Travelling into Ghana with my Motorcycle
Update 80 (February 2025)
Côte d'Ivoire to Ghana
I spent a couple of nights in Man, after entering Côte d’Ivoire. The hotel was up on a hill and had a nice view over the town. Although the African smoke haze was continuing. It was much like my time in Laos and Cambodia. Similar latitudes and seasonal approach to agriculture I guess.
I aimed the bike for the capital of Abidjan. I must admit, the need for administrative chores is consuming me. I know I should do some tourist stuff, but I haven’t even got to the point of finding out what that is. I did see talk to some Swiss tourists in my Man hotel but never got around to asking what they were seeing here. Although it might just have been family.
My next job is to organise my visa for Ghana, in Abidjan. The first step was online but you still need to visit the embassy and pay there anyway, and wait…..
On the way to Abidjan is the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace where I stayed in Yamoussoukro, built in the 1980’s.
Côte d’Ivoire has a lot of land cleared for palm oil plantations and rubber trees like the one above. The smell of the rubber is quite pungent, mainly going past the processing plants. It is similar to the smell of blood and bone fertiliser.
A load of plantains in a taxi, on their way to a market somewhere I assume. Côte d’Ivoire is a more organised country than Guinea and the people were generally friendlier. And the roads were markedly better.
This is the view from my hotel in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The unusual architectural design of this nearby building caught my eye. The city was okay. Still a lot of people doing it hard but also some more modern aspects, including some nice restaurants, plus Uber and even a Burger King nearby. The burgers were actually really well made, possibly the best Whopper I have had on my travels. Burger King La Paz, Bolivia gets the worst.
Reaching Ghana and my insurmountable Frustrations with African Administration
After almost a week in Abidjan, my Ghana visa was organised and I left for Ghana. I rode a few hours to the border and then it was time for more admin at the Elubo crossing. I was fine getting in, but not my motorcycle. Ghana Customs insisted that I have a CPD (Carnet De Passages En Douane) for the motorcycle, which is an international document for ensuring the Customs department of a country does not miss out on import duties, if I decide to sell my motorcycle in their country – yeah right.
I do not have a CPD. If you read online about it, the companies selling them will say you need it, but these days there are actually very few countries that insist on it. I have taken my motorcycle through over 60 countries now without needing one. Every other country is happy to issue a simple document that must be shown with the motorbike when I leave. The only previous country where I had trouble was Iran, but I was able to make alternative arrangements beforehand.
Ghana is one of the few other countries left that still insists on it to temporarily take your vehicle through the country. I had done some quick research online and knew I may have a problem but information was patchy and there was some indication I could get through without one. Not this time though. I should have checked better beforehand but I was so over admin that I just chose to ignore it until I knew it was actually a problem. It was now a problem.
The Customs staff were helpful but were sticking to the rules. They called in a local customs agent on the Sunday to help find a solution.
But it was pretty much the final straw for me and travelling West Africa. I was already fed up with needing a visa for every country and the scant information about the rules for getting my motorcycle in as an overland traveller. And then the potential extortion and bribery it leaves a traveller open to in some countries. I had been finding that I was spending 25% of my time travelling and 75% trying to organise or wait for visas and related paperwork.
And it was only going to get worse with the upcoming countries and the vagaries of finding a safe way through Nigeria. Maybe for overland travellers with passports from another country, entry might be a little easier. Plus being a solo traveller means there is no one to share the workload with.
Whilst at the Ghana border, I decided I’d had enough of travelling West Africa. It’s harsh to say, but frankly, the scenery and travel experience was no longer worth the effort. It was time to bail out somehow.
So I spent the next 6 days in Elubo. Me in a local hotel and my motorbike in the Customs warehouse where they let me store it. The bike was not seized or confiscated, it was just not allowed in Ghana.
Elubo was a simple border town close to the equator so the heat and vegetation is quite tropical. I stayed in one of the few hotels which was basic but the staff were friendly and helpful. Each day I would walk 3km into town for supplies or to ask Customs questions. The locals were friendly and would greet me, often with phrases such as “hello mister or mr whiteman, welcome”. Although English is the official language, most people were speaking a local dialect.
During this time I tried to find a freight forwarder to air freight the bike to the US or Europe. I did get indicative prices for Delta and Air France but no one was motivated enough to follow through on proper quotes. After 6 days I gave up and decided to ride back to Europe, which of course meant more paperwork to get me back through each country, but at least I’d had some practise with them.
In case it is helpful to other overland travellers without a CPD, this is what I could have done if I was continuing through to Togo. There is an option to arrange a Transit Permit to ride or drive the vehicle through Ghana. You need a customs agent to organise the paperwork, there is a fee of at least a few hundred dollars, plus a deposit for the GPS tracker that must be fitted to your vehicle. You then have a period of ten days to follow an agreed path through the country. It’s not too bad if you wanted to pass through the country. Still cheaper than paying for a CPD. It would take a few days to arrange.
I did at least have some alternative options on which way to go back. This time I would go through Liberia and Sierra Leone, and minimise my time in Guinea. I really didn’t want to pass through the same Guinea border and towns as last time – Story here.
By good luck I had ended up with a multi entry visa for Côte d’Ivoire, so that was one less task. So I got stamped out by Ghana Immigration and collected my motorcycle from Customs. It was all a bit unusual but fortunately everyone speaks English at the border.
Getting back into Côte d’Ivoire should have been easy, but wasn’t. I was back to everyone speaking French which is no help to me. Immigration with the police was fine. Then I went to Customs expecting to just have them let the motorcycle in without any paperwork, like my southbound visit. Not this time, they wanted to do a temporary import – Admission Temporaire Ordinaire. No fees, it just took a while. They did want to see proof of third party vehicle insurance, which I luckily had from my Brown Card Insurance, that I bought when entering Senegal. It is very rare for any official in any country to ask to see this. I have probably had it 3-4 times ever.
When I walked back to my motorcycle, I was met by an officer of the Côte d’Ivoire Drug Police. He wanted to check my luggage. So I had to unload my luggage and carry it to a small room where he went through everything and wanted an explanation of what it all was. It was probably more invasive than my previously worst Turkey search, but this guy wasn’t as annoying and weirdly intense as the Turkey guy. We finished after an hour and he found nothing of interest. But it is always nerve wracking that something will turn up for some unknown reason. My bike and luggage had been sitting unattended in an open public area for over an hour while I was in with Customs. This is one risk of soft panniers and travelling solo, but I have never had a problem while leaving it at a border crossing.
I cleared the border and rode to Abidjan, again, and found a nicer place to stay north of the city. I was there a few days, to arrange my Liberia visa this time. It was fairly straightforward. I just caught an Uber to the Liberia Embassy and asked for a visa. I was also able to arrange the entry paperwork for my motorcycle. It was a novel approach of a letter to whom it may concern (listing immigration, police, customs), that I would enter and leave on my Australian motorcycle. And it worked fine. It was all finished in an hour, using the express service for a reasonable premium.
Fortunately, I also still had an active eVisa for Sierra Leone that I had previously organised and not used. Off I go again.
I was heading north now through Côte d’Ivoire and chose a different route to the Liberia border, this time along the coastline via San Pedro. It was a popular seaside town, although seemingly with locals more than foreigners.
I was taking a photo of the sunset when this group of friends leapt out of the water and struck a pose for me. It was a fun gesture.
I was very remiss with photos of Liberia and didn’t take a single one. Leaving Côte d’Ivoire at Danane, I came across a Customs office at the turn off towards the Liberia border, where they stamped my motorcycle out of the country. The route to the border was a fun dirt road and passed through small local villages and jungle. Ignore Google Maps and just follow your nose and the main trail.
Leaving Côte d’Ivoire was easy. They stamped me out and I bought some Liberia money. There is a short bridge between the two countries. The bridge was full of military personnel from Côte d’Ivoire. It seems they were new soldiers and getting an induction about the border. They finished after about 15 minutes. The officer in charge stopped for a chat and photo with me, and I rode over to Liberia.
It was a nice regional border crossing with simple buildings and little fuss. The Immigration staff spoke English, were friendly and stepped me through the process. My letter from the Abidjan Embassy about the motorbike did the trick and Customs just let me through. It was all finished in about twenty minutes.
The road to Monrovia, the Liberia capital, was new and huge. I expect some poor politician was expecting Côte d’Ivoire to build a matching road on their side, but hasn’t at all so far. The scenery didn’t hold much appeal, just rubber and palm oil plantations.
Monrovia wasn’t very appealing, just over priced accommodation and struggling infrastructure, spilling across the streets. It was also the worst city for missing man hole covers in the road for a long time. I think just about every cover was missing. It was a clear winner over Bogota, Colombia, my next worse.
I stayed a few days and organised my Sierra Leone entry. I had paid for the Sierra Leone eVisa but still had to visit the embassy to get the sticker in my passport. I also made arrangements for my motorbike and paid for a Vehicle Clearance Permit (Temporary Import).
Finding fuel in Liberia was different. There were very few actual petrol stations. The retailing of fuel was instead serviced by local villagers that would sell fuel by the side of the road in standard 1 gallon glass bottles, sediment included.
My road through Sierra Leone was again lined with plantations much of the time. This might have been the Sewa River. The rivers are all things to all people.
Apart from the above photo I have nothing for Sierra Leone. There were interesting things to see along the way, but rather than scenery, it is often people living their lives and stopping to take a photo was not cool.
I made my way to Freetown, to find a bed for the night. Freetown, like many of the West Africa cities is settled on the tip of a peninsular. So there is a painful ride through congested traffic to reach the city centre and hotels. I had no booking and SIM card so it took a while to find a hotel room but I got there, after dark though. I stayed a couple of nights and moved on. I don’t recall needing to visit any embassies. I think the Guinea eVisa printed copy was all I needed at the next border.
I wasn’t looking forward to the border crossing into Guinea. It seems Guinea officials typically find something to give you a hard time about, which then typically involves a cost to you.
The Guinea Immigration was fine and I was stamped into the country. I was still wary of what was really needed to enter Guinea – link here to my previous problems. This was a larger crossing than previous so I was hopeful everything was complete. They did not complete any biometrics, just a stamp from the Immigration Chief. I didn’t go to Immigration in Conakry. Leaving Guinea at the Koundara border was fine but there was some discussion with the Immigration Chief about my papers. They let me through but maybe it would have been better if I had checked in with the Immigration Office in Conakry.
Guinea Customs was a problem though. The Secretariat was insisting that I have a Carnet De Passage. He could have done a Temporary Import like my previous visit to Guinea but I think this was more work than he wanted to do. Luckily, I still had the paperwork or Laissez Passer from my previous Guinea visit. I showed him and after somewhat of a performance he just stamped and signed the same paperwork and let me pass. It worked fine at the border when I left Guinea.
I really didn’t want to go back to Conakry either, but I needed to go to the Senegal Embassy for a visa. The embassy and hotels are again right at the end of a peninsula. So there is no choice but to ride through 40km of congested, chaotic city traffic and damaged roads. I was there a few days, got my visa okay and got out. This time I left the hotel at 6am and beat all but the last 10km of congestion.
A view from my Conakry, Guinea hotel room. I did stay in the same hotel and they looked after me with a nice room.
Conakry has many partially built high rise buildings, like many African cities that I visited. It is strange to see and hear the hustle and bustle on the streets, but above the buildings are often deserted.
I bypassed Guinea Bissau this time and entered Senegal straight from Guinea. There is a main Immigration office in Koundara where they took my biometrics and let me pass. At the actual border, in typical Guinea style I still had to “pay” the official to stamp my passport. The visa worked fine for Senegal and I paid Customs the standard 2,500 West Africa Francs (4 USD) for a 30 day temporary import for the motorbike.
At one point I was riding through Niokolo-Koba National Park and saw a group of what I think were Guinea Baboons. I had also seen quite a few of what I think were Green Monkeys in previous countries, but they are too quick for a photo.
I like Senegal. It is a little better organised than the countries to the south and at the same time has a more unique and appealing culture and experience for the traveller. The way people live and go about their day seems is more intruiging. You could ride down from Europe, see Senegal and maybe go into Guinea-Bissau and have a pretty good trip. It is really once you get into Guinea and south that the effort to reward ratio gets less appealing.
I went to Dakar again and had another service on the bike and new spark plugs. The engine had been idling badly and even stalling while idling. It could have been the fuel quality in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Plus I had not changed the spark pugs since Bogotá, Colombia, which must have been at least 80,000km ago. But until now the engine had been running fine. Or it could have been my air filter being clogged with dust. They all needed attending to anyway. UPDATE – the low idle problem randomly is still happening weeks later, so I am not sure what is going on. No biggy.
After Dakar I followed the same route through to the Diama crossing with Mauritania again. No West Africa Crocodiles this time. Mauritania had changed its visa rules since my last visit and I now needed to initially apply online for an eVisa, but you still pay and complete the biometrics at the entry border.
Back to the Sahara Desert in Mauritania. There were still plenty of police checkpoints and I had stocked up on copies of my passport or fiche as they call them. But it seemed more relaxed this time for some reason, and many of the police just let me through once I stated my nationality and destination.
The further north I travelled the easier it became. Leaving Mauritania and entering Morocco at Western Sahara was fine. A Mauritanian official tried to get some money from me as I was leaving, but he was a bit of an amateur and had nothing over me, so I just said no and left.
The Moroccan border entry was more sophisticated and organised. I did not need a visa and could enter at the border for 90 days. They had sniffer dogs and were operating one of those large X-ray trucks that scans every vehicle. I was stamped in, given my handwritten number in the passport, that the Morocco hotels record, and given a small temporary import card from Customs for the motorcycle.
(No) Road Safety in West Africa
Entering Morocco is also the beginning of an improved level of road safety. South of there is pretty crazy and like South America I was lucky to not be involved or come across any bad accidents. There were some near misses though. Read my South America recollections at the bottom of Quito to Bogota, Colombia.
One time I rounded a corner near a town in Guinea, to witness one of the large popular motorised farm cargo tricycles tipping over and about to tumble down a gully. It stopped just before going over the edge. I pulled over to check and realised there was a young teenage boy with his legs pinned under their load of bags of cement. I quickly helped his father move them all, fully expecting a broken leg at least. But luckily he was okay and while a little stunned was very thankful for me helping out.
Another time I was following a passenger car through the Guinea countryside. Suddenly, the car started wildly swerving all over the road. It then veered off the road, down an embankment into the bush in a huge cloud of red dust. I slowed to a stop, thinking the worst and wondering how I am even going to find the car in the dust and bush. Out of nowhere, the car appears and slides to a stop perpendicular to the road, just before coming across at me. I don’t know what was going on down there or how he even seemed to still be accelerating so much. The driver was dazed but okay, the car was a wreck with punctured front tyres and seemingly collapsed suspension. After some basic communication to check he was okay, I left him with a local that had also stopped.
It is easy riding through Western Sahara but also amazing scenery. Desert to the east and ocean to the west.
Dakhla is the first place to stay after the border and this time I found a better place to stay, more in the city centre. The night market by my hotel is just getting set up.
This meal of Yassa Chicken is a traditional dish from Senegal. I actually had it in Tambacounda, Senegal, it just fits the page layout better here. It is braised chicken smothered in onions, with Dijon mustard and spices. Local Senegal beer. I don’t normally drink alcohol in the Islamic countries but this was in the hotel which offered it.
A giant teapot in Dakhla, Western Sahara during sunrise. The sun didn’t rise until about 8am.
Sunrise over the Atlantic ocean in Dakhla.
The coastline along Western Sahara is spectacular. I was back to seeing quite a few travelling cyclists, plus one long distance walker from Morocco who I gave my leftover Mauritania cash to.
That is the town of Boujdour on top of the cliffs.
The view from my nice hotel in Laayoune, Western Sahara. Again I found a nicer hotel, still for a reasonable price.
Camels crossing the road near Tiznit, Morocco. These were obviously being farmed but I did see quite a few in Western Sahara this time that seemed to be wild.
The camels heading towards Tiznit.
Sahara Desert, Morocco.
I was back to tasty Moroccan breakfasts – Sidi Ifni.
A view of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. I really wanted to spend some time in the mountains this time. But my rear shock absorber had failed and lost the gas. I couldn’t find anyone in Morocco to repair it. Most mechanics can fix leaking front forks but the rear shock and regassing is more specialised. It had not been serviced since Japan which was over 60,000km ago (should have been about 20,000km). I had been trying to find someone since I arrived in Africa because I knew my time was running out, but no joy. As a result the bike handling was bouncy, spongy in the rear and generally annoying. So I decided to skip the mountains again and keep riding north to find a motorcycle suspension specialist, in Spain as it turned out.
I ended up riding about 7,000km from Elubo, Ghana to Tangier, Morocco in 3 weeks.
I did enjoy my time in West Africa but riding all the way overland to South Africa is maybe not the best way to visit. I think a more targetted approach is best. It is a good ride to do a loop down from Europe to Senegal and maybe Guinea Bissau. Or if going further, do your homework and fly into the region you want to see, then rent a vehicle.