Algerian dinar exchange rates - basically 100 dinars to a euro. Price of fuel Costs Useful languages Borders Escorts First of all arrange your itinerary (or direct transit to Niger) with an approved agency (see below), then they post/DHL your official invite document aka: certificate d'hebergement which you hand in with a copy (and all the rest) for your visa. More below. Hassle Visas This document from the Washington DC consulate shows prices and other details for many nationalities. The usual path for the Sahara travels was to apply via an agency as described above. For independent travels in the north you can submit a certificate d'hebergment ('proof of lodging' - 'CdH') by booking a night in a hotel. Finding a hotel that will answer your query and fax the CdH can be another matter. If you have been officially invited to northern Algeria (usually by some institution) a Letter of Introduction with an Algerian address and an explanation is all that is required. In other words travelling around the north without a guide as was possible a few years ago is less easy now. Coming up from West Africa it used to be possible to obtain a regular 30-day visa in Agadez (Niger) the same day for 24,000CFA. The consulate is here (Mon to Fri & Sat morning). But in early 2011 some tried and failed. They also didn't succeed in Niamey and don't bank on getting an Alg visa in Bamako, either). Holland requires a hotel booking, a copy of your air ticket, travel insurance and even a bank statement, as well as possibly a confirmation from the travel company you booked with. But in November 2011 this was still not enough to issue a tourist visa. USA verified Nov 2011 and may contradict info given on consular website: "We ended up using ABC Visa, which is apparently the same as the Algerian Visa Center. They were very helpful and responsive and they apparently process all Algerian visas coming through any visa agency. We sent them the following items: From the time we shipped the works off (using overnight mail) until we got everything back was 8 calendar days, and that was with delays as explained above." Belgium things are said to be relaxed, a 30-day visa issued within 5 days for €60 with only a CdH from a hotel and proof of travel insurance. APPLYING FOR A VISA IN THE UK Algerian Consulate The current regs are summarised here. You will need to get on the case 8 weeks before your departure date; firstly by obtaining an invite document from Algeria (lately an emailed pdf is being accepted - last year they insisted on the original copy DHL'd from Algeria), then applying at the consulate and waiting at least a month for your visa. • Fill out the online visa form here, print off two copies, date and sign both. If not using a visa agency, apply in the basement at the address above between 9.30am and noon, Tues-Fri. Get there early; if you arrive much after 11am you may not get to the head of the queue before they close the door at noon. Downstairs they look over your docs and if they spot any mistakes they will reject or amend. Pay in cash. If all is in order you will be given a receipt with a collection date or they will call you when the passports are ready.. Various contradictory sources state you can only make 1, 2 or 3 applications at a time. If you're submitting for a group I guess you rejoin the queue and start again. It's unlikely you could manage more than two runs (2 to 6 passports) on an averagely busy morning at Hyde Park Gate, but as tourist visa apps in person are unusual, they may relent and take up to five at a time. A single-entry 30-day visa costs £85 for a UK passport holder. Collections are between 3.30 and 40pm Tues-Fri (possibly Sat morning if urgent). You are advised not to get a ferry or plane ticket before you secure a visa; and a visa is not guaranteed if they don't like the cut of your jib. Of course this then means booking a plane or a boat just very late. Certainly with a ferry, this can mean that the better exterior cabins can be in short supply. Be warned - so-called promotional ferry tariffs (hardly a bargain) cannot be cancelled or even amended to a future date. With planes, who knows. Tourist agencies in Algeria that can issue necessary invitation for tourists - aka "certificate d'hebergment" include: Agence Tanezrouft, prices for up to 3-4 cars: Guide in your car : Info needed for your invitation The certificat d'hebergement will only be accepted if the original from the agency is presented with a copy to the consulate where you're applying. In other words they must DHL you the invite from Algiers which costs €70 plus possible travel expenses from the south. Many travellers use Agence Tanezrouft because I used them, but some have had not such good experiences once out there; the usual combination of duff guides/escorts and their sometimes unreliable cars which have recently improved. There are plenty of other agencies of course and about half a dozen good ones. I recently worked with a long-established, Tam based Ben Kada who were fine on the ground but then stopped answering emails. I am also told another long-established agency . Akar-Akar near Tam seem to charge more than double and enquiries to 'Expert Algeria' soon dried up. Border formalities - overland The trans Sahara Highway is now sealed from Algiers all the way to the Niger border at In Guezzam. From there it's 150km of hard sandy piste to Arlit where the tarmac resumes. Border formalities: flying in Desert pistes The Amguid region and track (A9 and A12) as well as A2 and A3 have been said to be closed for years following the 2003 kidnappings there. Erg Chech is out of bounds too; Tassili Hoggar region SE of Tam reopened in 2011, but it's too late to recover tourism now. Expect tedious checkpoints in every town and village, some insisting your guide goes to the local barracks to fill out a form; police at every roundabout and checking-in is required with the Gendarmerie if you stop at In Salah and at Tam. A recent report on arriving at Algiers from Marseille is here. May 2010 crossing from Niger here and my February 2011 trip report is here, and 2012 trip here. © Chris Scott, 1998-2013 |
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