I traveled in West Africa for 4 months crossing from Mauritania to Benin only by land, visiting Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin. I traveled in the high season between January and April 2023 before the rainy season (which is a period not recommended). I have applied to all visas either on arrival, online or in embassies. I haven’t arranged any visa in advance in my home country. I will detail in this article.
The roughest part was from Guinea Bissau to Guinea because the roads are mostly dirty roads in really bad conditions. From Ivory Coast onwards the roads are pretty good and mostly asphalted. Ghana has a lot of bumps and speed limits.
I chose the direction north to south because is the most common and convenient route. I flew to Mauritania from Tunisia, but is also possible to go from Spain by ferry to Morocco, cross Western Sahara and arrive by land in Mauritania. Flights out of Benin to France can be found as cheap as 300 euros.
My general opinion about West Africa, is very challenging and exhausting to travel in this region. The heat is intense and you have to make many stops to drink and rest in the shade if you are the type of person that walks a lot while sightseeing (my case). The harassment to tourists and foreigners in intense (way more than East Africa), people will try to talk to you at all costs, get you attention whistling or making kisses noises. They will say my friend, my friend. Talk to me, I am talking to you. The most intense harassment in my opinion was in Gambia (very touristy), the least harassing country was Guinea Bissau, because culturally they keep a bit of a social distance from tourists or foreigners (at the same time hospitality is also lower).
Overpricing is another annoying thing, there is an image that all foreigners and white people are rich, so they will most of the times try to overcharge you. You have to be aware of the local costs, not to be scammed all the time. Always ask prices before entering in a car. Very few cities have sharing car apps (uber, bolt, yango), many you have to negotiate price according to distance. I don’t record of any taximeter in entire West Africa. The worst countries I think for overcharging were Senegal and Sierra Leone.
The hospitality is strong in the North Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, than gets less hospitable in Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and specially Ivory Coast. Ghana warms up again, very hospitable, Togo and Benin not so much. This is a point of view based on Couchsurfing offers of hosting and general analysis.
How to cross land borders in West Africa?
I wrote detailed articles on how to cross each border:
How to cross from Mauritania to Senegal
How to cross from Senegal to Gambia
How to cross from Gambia to Senegal
How to cross from Senegal to Guinea Bissau
How to cross from Guinea Bissau to Guinea
How to cross from Guinea to Sierra Leone
How to cross from Sierra Leone to Liberia
How to cross from Ivory Coast to Ghana
How to cross from Ghana to Togo
From Sierra Leone onward I traveled in a van with a German Guy, so I did not took public transport, but I made two articles based on Sevi Ioannidou reports and one article based on Karine Prvn report.
How to get Visas in West Africa?
There are plenty of embassies in West Africa and you can get different visas in different countries. I will detail my visas but other options are always available.
Mauritania: Very easy Visa on Arrival for 55 euros or 60 US dollars, can be acquired in airport or land borders. I showed fake hotel reservations and fake flight out.
Senegal: Visa free for many countries
Gambia: Was visa free for me using German Passport
Guinea Bissau: This is the easiest visa from West Africa if you get in Guinea Bissau Embassy in Ziguinchor, Senegal. They don’t ask for absolutely any proof of hotels and flights, you don’t need to fill in any form, it costs 25.000 francs (around 40 US dollars). You give your passport wait for 5 to 15 minutes, give the money and get your visa. The Embassy is walking distance from the main bus station and If you leave Gambia early you can arrive in Ziguinchor early and get the visa straight away. The embassy is located here and it closes between 3 and 4 pm.
Guinea: This is an e-visa, but is very important to input a good home address. The reason is that according to the home address you put, the online application will be sent to different ambassadors for approval. I have read reports of people putting European addresses and never get return, because the process was stuck in a french embassy for days. I put a random Guinea Bissau address and my process was sent to the Guinea Bissau Ambassador. I visited the embassy in Bissau, he saw the process in his computer, asked me a few questions and approved straight away, after 15 minutes I received my e-visa in my e-mail. It costs 80 US dollars plus 3 dollars tax and you pay directly in the official website.
Sierra Leone: I did the Visa on Arrival procedure because is cheaper and easier. On arrival in Sierra Leone immigration office, I entered a room and the lady said there was option transit visa 500 Leone (around 25 US) and 30 day 800 Leone (around 40 US). If you pay in US dollars is 80, double the price. She asked where I was staying, I gave the address of my couchsurfing host. I told I was going after to Liberia and Ivory coast (visas on the passport acquired in Conakry). I handed the money. No more questions asked, she gave a stamp and 30 days.
Liberia: I got the Liberia visa in Liberia Embassy in Conakry. Procedure pretty straight forward. Friendly people, simple process, fill form, provide address in Liberia, provide two passport photos. No return flights or booking needed. 100 USD for any passport except US passport (161 USD) and Malaysia passport (10 USD). If you want express visa you have to pay 50 USD for ’emergency cost’. Talked to the third consul, picked up my passport by the end of the day without paying the emergency fee. I told him police usually ask for passport in the streets and is not safe to be walking around without passport, so he was nice and told me to come by the end of the day.
Ivory Coast: I applied for the visa in Ivory Coast Embassy in Conakry. I paid online 58 euros for the visa in advance in this website (is weird but worked for me and other travelers): https://snedai.com/ Follow this step-by-step: Services en Ligne; Visa Dans Les Embassades de Cote d’ Ivoire; Paiement click in the link; Suivant; Fill form; Give credit card details. After you pay you will have a payment receipt with a barcode, print this to bring to embassy. You can also do the same process in a computer in the embassy but will take longer. With the paper arrive at embassy, meet the consulat services, give one passport photo, copy of passport, COVID vaccination, yellow fiver vaccination. He will give a form and you fill. I put my home address of Guinea (a hotel) and address in Ivory Coast (a hotel) told I was going by land from Liberia and showed my Liberia visa. He didn’t asked flight proofs of accommodation proof. I dropped passport and my local phone number, he said to come pickup next day in afternoon. When I came back he said he called me the day before because the visa was ready but my phone didn’t worked. All god, visa in hands.
Ghana: I chose to do the Visa on Arrival in the land border, because the online process is complicated. After finishing with the Ivory coast side, I started the Ghana side process: First the health office where I gave my Yellow Fever Certificate and Covid vaccination. After that I filled up a form at the immigration and then proceeded to an office for VOA (150 US Dollars) where I had to fill another form, took around 30 minutes the whole process. Is very important to have new bills, they will only accept the 100 bill with the stripes (after 2017). The only thing you need to provide when filling the form, apart from your personal details, is the address and contact number in Ghana. I gave a random hotel address, no booking or onward flights was asked for. He also took a photo of me using the computer camera for registration. VOA is double price than the one at the Embassy but super easy, comparing to all the documents you need to upload to get it in advance plus the waiting time is several working days.
Togo: I got Visa on Arrival, single entry for 25.000 CFA (around 40 US dollars). I asked for the 7-days but they told that was no longer available. I just filled a form, they asked a few questions and I got the visa in 15 minutes. They spoke good English. When I finished with health office, immigration and customs I was already at Lomé, the capital of Togo. I didn’t know that the border is so close, you can actually see the Ghanian side when you drive around Lomé. But don’t take any pictures there because they will take your mobile and you will have to go to the police station to get it back.
Benin: I applied for the Benin visa online in the official website, was really easy. Put a random hotel address, fill up the form with passport details, made the 50 euros payment online and received and e-mail 15 minutes later with the e-visa.