Hi folks,

I have read through a number of posts and threads related to carnets and passavant for Senegal but it is still very unclear (I am guessing that may just be the nature of travel in Africa...). Our trip plan at this point will have us coming down from Ireland (Irish registered 2001 Toyota Land Cruiser), spending time in Mauritania, then heading southwest through corner of Mali through Kayes and into Senegal at Kidira. Plan is to head south into Guinea, then Sierra Leone, before heading back up to Dakar (end of trip- planning to ship LC back to UK from there). We plan to get our Senegal visas in Madrid on the way down.

From what I can tell, Senegal is the only country we are visiting that "seems" to require a carnet. Given the hassle and cost of carnet through RAC (may be able to get through ADAC) I would like to understand the possibilities and risks of going without. Seems many of the issues are related to crossings at Rosso and Diama. As we plan to enter at Kidira, would that make a difference? We will be doing multiple entries though, as we come back up from Freetown and through The Gambia.

Of course, this all assumes that the ebola breakout is under control by then, and not affecting borders.

Thanks, Rick.

has anyone managed to get a passavant for car older than 5 years without a carnet?

thanks, Rick

The 5 year rule no longer applies, it is now 8 years old.

Officially, if more than 8 years old, you need a CDP. If less than 8 years old, you can get a pass avant.

However, quite a few have managed to get a pass avant for vehicles older than 8 years....it is a question of negotiation!

if coming northbound (ie entering Senegal from Guinea, Mali, Guinea Bissau) it is much easier. Rosso and to a lesser extent Diama are the problem areas. Suspect as the Douane know that some people are driving old vehicles down from Europe to sell them.

I travelled there 3 weeks ago and initially went to crossover at Diama. carnet needed for vehicle over 8 years and they were not entertaining any negotiation- that through me off. Went all the way back down the dirt track and in to the dreaded Rosso as a last ditch attempt. Same story they were not entertaining it- it took almost 2 hours of dogged persistence ranging from pleading to angry exchanges and in the end 100Euros as well as leaving behind documents to allow us entry back into Mauritania as security.

This was my second time going through and things definitley seem to be tightening up all round both with the car entry as well as the visas.

Thanks Anomaly. Good to know. As Senegal is the only country we are planning to visit, we will be entering 3 times. Going to go ahead and get ADAC carnet to be safe. 295 euros assuming we get deposit back :-), but may be worth it...

Rick

just few months ago i was in diboli border and i met one couple that cross senegal severel times through this border they use to enter to senegal without carnet; they explain me that you can use passavant wich is valid for three days and if you stay longer you have to go to the police to don't let it expire;