Travel

Get in and around Africa

Air fares to Africa can be very expensive, but there are ways to save. The best way to get great airfare to the continent is fly directly to an African country from its former colonial rulers. For example, it can easily cost hundreds of euros/dollars more to fly from London

to a former French colony, or conversely from Paris to a former British colony.About the only exceptions are Egypt, which has plentiful, cheap connections with the Middle East & Europe and a handful of West African destinations (the Gambia, Cape Verde, Morocco) popular with British tourists and accessible with cheap holiday flights.

Airline consolidators can also be used for discounted air fares. If you have additional travel time, check to see how your total fare quote to Africa compares with a round-the-world fare. Don't forget to add in the extra costs of additional visas, departure taxes, ground transportation, etc. for all those places outside of Africa.

See your destination's article for more specific information on flights. Bear in mind that many African countries only offer a few international flights each day, or in some cases, each week. While it isn't hard to reach South Africa or Egypt, getting to Malawi or Togo can be quite a challenge.

From Europe

There are more flights to Africa from Europe than from any other continent. Popular holiday destinations such as Egypt, Morocco, Cape Verde, & South Africa are well-served from Europe's major cities, even with discount and charter airlines. Royal Air Maroc, Afriqyah Airlines, Jet4you & EgyptAir have a good selection of European destinations and Ethiopian, Kenyan, South African, & Arik Air serve a couple of major cities (London, Paris, etc.). The cheapest flights to African cities are often through the African country's former colonial power. Cities with large immigrant populations such as London, Marseilles, & Paris have a good number of flights to Africa.

Chief among European airlines flying to Africa are:

• Air France is the best (although not cheapest) carrier serving French-speaking Africa, with service to most major cities of West, Central, & North Africa along with service to Johannesburg, Cairo, Tripoli, Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion, & Djibouti.

• British Airways is the best (although not particularly cheap) way to fly to former British colonies, they have service to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, & Egypt along with Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritius, & Angola.

• Brussels Airlines flies from Brussels to most francophone countries in West and Central Africa along with Entebbe (Uganda), Nairobi, & Luanda.

• Lufthansa flies to major cities in North Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ethiopia, & Eritrea.

• TAP Portugal flies to former Portuguese colonies (Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome & Principe, Mozambique, Angola) and South Africa, Algeria, Morocco, & Senegal.

Many European discount airlines serve major tourist destination in Africa (especially Morocco, Cape Verde, Tunisia, Egypt, & the Gambia), including Jetairfly, EasyJet, & Corsairfly.

From the Americas

The only countries with direct flights to Africa are the United States, Canada, Cuba, Venezuela, Brazil, & Argentina.

From the United States, these are routes operated as of December 2009:

• New York-JFK: Delta Air Lines to Johannesburg, Cairo, Abuja (via Dakar), Accra; EgyptAir to Cairo; Royal Air Maroc to Casablanca; & Arik Air to Lagos.
• Washington-Dulles: South African Airlines to Johannesburg (via Dakar); Ethiopian Airlines to Addis Ababa (via Rome);United Airlines to Accra
• Atlanta: Delta Air Lines to Johannesburg, Accra (begins 2 June 2010), & Lagos
• Houston: charter flights for oil workers to Nigeria and Angola

Delta Air Lines had planned to begin service to several new African destinations in June 2009, but canceled several of them just weeks before they were to begin (including Sal, Malabo, Luanda, Nairobi, & Cape Town). The most anticipated new route, the thrice-weekly Atlanta-Nairobi route, was canceled the day before it was to commence by the FAA citing security shortcomings at the Nairobi airport, leaving Kenyans so outraged that the US ambassador was even summoned to answer questions. Look for new Delta routes in the coming years (especially Atlanta-Nairobi). Arik Air, which began New York-Lagos flights in November 2009, plans to expand service to Miami, Atlanta, & Houston in the near future, but no dates have been announced for these services.

Outside the peak travel times to Europe (e.g. summer) you might be able to get a good deal to London or Paris and book a fare from there to Africa separately on a European travel website. But don't book the United States to Europe portion until you get confirmed on the Europe to Africa portion first. Through fares to Africa from the United States can be quite expensive, so avoiding peak travel times to Europe can sometimes save a lot. However, since new non-stop flights to Africa have recently been added, and Europe is much more expensive than it used to be, try getting a direct quote first, then see if you can do better. Another growing option is flying through the Middle East on Emirates or Qatar, which both serve a reasonable selection of African & American cities.

TAAG Angolan Airlines offers flights from Luanda to the Brazilian cities Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Salvador de Bahia (seasonal), & Recife (seasonal) as well as a weekly flight to Havana via Sal.

South African Airways offers flights from Johannesburg to Sao Paulo & Buenos Aires. There are seasonal flights from Caracas to Tenerife-North in the Canary Islands. Malaysian Airlines flies Buenos Aires to Johannesburg. Turkish Airlines and Emirates both have flights from Sao Paulo to the Middle East which make stops in West Africa (Dakar or Lagos).

From Asia & the Middle East

If you're flying to a small African country, Africa's major airlines all have extensive coverage in Africa and fly to a handful of Asian destinations:

• Ethiopian Airlines: Bahrain, Bangkok, Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Tel Aviv, Beirut, Kuwait, Jeddah, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Aden, Sana'a
• Kenyan Airways: Bangkok, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Beijing, Mumbai, Dubai
• South African Airways: Mumbai, Hong Kong

Nearly all North African countries along with Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, & Somaliland have extensive connections with the Middle East. And similarly, countries with large Muslim populations are likely to have a connection to Jedda/Mecca either year-round or seasonal (e.g. during hajj). North African destinations aside, connections with the Middle East include:

• Emirates flies from Dubai to: Abidjan, Accra, Addis Ababa, Cape Town, Dar Es Salaam, Durban, Entebbe, Johannsburg, Khartoum, Lagos, Luanda, Mauritius, Nairobi, & Mahe.
• Qatar Airways flies from Doha to: Cape Town, Johannesburg, Nairobi, Dar Es Salaam, Mahe, & Lagos.
• Turkish Airlines flies from Istanbul to: Dakar, Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Cape Town, & Johannesburg.

Other flights from East and South Asia include the following: Cathay Pacific flights to Hong Kong. Furthermore, due to increased Chinese investment many cities have service from Beijing, cities with direct flights to Beijing-Capital include Luanda, Algiers, Lagos, Khartoum, Addis Ababa, & Harare. Malaysian Airlines serves Johannesburg from Kuala Lumpor. Korean Air serves Cairo from Seoul. Air Austral flies to Bangkok seasonally from Reunion. Air Seychelles flies to Singapore and Male from Mahe. Air Madagascar flies from Antananarivo to Bangkok & Guangzhou.Air Mauritius flies from Mauritius to Bangalore, Chennai, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, & Singapore.

The best option to fly from East or South Asia is likely on Emirates or Qatar, both of which have a decent selection of destinations in Asia & Africa, or via Europe on airlines such as British Airways, Air France, or Lufthansa which all offer an extensive number of destinations across Africa.

From Australia

There are only a handful of connections to Australia, primarily to Johannesburg. Flights from Johannesburg include: Perth (South African Airways), Melbourne (V Australia, begins March 2010), & Sydney (Qantas).

There are also flights to the Indian Ocean islands of Reunion & Mauritius, including: Air Austral (Saint Denis-Sydney), Air Mauritius (Mauritius-Perth, Mauritius-Melbourne, and Mauritius-Sydney [beginning 5 July 2010]).

By road/ferry

The only land connection to another continent is the 163km-wide Isthmus of Suez, which is found in Egypt (although the Sinai peninsula is sometimes considered a part of Africa for geopolitical reasons). Thus the only way to drive into Africa is to drive through Egypt. Most people driving from the Middle East to Africa travel through Jordan and take a short car ferry to Egypt to avoid transiting Israel, since Egypt's two African neighbors (Sudan & Libya) deny entry for persons with Israeli stamps or Egyptian/Jordanian stamps indicating travel to Israel.

Despite there being just one, narrow land crossing into the continent, there are other ways to bring vehicles into Africa by short car ferries. The short crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco is crossed by several ferries daily and relatively inexpensive. Other car ferries include:

• Italy-Tunisia ferries are operated by a couple of different companies: [1]. However, you must pass through Algeria to Mauritania/Niger -or- Libya to Egypt, both very expensive and difficult to enter with a car.

• Spain/France to Algeria car ferries are run by Algerie Ferries. There website is in French only [2].

• Yemen-Djibouti ferries may be running weekly or more frequently (information about this crossing is little and conflicting) to avoid Egypt (because of the extremely high import taxes) or Sudan (as the Ethiopian-Sudan border is prone to banditry). It is also possible to cross by dhow in motorcycles or small/light vehicles.

• Port Said, Sudan to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia car ferries are run daily and are a great way to avoid the very high tariffs to enter Egypt, although visas for SA are difficult to obtain.

Several overland trucks make journeys which cross between Europe or the Middle East and Africa, these companies are listed below under "Get around/Overland trucks".

By ship

Many Mediterranean cruises stop in North African countries such Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, the Canary Islands, & Cape Verde. Some ocean liners will stop in the Canary or Cape Verde Islands on trans-Atlantic crossings or in South Africa, Madagascar, Zanzibar, the Seychelles, or Mauritius on round-the-world trips.

Elsewhere is Africa, cruises are limited to luxury or 'boutique' cruise lines often aboard small vessels and quite expensive or "freighter cruises" which do not offer much to "passengers" but may spend a few days in a handful of ports. Grimaldi Freighter Cruises, [3], has weekly departures to West Africa making the round-trip from Amsterdam in 38 days.

The Seychelles, Reunion, & Mauritius are popular destinations for yachts and private vessels, but piracy around the Horn of Africa has kept a lot of the European vessels away.

For a truly unique experience, take the RMS St Helena [4] from the UK to Cape Town via St Helena-one of the world's most remote islands!

Get around

By plane

There are a number of reliable airlines that ply the African Continent. Chief among them are certainly:

• South African Airways (SAA) (Johannesburg, South Africa), [5], has daily flights to most major Southern, Eastern, & Central African political and economic hubs. If you're flying from the Northern Hemisphere to somewhere north of South Africa, don't forget to check how much backtracking you'll have to do, and if it's worth it. The flight from Washington does stop in Senegal, but if you get off there, SAA has no connections to anywhere else.
• Ethiopian Airlines (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), [6] carries more passengers than any other African airline and offers a direct service from many European cities & Washington to its hub Addis Ababa. From there it has a very good coverage to many cities in Africa. The flight from/to Washington refuels in Rome. Its mileage can be used on Lufthansa services & Lufthansa miles can also be used on Ethiopian.
• Kenya Airways (Nairobi, Kenya), [7], partly owned by Royal Dutch KLM, offers good service and frequent flights to all East African countries and many other major African destinations.

There are also many airlines which are noteworthy in particular regions, such as TAAG Angola Airlines (South/Central Africa), Arik Air(Nigeria), Afriqiyah Airways (Central/West Africa, but their hub is in Tripoli), Royal Air Maroc (West/Central/North Africa, but hub is in Morocco), Air Mali (West Africa), Air Burkina (West Africa), Air Austral (Indian Ocean), Air Mauritius (Indian Ocean), Tunis Air (North Africa), and more. Many other African carriers offer flights to more remote locations.

Consider airline safety when flying in Africa. Although SAA, Ethiopian Airlines, & Kenya Airways all meet EU & FAA safety standards, the same isn't true for all airlines, especially smaller domestic carriers in countries where political stability may be lacking, tenuous or only recently reintroduced. Check with the EU Commision on Air Safety [8] for a list of airlines that do not meet their safety standards.

By car

 

Bloukrans Bridge along South Africa's Garden Route.

If you want to drive your own car around Africa see also Carnet de Passage

For sightseeing trips, it may be less expensive to hire a taxi than to rent a car, but be sure to negotiate taxi fares beforehand. Travel on rural roads can be slow and difficult in the dry season and disrupted by floods in the rainy season. If you plan on traveling in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa, avoid the rainy months of May through October above the equator and the rainy months of November through April below the equator. Some roads may be flooded or washed out during these months.

Travel by car outside large towns can be dangerous. Major roads are generally well maintained but there are few divided highways in Africa. In addition, rural auto accidents are fairly common because of high speed limits and the presence of wildlife in these areas. Night driving, especially in rural areas, is not recommended, and visitors are encouraged to hire reputable tour operators for safaris or other game viewing expeditions.

By bus

Bus service is extensive in Africa and in almost all countries it is the main means of transportation for locals and tourists alike. Styles of busses and minibuses vary across the continent, refer to country pages for more info.

By thumb

Many locals hitchhike in countries throughout Africa, often paying a small fee to the driver. It is best to check the political and social climate of each region before traveling.

In the whole of Africa it is possible to flag down cars and pay them a required fee and get a lift in return. That is just the way public transport works in this part of the world - he who has a means of transportation, that is a car or minibus, is automatically expected to give lifts to others and of course charge them a small amount of money for the favor. The idea of it has nothing to do with the Western idea of hitchhiking.

Overland trucks

Some people with limited amounts of time or who would prefer not to make their own arrangements opt for the "overlander" experience. Many operators run tours in large trucks that are comfortable and equipped with facilities for around 8-30 persons. They're generally run on a pretty tight schedule and cover a lot of distance, such as "Nairobi to Johannesburg in six weeks". These tours are run throughout the whole continent but East and Southern Africa are by far the most popular destinations. Accommodation is mostly camping with tents provided. Most meals are arranged and many are prepared by those on the trip (cooking duties rotated throughout the trip), and free time (like everything else) is scheduled. However, there is plenty of time to participate in the adventure activities that certain areas of Africa are famous for such as Victoria Falls, Swakopmund, Zanzibar, and Serengeti National Park. Some people really enjoy these tours, especially when they do not have enough time to organize all travel arrangements themselves. Others loathe the very thought of traveling in a group and think that they keep you way out of touch with the "real" Africa. Whatever the case, they're a very different way to travel through Africa. The people that go on these tours tend to be young at heart and slightly adventurous; these tours are not luxury trips.

By train

Passenger railroads in Africa are sparse and the majority are short and within one country. South Africa and Egypt are the two countries with significant passenger railroad services. There is also a handful of interconnected railroads running from Botswana through Zimbabwe & Zambia to Tanzania (which will connect to Rwanda by 2012). Morocco has two modern, fast train lines connecting most major cities. In Kenya, there is a Mombasa-Nairobi-Kisumu line which is popular for wildlife spotting. Namibia has a line running from Swakopmund to Windhoek and south to near the South African border.

There are also a handful of very old, slow trains in Africa: Wadi Halfa-Khartoum, Sudan (with a short ferry on Lake Aswan, you can continue north to Cairo); Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso-Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire; Dakar, Senegal-Bamako, Mali (stopped running summer 2009); a couple trains in the DRC; and short lines in Cameroon & Gabon. The Chinese are currently building railroad lines in Angola which should open in the next few years.

For a unique experience, you can ride the longest train in the world in Mauritania in either the caboose or atop open iron ore carriages.

By boat

Where there is water, there is usually boat services to some extent. In the DRC boats are the primary means of transportation due to the extensive network of rivers and lack/quality of roads. Some noteworthy river travels in Africa are:

Along the Niger River small, wooden pirogues varying in design from a 2 person canoe to wide, ~10 person boats with a canopy and toilet. Travelling by pirogue is slow, but the Sahelian scenery and people you meet on the boat and during stops make this a memorable African experience. Due to cataracts, pirogues on the Niger only operate in Mali & Niger

Along the Congo River large, old and often overcrowded ferries connect cities along the river in the Congo, DRC, & Central African Republic. Small boats from villages come out and moor themselves to these ferries to sell food and merchandise and the boat is a bustling marketplace of hundreds of people much of the time. Conditions aboard these ferries are poor and bearable only by the most seasoned of travellers. Talk to the captain to see if you can use one of the handful of rooms to sleep.

Source:Wikitravel. Contributors, Claus Hansen. Based on work by Esther Brown, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Ryan Holliday, Adam allen and Peter Fitzgerald, Wikitravel user(s) ChubbyWimbus, Inas, Burmesedays and AHeneen, Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel and others.