returning morocco from gambia and carnet info

[markyneggy]

Hi, We will be returning through Mauratania from Gambia some time this week, we are looking for any other 4wds who might be going the same way for company (and extra spades for rescue purposes!) and/or know anything about the practicalities of taking the train from Choum westwards (hoping to avoid the beach)
Any Takers?

Alternatively, can any body shed any light on selling cars here if you have a carnet de passage (can we just get some random customs bloke here to sign the back page, pay the duty, and then trundle off to the airport, what monies would we end up paying for this back in UK, or does it need to be english customs to allow us to discharge the thing properly and not get stung when we get home?)as you can see, we are confused
Thanks for any response
Marky and Eggy

[Kevin]

You can sell your car in The Gambiawithout a carnet also. The easiest way to discharge your carnet is to drive over the border into Senegal and get a laisser paisser there, then return to The Gambia (via another border crossing) and get the ordinary entry document there. You can then sell the car as you want and don´t have to worry too much about customs formalities. If you want to sell the carin Senegal I recommend you take the laissez paisser because this leaves you less open to being ripped off than if you have a carnet. If you want more info on this then I suggest you contact Joe in Camping Sukuta or even better is Heinz in the campsite next door (difficult to find maybe). They will also be able to give you a guide asto what prices you may expect ans may even have a client if you are lucky.

If you want to sell it in Dakar then I suggest you try Camp Hippo in M´Bao about 20km before Dakar, but if you have a RHD then it is going to be difficult.

The road to Choum is tar to Atar then a good stone road until 70km before Choum whére it is managable sand. I have no idea how long you will have to wait in Choum maybe a day or two maybe a week or two.

[markyneggy]

Thankyou loads Kevin, its great to have that info. We were about to go to camping Sukuta today so its good to have a contact name. The only thing we now seem to have difficulty grasping is when the last page of the carnet gets stamped. We had always assumed that it would be done as we returned off of the ferry in england. But our slow brains (too much sun here) are i think starting to realise that as long as each page of the carnet has the entry and exit counterfoils stamped, then the last page can get filled out by someone back in blighty whether we have the car with us or not. Carnet would then be discharged and the deposit will be winging its way back into our now rather hefty credit card bills. Is this right? Sorry we appear so useless, but we didn't expect to sell the old girl. Shes getting a bit smelly now though.
Thanks for your help.

[Sam Rutherford]

As long as the last used page is stamped in (evidently) but is also then stamped out, that is it. You need do nothing in the UK (you could have left the car in France for example).

In the UK, ONLY IF YOUR CARNET DOES NOT HAVE AN EXIT STAMP FOR THE LAST COUNTRY ENTERED; then you need to get a Policeman or Customs guy to sign a letter confirming that the vehicle is back in the UK (ie has not been left in that last country): generally, these people do actually like to see the car before signing!!!!!!

Hope this makes sense!

[markyneggy]

thanks both, yeah that does all seem to make sense now. We've just had some dodgy looking guy trundle into this cafe whilst we were doing this to ask about the car, so we're off to chase him.

Thanks again
Marcus and Eryka