The Moto Checker |
A group of motorcyclists who go on a 7 day nationwide tour around the beautiful country called Ghana on adventure motorcycles.
We highlight Road Safety Advocacy, Charity & Interesting Tourist Sites.
We also have plans of touring neighboring countries also in 7 days.
AIS-1 2021 AIS-2 2022 AIS-3 2023 AIS-4 2024 AIS-5 2025 upcoming, Accra to Dakar
Route part 1: video 1 map 1
Route part 2: video 2 map 2
Total AIS-4 (2024) route was 52hrs (7.5 google hrs/day) 2542km (363km/day) avg speed 49 kph
Waypoints extracted from those two Instagram video clips
7pm Hi, I'm Chris Uhlik. My friend Leonid Adotey Brown Maclean from Ghana told me about AIS. I reached out to you via my wife's Instagram account. I look forward to joining your AIS 2025 trip. Where can I find information like the dates, approximate route, etc? 11:30pm Hi Chris. Good to hear.
Jan 10 | Accra, Ghana → Kintampo, Ghana | 8h20m | 425 km |
Jan 11 | Kintampo, Ghana →Hamile, Ghana | 8h00m | 407 km |
Jan 12 | Hamile, Ghana →Koudougou, Burkina Faso | 6h34m | 354 km |
Jan 13 | Koudougou, Burkina Faso → Segou, Mali | 7h47m | 530 km |
Jan 14 | Segou, Mali → Toukoto, Mali | 8h10m | 493 km |
Jan 15 | Toukoto, Mali → Tambacounda, Senegal | 9h14m | 620 km |
Jan 16 | Tambacounda, Senegal → Dakar, Senegal | 7h00m | 488 km |
Jan 17 | Dakar, Senegal → Tambacounda, Senegal | 7h00m | 505 km |
Jan 18 | Tambacounda, Senegal → Kayes, Mali | 4h20m | 281 km (short) |
Jan 19 | Kayes, Mali → Bamako, Mali | 10h0m | 544 km (long) |
Jan 20 | Bamako, Mali → Tingrela, Côte d'Ivoire | 5h47m | 342 km |
Jan 21 | Tingrela, Côte d'Ivoire → Bouake, Côte d'Ivoire | 6h50m | 436 km |
Jan 22 | Bouake, Côte d'Ivoire → Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire | 4h20m | 347 km (short) |
Jan 23 | Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire → Accra, Ghana | 10h10m | 524 km (long) |
Tue Jan 7 | → TBD Accra, Ghana | |||
Wed Jan 8 | → TBD Accra, Ghana | |||
Thu Jan 9 | → TBD Accra, Ghana | |||
Fri Jan 10 | → TBD | |||
Sat Jan 11 | → TBD | |||
Sun Jan 12 | → TBD , Burkina Faso | |||
Mon Jan 13 | Onomo Hotel, Bamako, Mali | |||
Tue Jan 14 | Hotel Kamankloe Palace, Kayes, Mali | 10h34m | 551 km | map |
Wed Jan 15 | → TBD , Senegal | |||
Thu Jan 16 | → TBD Dakar, Senegal | |||
Fri Jan 17 | → TBD , Senegal | |||
Sat Jan 18 | → TBD Kayes, Mali | |||
Sun Jan 19 | Hotel La Maison Blanche, Kéniéba, Mali | route | 8h58m | 432 km |
Mon Jan 20 | Onomo Hotel, Bamako, Mali | |||
Tue Jan 21 | → TBD , Côte d'Ivoire | |||
Wed Jan 22 | → TBD , Côte d'Ivoire | |||
Thu Jan 23 | → TBD Accra, Ghana | |||
Fri Jan 24 | → TBD Accra, Ghana | |||
Sat Jan 25 | → TBD Accra, Ghana | |||
Sun Jan 26 | → TBD Accra, Ghana |
11:32 PM Wow, that looks amazing. I'd like to learn a bit more about your group. Are you a commercial touring company, group of friends riding together, charitable organization, ...? Do you have dates for the ride? I'll also need to arrange a bike. Ideally I could rent from someone or some company you recommend. But I could also buy a bike if I could find a way to keep it in Ghana for future visits. 11:35 PM we began a phone call
Oct 6, 2024 | First phone call with Daniel Ashrifie late at night where I got the information above |
Oct 8, 2024 | Phone call with Daniel Ashrifie and Leo where Leo checked out Daniel for me |
Oct 8--12, 2024 | I do intensive Internet research about Ghana, flight options, travel visas, and vaccination requirements |
Oct 12, 2024 | I gave tentative plans to Daniel about flight plans |
Oct 13, 2024 | After some intensive research into visa requirements for Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire,
I need a Yellow Fever vaccination card to even apply for these visas. I start to worry about if I have enough time to do all the back and forth to embassies in Washington DC before the trip begins. |
Oct 14, 2024 | I call Kaiser and schedule a travel consult to get a yellow fever vaccination, earliest available appointment is Oct 28.
Yikes, the delay is too long! I call Passport Health and find I can get a yellow fever jab immediately for... $99 + $424 I look for a cheaper vaccine and find Walgreens doesn't do it, but Costco does, for about $200 |
Oct 15, 2024 | I start following Daniel's WhatsApp Updates and learn a bit about the politics of Ghana's upcoming presidential election |
Oct 15, 2024 | I purchase a travel health consult from SafeGard through Costco |
Oct 16, 2024 | I contact G3Visas.com about them doing the leg work of walking my passport to each embassy.
Their fee is roughly $230 additional per country. This is getting expensive! I start seriously gathering all required documents. |
Oct 17, 2024 | I get the travel consult report back from SafeGard, crap I need a lot of shots! |
Oct 17, 2024 | MotoChecker found a Tènèrè 700 for me
Now I know about visas, vaccinations, and my bike... time to commit! I get bank info from Daniel Ashrifie. |
Oct 17, 2024 | I buy my airplane tickets |
Oct 18, 2024 | I call Costco, talk with the travel pharmacist and schedule my shots for 12:15pm, by 2pm, I have 6 jabs. |
Oct 18, 2024 | I attempt to send Daniel payment for the motorcycle, but have problems sending Ghanaian Cedi. I first think
it's a 49,000 Cedi limit, but later discover that trading in both Cedi and XOF are suspended due to rule changes and volatility. |
Oct 19, 2024 | I work with Leo all day while feeling like crap. |
Oct 20, 2024 | Feeling much better. I spend all day working on visa applications. |
Oct 21, 2024 | Call Côte d'Ivoire embassy about visa application problems, work with tech support, get application paid for, FedEx passport to DC. |
Oct 21, 2024 | Pay for Burkina Faso eVisa online. |
Oct 21, 2024 | I do lots of research about monetary transfers to West Africa, learn about dollarization of the Ghana economy.
Decide to try testing a USD $500 transfer to Daniel |
Oct 22, 2024 | $500 test transfer succeeds.
Another phone call with Daniel. Discussed money in Ghana issues. I send the rest ($7500) which takes only about an hour. Bike is now paid for. |
Oct 22, 2024 | Work all day with Leo, find that Daniel lives close (~30min) to Leo's sister Anastasia in Accra.
Learn about Mobile Money restrictions. |
Oct 24, 2024 | passport with Côte d'Ivoire visa received |
Oct 26, 2024 | Completed Ghana application, sending by FedEx, expect 7 business days, Back near Nov 6? |
Oct 26, 2024 | Received AIS invitation letter from Ethel K requesting 10,000 Cedi $620.90 |
Oct 27, 2024 | Paid ¢10,000 to Daniel in the form of USD $617.61 |
Oct 28, 2024 | Health consult discussion with Kaiser travel nurse |
Oct 29, 2024 | Notification of receipt of Ghana visa application, they say it will be mailed back on Nov 5. |
Oct 29, 2024 | Got my Hepititus AHepititus B, Covid, and Flu vaccines from Kaiser |
Oct 30, 2024 | Notification of approval of Ghana visa application |
Oct 30, 2024 | Reactivated Instagram account to help promote AIS |
Nov 6, 2024 | Got my passport back from the Ghana Embassy with a 5yr multiple-entry visa |
Nov 8, 2024 | Mailed my passport and documents to the Embassy of Mali |
Nov 12, 2024 | Passport received by the Embassy of Mali |
Nov 14, 2024 | Communication from the Embassy of Mali, they need my invitation letter and hotel reservation |
Nov 15, 2024 | Second attempt to reserve a hotel in Mali |
The ECOWAS Free Movement of Persons protocol is theoretically implemented, but in practice, is not reliable yet. This should eventually allow visa-free movement between member countries for 90 days, for holders of an ECOWAS Passport (available only to member states' citizens).
Senegal | no visa needed | |||
Burkina Faso | 4--10 days | $80 | $120 | eVisa |
Ghana | 15 days | $200 | $150 | |
Ghana | 10 days | $200 | $230 | |
Ghana | 5 days | $265 | $320 | |
Mali | 10 days | $160 | $150 | |
Mali | 5 days | $160 | $230 | |
Mali | 1 days | $160 | $320 | |
Côte d'Ivoire | 4--10 days | $80 | $120 | eVisa |
"Visa Not Required A visa is not required for this destination for a stay of up to 90 days in any six month period. Please keep in mind that while a visa is not required, you must:
Embassy Côte d'Ivoire Attn: Visa Application Processing 2424 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20008 202-797-0300 ambacisc@usa.com
Dollarization is when the country begins to recognize USD as
legal tender alongside or in place of its domestic currency. This
occurs when the local currency has become unstable and begun to lose
its usefulness as a medium of exchange for market transactions. The
inflation in 2022 started / was-caused-by the trend towards USD in
Ghana.
Dollarization of Ghana proposals are being
floated to make USD legal tender in Ghana. The dollar is already de
facto the tender for buying motorcycles, real-estate, school
tuition, and other major purchases. It seems that hotels also set
their prices in dollars.
¢1 $0.06 ¢5 $0.32 ¢10 $0.63 ¢20 $1.26 ¢50 $6.30 |
The former French Colonies use a unified West African CFA (African Financial Community) franc tied to the Euro, about 600 CFA : $1. Also abbreviated XOF and F.CFA. This includes Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, and Côte d'Ivoire. They hope to merge the CFA into a new pan-African, common currency called the eco analagous to the euro, but that hasn't happened yet.
The West African Economic and Monetary Union WAEMU also known as UEMOA contains 8 countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo.
The West African Monetary Zone WAMZ is a group of 6 countries: Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone.
My Wise card should work in major cities. ATMs are rare outside of major cities like Dakar.
Notes are in denominations of 1000 and 5000 ($1.66 and $8.33).
Coins are in denominations of CFA F 500 and CFA F 200 ($0.83 and $0.33).
Here's the result: Safe Guard Health Report (pdf) 60 pages
The following were not recommended
Côte d’Ivoire still faces threats from violent extremist groups in the region. These groups are active across the borders of Burkina Faso and Mali. Côte d’Ivoire is not a base for these groups. Violent extremist groups in the region have stated they will target foreigners and/or countries that participate in counterterrorism efforts. For more information, see our Terrorism page.
Crime is common. Property crime includes burglaries and car theft. Violent crime includes carjacking, armed robberies of homes and streets. Illegal firearms are readily available throughout the country. Banditry and other violent crimes continue. They happen day and night in the countryside. During holidays (including major Muslim and Christian holidays), robberies and opportunistic crimes increase. These crimes include burglaries of cars and homes. Criminals seldom harm victims of street crime if they comply with demands. Assailants have used violence if victims refuse to hand over valuables.
Law enforcement is somewhat effective at deterring crime but lacks adequate resources. Security services often lack radios, guns, and cars. This severely limits their ability to respond. Many gendarmes and police stations outside of Abidjan have one vehicle for the whole precinct. They often get distress calls from the public via cell phone because they lack a centralized dispatch system. Responses to incidents of crime are often slow and generally limited to writing a report. The legal system lacks resources and tools to handle its current cases, and cannot jail criminals according to global standards.
U.S. citizens should be careful when visiting the Abobo, Adjame, Angre, Koumassi, Marcory, and Yopougon districts in Abidjan. They should also be careful in popular night areas, including Plateau, Treichville, and Zone 4.
Always carry identification to minimize the risk of harassment at police checkpoints.
Uniformed police, military, and gendarmes routinely stop vehicles. They do so for traffic violations and security checks. If you find yourself at such a stop, politely present your identification. Police and security officials rarely speak English. Incidents of police or security force harassment or detention of foreigners are rare but do occur. If an officer asks you to pay a bribe, politely refuse and present a photocopy of your U.S. passport, visa, and entry stamp.
There are weapons are left over from the civil war. They are a
security threat. Criminals, rogue soldiers, and groups with common
political views can exploit them. They pose an ongoing risk to Côte
d’Ivoire’s fragile democracy.
Guinea
Reconsider travel to Guinea due to fuel shortages impacting
local infrastructure, civil unrest, and health and exercise
increased caution in Guinea due to crime.
Avoid demonstrations and crowds.
Mon Jan 06 7:00am PDX-5h24m->JFK 3:24pm Delta 451 (47m layover) 4:20pm JFK-9h40m->ACC 7:00am+1 Delta 156 Tue Jan 07 arrive 7am, check into hotel, rest Wed Jan 08 explore Accra, warmup ride with Daniel Ashrifie Thu Jan 09 explore Accra Fri Jan 10 Day 1 ride motorcycles 425 km Accra, Ghana → Kintampo, Ghana Sat Jan 11 Day 2 ride motorcycles 407 km Kintampo, Ghana →Hamile, Ghana Sun Jan 12 Day 3 ride motorcycles 354 km Hamile, Ghana →Koudougou, Burkina Faso Mon Jan 13 Day 4 ride motorcycles 530 km Koudougou, Burkina Faso → Segou, Mali Tue Jan 14 Day 5 ride motorcycles 493 km Segou, Mali → Toukoto, Mali Wed Jan 15 Day 6 ride motorcycles 620 km Toukoto, Mali → Tambacounda, Senegal Thu Jan 16 Day 7 ride motorcycles 488 km Tambacounda, Senegal → Dakar, Senegal Fri Jan 17 Day 8 ride motorcycles 505 km Dakar, Senegal → Tambacounda, Senegal Sat Jan 18 Day 9 ride motorcycles 281 km Tambacounda, Senegal → Kayes, Mali Sun Jan 19 Day 10 ride motorcycles 544 km Kayes, Mali → Bamako, Mali Mon Jan 20 Day 11 ride motorcycles 342 km Bamako, Mali → Tingrela, Côte d'Ivoire Tue Jan 21 Day 12 ride motorcycles 436 km Tingrela, Côte d'Ivoire → Bouake, Côte d'Ivoire Wed Jan 22 Day 13 ride motorcycles 347 km Bouake, Côte d'Ivoire → Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire Thu Jan 23 Day 14 ride motorcycles 524 km Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire → Accra, Ghana Fri Jan 24 contingency day / explore Ghana / shopping Sat Jan 25 contingency day / explore Ghana / shopping Sun Jan 26 contingency day / explore Ghana / shopping Mon Jan 27 10:15pm ACC-6h35m->AMS 5:50am KLM 590 (4h35m layover in Amsterdam) 10:25am AMS-10h0m->PDX 11:25am KLM 615
Notably among ECOWAS's protocols and plans are the ECOWAS Free Movement of Persons, Residences and Establishment Protocol and the Ecotour Action Plan 2019–2029. The Free Movement of Persons Protocol permits citizens the right to enter and reside in any member state's territory,[10] and the Ecotour Action Plan aims to develop and integrate the tourist industry of each member state.
Unfortunately, these components are not yet implemented.
Algeria,Cameroon,Andorra,Monaco,Chad, Gambia,Morocco, Mauritania,and Tunisia
No. 24 Fourth Circular Road, Cantonments, Accra, Ghana Telephone: +233-(0)30-274-1000 Emergency After-Hours Telephone: +233-(0)30-274-1000 Email: ACSaccra@state.govhttps://gh.usembassy.gov/
Date | Cost | Description | |
2024/10/15 | $39.95 | Travel Consultation Costco / SafeGard Travel Medicine | |
2024/10/17 | $1,538.61 | Flight Delta and KLM | |
2024/10/18 | $810.10 | Six Vaccinations, malaria and antibiotic pills | |
2024/10/18 | $24.91 | Passport photos for visas | |
2024/10/20 | $150.00 | Ivory Coast visa application fee | |
2024/10/21 | $111.73 | Ivory Coast visa application fee, part 2 | |
2024/10/21 | $172.73 | Burkina Faso visa application fee | |
2024/10/21 | $68.30 | FedEx to Ivory Coast Embassy | |
2024/10/22 | $518.95 | Test transfer $500 to Daniel Ashifie + transfer fee | |
2024/10/22 | $7,518.95 | Motorcycle + $18.95 transfer fee | |
2024/10/25 | $30.75 | Ghana FedEx return charge | |
2024/10/25 | $207.00 | Ghana Visa application fee | |
2024/10/26 | $47.55 | FedEx to Ghana Embassy (Sat to Monday by end of day) | |
2024/10/26 | $636.64 | Future tour fee deposit 10,000 cedi to AIS $617.61 plus $18.95 transfer fee | |
2024/10/29 | $7.72 | Doxycycline | |
2024/10/30 | $427.04 | Tenere rack and luggage + water treatments | |
2024/11/06 | $190.00 | Mali visa application fee ($185 + $5 money order) | |
Total | $11,710.93 | Total expenses incurred so far |