Navigate your way around Africa !Click on a country or specific visit number to read about our adventures |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
1999 |
2000 |
|||||
April
|
6th
|
January
|
5th
|
|||
16th
|
31st
|
|||||
May
|
8th
|
February
|
3rd
|
|||
13th
|
27th
|
|||||
19th
|
Mozambique
|
March
|
2nd
|
|||
27th
|
3rd
|
|||||
June
|
12th
|
7th
|
||||
16th
|
26th
|
|||||
30th
|
April
|
21st
|
||||
July
|
23rd
|
May
|
15th
|
|||
28th
|
June
|
9th
|
||||
August
|
2nd
|
July
|
8th
|
|||
5th
|
August
|
2nd
|
||||
11th
|
September
|
3rd
|
||||
13th
|
13th
|
|||||
29th
|
21st
|
|||||
October
|
11th
|
|||||
31st
|
||||||
November
|
10th
|
|||||
30th
|
||||||
December
|
6th
|
|||||
13th
|
||||||
19th
|
||||||
28th
|
We had great difficulty in trying to find out how much "spends" to take on such a trip. It was a bit of a tricky subject and people said "oh, more than you expect". It was only thanks to Jo and Richard Hepper who had recently returned from travels in southern Africa that we were able to get some idea of what that meant.
The following table gives an idea of expenditure on "sensible living" in West Africa for 2 people. Fun activities, of course, increase the expenditure considerably (so we stay in every night and read a book!).
Country
|
No. Days
|
Distance (km)
|
Total Distance (km)
|
Fuel
|
Transport
|
Food
|
Camping
|
Admin.
|
Visa
|
France
|
3
|
1362
|
1362
|
£93.75
|
£24.05
|
£32.85
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Spain
|
4
|
1580
|
2942
|
£52.53
|
£68
|
0
|
£43.72
|
0
|
0
|
Gibraltar
|
3
|
2942
|
£15.72
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
Morocco
|
22
|
3455
|
6397
|
£101.75
|
0
|
£82.56
|
£38.40
|
£55.30
|
0
|
W.Sahara
|
4
|
1022
|
7419
|
£28.21
|
0
|
£4.30
|
£7.10
|
0
|
0
|
Mauritania
|
7
|
905
|
8324
|
£15.53
|
£5.28
|
£50.70
|
£18.63
|
£46.83
|
£103.36
|
Senegal (*)
|
12
|
915
|
10667
|
£52.78
|
£6.06
|
£110.57
|
£35.35
|
£72.22 (**)
|
0
|
The Gambia
|
16
|
1428
|
10123
|
£45.92
|
£9.64
|
£101.20
|
£128.28
|
0
|
0
|
Guinee
|
14
|
1501
|
12168
|
£44.68
|
£2.50
|
£60.82
|
0
|
0
|
£47.33
|
Cote D'Ivoire
|
23
|
2254
|
14422
|
£70.45
|
£7.07
|
£227.50
|
£53.74
|
0
|
£74.56
|
Burkina Faso
|
8
|
1238
|
16208(***)
|
£31.31
|
0
|
£74.49
|
£10.17
|
£6.06
|
£26.27
|
Mali
|
5
|
548
|
15563
|
£18.48
|
£3.03
|
£12.53
|
£30.70
|
£1.92
|
£20.20
|
Benin
|
6
|
1059
|
17267
|
£20.61
|
0
|
£29.32
|
£10.07
|
£0.40
|
£40.40
|
Togo
|
2
|
390
|
17657
|
0
|
0
|
£1.55
|
£5.05
|
0
|
£20.20
|
Ghana
|
16
|
1453
|
19100
|
£39.28
|
£11.32
|
£12.45
|
£53.09
|
£8.59
|
£24.24
|
(*) Senegal is in two parts hence the unusual distance calculations in relation to The Gambia
(**) Cost includes third party car insurance for the whole of West Africa. Make sure you get the CEDAEO or carte brun when you buy the insurance. This will cover you for Guinee and Ghana at vertually no extra cost.
(***) Burkina Faso is in two parts hence unusual distance calculations in relation to Mali
I started to keep a record of the costs in the southern African countries but so much money was spent on dining out and having a lot of fun that the figures would not give a true reflection of the budget traveller expenditure. Also ATM's were common so cash advances were regularly made and it was difficult to keep a tally on what was spent on what. Costs are much higher in the south than in the west and the opportunities for tourists much greater. Travelling at minimum cost I would expect to pay twice that of the costs above over the same period of time. More realistic though would be to treble or even quadruple the figures.
The prices of parks, camping and various fees have been given in the text of the country pages in the South and the East. These are the basic figures. Fuel costs are higher in the South and East than in the West and distances are much greater hence the basic fuel costs are much greater. Fortunately visas are not required for most of the countries.
In Northern Africa the fuel costs are much lower than in the South and hotel prices are cheaper than campsites. However you are back into the land of the visa and costly paperwork so your costs soon mount up. If you can drive home via Syria (no entry if you have previously visited Israel) then you can avoid a nasty boat bill travelling from Israel to Greece.