purchased an insurance in Mauritania, but that was only valid in Mauritania. it was a one-month minimum length insurance and we only spent five days in Mauritania, so it was really a rip-off, but we have been told, even from the Spanish embassy, it was required. We also got the insurance from a gendarme, sitting in his governmental office at the border, so that helped make the point more credible. it was, however, disappointing that nobody ever asked us about the insurance while we were in Mauritania.

In Senegal it was different; we had just heard from regular people we needed an insurance for Western Africa. Then, when we got to the Senegalese side of the Djalma border, we found some guy in a FC Barcelona shirt offering 'help' resolving all the bureaucratic procedures (obviously hoping he will get some money in return at the end). We already knew it is a very bad idea to accept any 'help' from these fake helpers, but they will just not leave you alone. He agreed and insisted we should buy a car insurance. But then he took us to this tent, where some guy in casual clothes went on explaining what insurances he could sell us. To our disbelieve, he told us the 'carte brun' was only valid in a couple of countries. But, if we really wanted an insurance for most Western Africa, he could provide us with one that would do it. Today, I regret we ended up buying two months of that insurance: bad idea! As a matter of fact, in Senegal, only once (in Dakar) were we asked to show proof of insurance. Then we continue through Mali, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast and nobody ever asked us for car insurance (it seemed to us the police was overall less corrupt in Western Africa, but matters get worse as you reach Togo, to reach its highest point in Cameroon and Gabon. It improves again in both Congos, but finds one more spike in Angola). When we got to Ghana, we were displeased learning the ridiculous number of checkpoints we were stopped at. At least, it was easy to go through them fairly quickly. Then,  as we were one night getting close to Kumassi, we were stopped once more by an officer: he jumped right away to ask us for proof of insurance. He exclaimed: where is your insurance? I should see all your paperwork! This came to a surprise to us; such an aggresive introduction. Until then, from Morocco to Ivory Coast and Ghana so far, they had always first asked for driver's license, passports, car registration, visas or car's technical sheet. But the guy went straight for the car insurance; it was the first time since Dakar! In our confusion, we went through a moment of indecision: Alia thought it would be better we show him our European car insurance green card. I thought we should give him the Senegalese insurance, as it was supposed to be valid for Ghana and I was not that sure about the European. I handed him our Senegalese insurance, but he gave us a very strange look of his face and immediately rejected it: "What is this???, this is not valid here!". So, we showed him our European insurance. He looked less surprised about that one, as if he had seen some of those European car insurance green cards before. Probably that was what he was expecting to receive from us. Needless to say, he still rejected it: "no, this is not valid here". I had some concerned he might actually be right about that, but I still argued: "of course it is valid!". He insisted it was not valid, but I stayed firm and proceeded to explain: "look, this is the European car insurance green card. This is an international insurance; you see it is written in English? This insurance is valid everywhere". The guy understood I was not going to back off and he also knows he is not supposed to harass or bother the tourists. So, he accepted to give up: "OK, I will let you go for this time, but... do you have something for me?". We were really unhappy and rather outraged as we did not expect such a grotesque attempt to extort money from us (we were so naive! we had no clue what was coming our way, or, better said, what way we were heading). So, we made it very clear we were going to give him absolutely nothing. Eventually, he let us go. To the naive, it may come to a surprise he actually never bothered to go through any of our other documents (neither passports, driver's license, visas, etc.), even after he had started saying he needed to see all our papers. There is little doubt to me he had guessed if he could not get any money attacking our car insurance, he was not going to get anything from the rest of our paperwork.

What I am not sure about is what had happened if we had not had our Senegalese car insurance when we were asked for it in Dakar. The problem there is that we do not know if the Senegalese law requires the purchase of car insurance. It is true, in the battle between the traveler and the corrupt security agent, the traveler's weakest point is his or her ignorance of the local laws. but is there anything at all playing in his or her favor. Yes! you are a tourist. As much as prefer to be recognized as a traveller, there some advantages in being labelled as a 'tourist'. Tourist are wanted and welcomed in most countries; at least in most African countries. So, most governments welcome and appreciate tourists and their money. Therefore, they tell and instruct their security forces to take care and cherish tourists. This may have not always been the case, but, today, even countries like Angola where tourists used to ge disregarded as tourism money was probably considered peanuts, make it clear, probably now that oil prices have collapsed, they want and welcome tourists and their money. Very often we saw an officer explaining his collegue we were tourists and therefore he should not bother us. That happened especially in both Congo's and Angola. I guess because the police used to be more corrupt in these countries, and there are still agents that seem to struggle and need constantly be reminded of the new instruction to charm the tourists.

so, if everything else is against you, at least you should take advantage of the one thing that play in your favor. Think about it! you may even do an infraction, and still get away with it. In Namibe (Angola) we were stopped at a checkpoint and learned one of our lights was not working. Angolan police has quite a bad reputation and, although it now seems much better, there is still quite a bit of it left. The guy quickly hinted we would have to write us ticket. In returned we hinted we were not going to accept it. We explained it was not cool nor reasonable to fine us after the country's horrible dirt roads had screwed up our car's electrical system. The guy finally let us go. He realized we were not going to bribe him, so all what he could have done was to go ahead and write us a ticket. He had screwed us up, but he had nothing to win there, as no money had gone for him. Perhaps it may have turned ugly for him, because he was bothering some tourists.

Something similar happened to us leaving Kinshasa. We were at a traffic light, when suddenly we saw an officer rushing to us. He complained we had ran the light. We knew we had not. We actually got rather angry and made it very clear we were not going to accept any fine. He kept trying to explain what had been our violation, but as we did not stop shaking our heads, he asked us to follow him to the police station. We explained we werenot going anywhere with him. He then threatened to call his captain and asked us if we wanted him to do so. We replied: "Absolutely!" we really were not having any patience and hated the time we were wasting, so really appreciated we were expediting some resolution to the conflict. He really did not expect we would react so enthusiastically to his threat. He laught. Game was over. It was clearly a nervous laugh. He did not know what to do next. He knew it would turn bad for him if he called his captain. I am sure it had turn bad for him regardless of whether we had or we had not run the light. If we had run the light, we had still denied it. I am sure he had then got hell for harrasing and trying to extort money from some tourist. He knew it and that is why he let us go. Though not without first asking if we would give him something.

For what countries should I get a car insurance?

In Western Africa, if I had a second chance, I would probably still get an insurance for Mauritania; even if I think it is a rip off. i am not sure if I would buy it for Senegal, though; certainly not from that guy in his tent. I also do know I would not get anything after Senegal. The last time we bought an insurance for Western Africa and it prove to be useless. So, I would not bother again. They barely asked for it and when they did it was only hoping to get some money. But when we refused, they let us go.

It my opinion, it should not come to a surprise they put more pressure on this issue in Mauritania and Senegal. I do not think it is a coincidence these two countries are the closes to Europe, They are very familiarized with Europeans, as they see them very often. So they know well how natural it is for a European to be required to buy an car insurance. Clearly, they do not want to miss the chance to make business out of it, because certainly nobody will complain about being required to get an insurance.

Africa Travel Guide - Preparing your journey - Paperwork: Carnet de Passage

Carnet de Passage

Do I need the Carnet de Passage to travel through Africa?

The short answer to this question is 'Yes', but there are quite some considerations to be made, demanding a longer answer. But first:

What is the 'Carnet de Passage'

In short, the carnet de Passage is a document issued by automobile assosiations to allow the temporal importation of private vehicles into foreign countries. In practical terms, the Carnet de Passage is a document accepted in many countries (mostly undeveloped countries) as a guarantee that you will not sell your car, once you are inside the country, without paying taxes.

The way it works, you first pay a bond or provide some kind of bank guarantee to your national automobile association that will issue your carnet de passage. the document has many pages (typically 10 or 25). Each pages has an entry slip and an exit slip. whenever you enter a new country where the carnet is required or accepted, at the customs office at the port of entry, you get an 'entry stamp' on your entry slip. Then, When you leave the country, you need to be very careful and make sure you get stamped the corresponding exit slip on that page. If you don't you are in trouble, because that country's customs office will not have any record the vehicle left the country with you. More accurately, you will not be able to prove you left that country with your car. In other words, you will not have valid proof you did not sell your car (without paying import taxes) while you were in that country. Even if you continue your journey and eventually get another entry stamp for your car's carnet de passage, it will not suffice as proof you did not sell your car. The customs office of the country you left without getting an exit stamp, will be able to start a claim against you. It may still be possible to explain the carnet de passage issuer you still have your car, but claim processing charges will be deducted from your bond. Moreover, now that your carnet de passage has a missing exit stamp, your bond will not be released for many years. In Spain, the royal spanish Automobile Club will hold on to your bond for 7-10 years). Also in Spain, the bank guarantee we had to provide was 3000 euros. Even worse, if we are not able to cancel our bank guarantee at the end of the year the carnet de passage is valid for, we have to pay 240 euros to the bank every year before the bond is released.

With all this in mind, it really makes sense to consider if it is possible at all going without the carnet de passage. Actually, I need to admit, I am not totally sure it is strictly required and you would not be able to make it without it. It became clear it would be safer, as it would save potential problems, so we ended up getting the carnet de passage. However, in most countries (if not all), at most borders, we had to ask, insist and explain (what and how) we needed the carnet stamped. We did it to avoid problems in case we get asked for it at some checkpint inside the country. there were quite some countries where nobody really knew anything, but in some others, we were occasionally asked for the carnet at a checkpoint.

It is, however, possible to argue they would ask for the carnet the same way they would ask 'you' (rich white man) for ten other documents: with the exclusive motivation of finding or pretending to find some issue that may inspire you to offer some bribe to sort it out. For example, they will ask you (rich white man) for car insurance. You may wonder how many drivers have car insurance in, say, cameroon? Then, why is it that they are so terribly concerned you may not have an insurance? Clearly, they hope they will be able to pint out and scare you thinking you do not have car insurance. Whatever you show or say, they will tell you it is not valid in their country and ask you: "hmmm, this is a problem, so... what are you going to do now? At this point, it becomes a matter of how strong you are. You may even show them a fake document, but state with firm voice your insurance is 100% valid, they will certainly not call anybody to verify the information. It is true

it is a bit more tricky to argue you are still complying with the law, even if you cannot show the required carnet the passage. At this point, you have a few options: you can simply avoid those few countries where it is actually required, or try to get a laissez-passer, Alternatively, go on a case-by/case basis and sort out the issue offering some little money whenever it happens: it would certainly add quite a bit of stress to your trip, but still save you a significant amount of money. Again, the carnet de passage is quite expensive: we paid about 300 euros to the Spanish automobile association issueing the carnet and about 300 + 300 euros to the bank issueing the bank guarantee of payment.

In what countries is the carnet de passage required?

in Western Africa, only in Senegal it seemed clear the carnet de passage was required. In Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo and Benin you can just get a laissez-passer (and pay a small fee that should be well under 50€). In nigeria, at the borders, they have barely heard anything about the carnet and we had to explain how to fill it out and process it. inside the country, at the checkpoints, it was not an issue either. In Cameroon they were familiar at the border with the carnet de passage. Inside the country, the carnet was one of the many documents they will usually demand. Cameroon being the African country where we found the most corrupt police, it comes without saying that they were asking for the carnet hoping to get some money in the case you did not have it. I still do not think the carnet de passage is required in Cameroon. You may very well be able to get a laissez-passer for Cameroon (we never asked since we had the carnet). Gabon is second, after Cameroon, in our ranking of African countries with the worst police officers. Therefore, all the statements made in this regard for Cameroon, apply for Gabon as well. In Congo Brazzaville and Congo Kinshasa, I would not expect problems traveling without carnet. In Angola it is not required, as no police officer will have any clue what that document was. Finally, in Namibia, at the border they were not very familiar with the carnet, but we were asked for it at some checkpoints. Now, Namibia is not as corrupt as Cameroon, so I do not know how it had gone if we had not had the carnet. I suspect it may be possible to get a laissez-passer at the border, if you do not bring a carnet de passage.