This page contains any useful information relating to each country

Morocco

Money

• Exchange rate is 16.5 Dirham to £1.
• ATM's are available in all sizable towns and we found them to be working all the time. The last place you can draw money is Dakhla.
• Euro's cash also often accepted as payment.

Food

• Delicious street food at markets.
• Fresh food readily available in most places and not too expensive.
• Marjane supermarkets on the outskirts of major cities where you can stock up on European foods and alcohol.

Costs

• We spent an average of £25 per day
• Camping costs 50 - 60 Dirham a night, but we did a lot of bush camping.
• Diesel costs 7.5 dh in Morocco and 4.8 dh in Western Sahara.

Other Info

• Mobile phone coverage everywhere except in the extreme east of the country. UK O2 coverage.
• Internet access is available in all but the smallest towns an the connection is usually of a reasonable standard.

Mauritania

Money

• Exchange rate is 460 Ouguiya (UM) to £1.
• There are no international ATM's and cash is king.
• Anybody and everybody on the street seems to be able to change Euro's cash - we never used a bank.

Food

• No alcohol is available except at expensive hotels.
• The usual staples are available most places.
• Most things are available in Nouakchott but choice is limited in the rest of the counry.

Costs

• We spent an average of £32 per day.
• Camping cost UM 1500 - UM 2000 per person.
• Diesel cost between 217UM and 233UM per l.

Other Info

• Mobile phone coverage in the main towns and along the main roads. UK O2 coverage.
• Internet access available in Nouadibhou (didn't use), Nouakchott (excellent) and Atar (awful). Cost 200 UM an hour

Mali

Money

• Exchange rate 957 CFA to £1.
• There are at least 2 international ATM's in Bamako where you can draw a maximum of CFA 200 000 per day. We did not see any ATM's anywhere else in Mali.
• We tried to get a cash advance on our visa card but were unsuccessful.

Food

• More fresh fruit and veg available than in Mali although still limited.
• Bottled water is expensive and all tap water seems to be quite dirty so cloggs water filters quickly.

Costs

• We spent an average of £50 per day, this did include an expensive river trip.
• Camping cost CFA 3000 per person.
• Diesel cost CFA 535 perl.

Other Info

• Mobile phone coverage along the main routes and in main towns. No UK O2 coverage
• Internet access in Bamako with good connections, in the countryside slower connections but they are there. Cost CFA 1000 an hour.

Burkina Faso

Money

• Exchange rate 957 CFA to £1.
• We did not try to draw any money on our cash cards here.

Food

• Lots of fresh fruit and veg available.
• Marina market in Ouagadougou has a good choice of western goodies.

Costs

• We spent an average of £28 per day.
• Camping costs CFA 3000 per person.
• Diesel costs CFA 556 per l.

Other Info

• Mobile phone coverage good. UK O2 coverage.
• Only used the internet in Ouagadougou. Good connection. CFA 300 an hour.

Ghana

Money

• Exchange rate is 17 226 cedis to £1.
• ATM's are in all large towns, although sometimes they don't work. You can withdraw 800 000 cedis per transaction but the number of transactions per day is not restricted.

Food

• Fresh fruit available everywhere. Supplies of other goods can be limited.
• Koala supermarket in Osu, Accra has all your western goodies.
• Water is really cheap to buy in the little 500ml plastic sachets.

Costs

• We spent an average of £ per day.
• Camping costs 30 000 cedis per person.
• A beer costs 10 000 cedis in a spot bar, 12000 - 15000 cedis at campsites and upmarket bars.
• Diesel costs 7751 cedis per l.

Other Info

• Mobile phone coverage is good except in remote areas. UK O2 coverage. Local sim cards are cheap (20 000 cedis, including 15 000 call time) although each network seems to have dead spots around the country. We met a local guy who had 4 phones, 1 for each network, so he'd always have coverage.
• Internet access is painfully slow outside Accra, good in Accra. Cost 10 000 cedis an hour.

Togo

We spent so little time in Togo that I don't have much information. Curency is the West African Franc and the one place we camped cost 1000 CFA per person.

Benin

Money

• Exchange rate 957 CFA to £1.
• We did not need to use ATM's as we had currency left over from Burkina Faso

Food

• Food is relatively cheap and easy to come by.
• Water in sachets is the cheapest to buy.

Costs

• We spent an average of £53 per day. Slightly over budget as we stocked up on diesel before entering Nigeria.
• Camping cost 2000 - 3000 CFA per person.
• Diesel costs 390 CFA/l.

Other Info

• Mobile phone coverage along all the main routes.
• Internet access is not as ubiquitous as in other countries we've been to and connection is slow and keeps going down. Cost is about 400 CFA an hour.
• We bought Larium at £4 a tablet here - Ghana was cheaper.

Nigeria

Money

• Exchange rate is 250 Niara per £
• There are Mastercard and Visa ATM's in Abuja and Calabar (no visa).

Food

• Nigeria is more expensive than previous countries.
• The local markets have good quality veg. and there is a better selection of goods than before.

Costs

• We spent an average of £35 per day.
• Camping in an hotel car park cost us 500 Niara for the car.
• A beer cost 500 Niara in the Sheraton and 125 Niara from a shebeen around the corner.
• Diesel cost 120 Niara per l but is not readily available.

Other Info

• Mobile phone coverage.
• Internet access is available and the cost is 200 Niara an hour.

Cameroon

Money

• The exchange rate is 957 Central African Franc (CFA) per £.
• Cameroon has visa ATM's in Limbe and Yaounde.
• We changed Euros in Ekok (bad rate) and Bamenda.

Food

• Loads of fresh veg available and well stocked supermarkets.
• Eating out is expensive in Limbe - not tooo bad in more rural ares.

Costs

• We spent an average of £41 per day.
• Camping cost about 1000 CFA per person.
• A beer costs 500 - 1000 CFA
• Diesel cost 535 CFA per l in the south, a bit more expensive in Bamenda.

Other Info

• Internet access was generally fast and cost approx. 300 CFA an hour.
• Mobile phone coverage in most places.

Gabon

Money

• The exchange rate is 957 Central African Franc (CFA) per £.
• Libreville had ATM's but we didn't use them so don't know the score.

Food

• Good supermarkets in Libreville and good quality veg in markets in Lambrene. Not much in out of the way places and southern Gabon.

Costs

• We spent an average of £21 per day.
• Camping cost about CFA 2500 per person.
• A beer costs 600 - 1000 CFA (depending on where you buy it)
• Diesel cost 470 CFA per l.

Other Info

• Internet access is good in Libreville, there was no connection when we were in Lambrene.
• Mobile phone coverage in most places.

Congo

Money

• The exchange rate is 957 Central African Franc (CFA) per £.
• Visa ATM in Pointe Noire.

Food

• Good supply in Pointe Noire, not much available at the roadside.

Costs

• We spent an average of £ 14.50 per day.
• Camping cost about 1 500 CFA per person. (Only at Pointe Noire)
• A beer costs 1500 CFA
• Diesel cost 345 CFA per l.

Other Info

• Internet access in Pointe Noire. We didn't try anywhere else.
• Mobile phone coverage in most places. We could only send and recieve texts on our international sims.

DRC

Money

• The exchange rate is 900 Congolese Franc per £.
• No ATM's in Matadi.

Food

• Limited in outlying areas.
• Basic supplies in Matadi.

Costs

• We spent an average of £ 34 per day.
• Camping cost about US$ 5 per person.
• A beer costs 600 Franc
• Diesel cost 545 Congolese Franc per l.

Other Info

• Internet access - slow in Matadi.
• Mobile phone coverage on main routes.

Angola

Money

• The exchange rate is 140 Kwanza per £.
• ATM's in Luanda and in major towns to the south.
• Exchange dollars on the street, euros at the banks only.

Food

• Expensive and not much about in the rural areas.
• Good supermarket in Luanda.

Costs

• We spent an average of £14 per day.
• Diesel cost 29 Kw per l,more expensive in the north.

Other Info

• Internet access - we didn't use internet.
• Mobile phone coverage is very sparse, we only had it in Luanda and near Lubango.

Namibia

Money

• The exchange rate is N$14 per £.
• ATM's (visa and mastercard) in most places.
• Exchange money at banks.

Food

• Good supermarkets in most towns.

Costs

• We spent an average of £ 57 per day - but we were splashig out.
• Camping cost about 50-75 N$ per person.
• A beer costs $9 in the supermarket, up to $15 in a pub.
• Diesel cost N$6.56 per l.

Other Info

• Internet access in most sizable towns. Namib telecom is rolling out a wifi system Wi-Space, which is very handy.
• Mobile phone coverage in most places. Not O2 or our global roaming - had to buy a local sim card and calls are more expensive than in West Africa.

Zambia

Money

• The exchange rate is Kw 7700 per £.
• ATM's (visa) in Lusaka and Kasama.

Food

• Good supermarkets in Lusaka.
• Back to good veg at the roadside on the main North road.

Costs

• We spent an average of £ per day.
• Camping cost about per person.
• A beer costs Kw 5000.
• Diesel cost 5000 - 6000 Kw per l.

Other Info

• Internet access in Lusaka.
• Mobile phone coverage in most places. Not O2.

Tanzania

Money

• The exchange rate is TSh 2500 per £.
• ATM's (visa) in most large towns.

Food

• Usual African shopping, didn't find any supermarkets in any of the towns we were in..

Costs

• We spent an average of £ 39 per day.
• Camping cost about Sh5000 per person.
• A beer costs 1 200 TSh.
• Diesel cost TSh 1450 per l.

Other Info

• We didn't use the internet but saw cafes in a few places.
• Mobile phone coverage in most places. Not O2.

Kenya

Money

• The exchange rate is KSh 130 per £.
• ATM's (visa) in large towns.

Food

• Nakumatt is a supermarket chain in Nairobi and some othr towns.
• Good veg at the roadside on the road to Uganda.

Costs

• We spent an average of £ 35 per day (no National Parks).
• Camping cost KSh 200 - 400 per person.
• A beer costs KSh 120 in a bar.
• Diesel cost KSh 67 per l.

Other Info

• Internet access in Nairobi.
• Mobile phone coverage in most places. Not O2.

Uganda

Money

• The exchange rate is USh 3500 per £.
• ATM's (visa) in most large towns.

Food

• Good supermarkets in Lusaka.
• Back to good veg at the roadside on the main North road.

Costs

• We spent an average of £ 49 per day (incl. gorilla tracking).
• Camping cost USh 5000 - USh10000 per person.
• A beer costs USh 2000 in campsite bars.
• Diesel cost 1800 - 2000 USh per l.

Other Info

• Internet access in most towns.
• Mobile phone coverage in most places. Not O2.

Rwanda and Burundi

Money

• The exchange rate is RFr 1000 per £ and BFr 2000.
• No international ATM's.

Food

• As there was no camping we ate out in both countries for less than £5.
• Dimiri supermarket in Bujumbura has Western foods but is quite expensive. There was good quality veg at the roadside in Burundi.

Costs

• We spent an average of £ 29 per day.
• Accommodation cost RFr 7000 and BFr 20 000 per room.
• A beer costs Rfr 1000 in bars.
• Diesel cost per l.

Other Info

• Internet access .
• Mobile phone coverage in most places.

Malawi

Money

• The exchange rate is 250 Kwacha per £.
• ATM's in most major towns.

Food

• Eating at campsites is relatively cheap.
• Good fresh fish available at the lake.

Costs

• We spent an average of £ per day.
• Accommodation cost Kw 400 pp.
• A beer costs Kw 120 in bars.
• Diesel cost per l.

Other Info

• Internet access - wifi in Cape McClear.
• Mobile phone coverage in most places.